Close to home, close to the heart

I left my local readings out of my nerdy links post because they tend towards a much different side of the things I like. There are so many that I try to follow that it would take close to a week to list them all. Here are the some that I've been thinking about recently or are from people I've connected with through social media. I've divided them into categories: 1. Better with Coffee These blogs pair well with coffee--they are the introspective musings of people I know and people I think I would like to know.

Ink-stained Life Gold Shoe Blog Food Revival

2. Moving and shaking Straight up shots of energy, inspiration or humor.

YouGotRossed Writeous Babe See Jane Write Worst Weblog In The World Vodka Cranberry Clooney

3. Misc good stuff Music. Beer. Science. Food. Love.

Birmingham Box Set (Full disclosure: I write for this blog for fun) Primavera Urban Standard

4. City Love Life in Birmingham.

WBHM Magic City Made Mary Katherine Morris (photog) Kate Tully (photog) Rob Culpepper (photog) Cary Norton (photog)

On becoming socially active

Shortly before I began interning at Birmingham magazine, I made my Twitter account public. Much to my parents’ chagrin, I began meeting up with some of the people I met through social media. In the months that followed, the city and its opportunities opened up. I learned how to ask for opportunities, and haltingly began using social media as a connector. The targeted fearlessness that I learned has resulted in freelancing gigs and some really incredible interviews with artists, musicians and chefs I admire.

As a member of Gen Y, the Internet is comfortable and easy to navigate. I can point you towards grammar jokes or find you the latest in Fitzgerald scholarship. My Google fu is strong. I have a penchant for nerdy web comics, and love sharing funny things with friends.

It comes as no surprise, then that social media (especially Twitter) has fundamentally shaped my interactions with others. Despite warnings against the superficiality of social media, its use has resulted in friendships and enduring inside jokes. Most recently, I had coffee and beer “meetings” with people I connected with through Twitter thanks to WBHM’s Issues and Ales. Those two stories will get their own post later—Javacia and Alex are both people you should know.

Social media can be an amazingly effective way to connect with people. Few other forms of media are as efficient at conveying so much information, and if used safely and correctly, can result in such stimulating and satisfying conversations.

This blog will be my documentation of my adventures in social media, both personally and professionally. My hope is that it might even convince others to try connecting with new people through social media. After all, you’ll never know who you’d meet unless you try it.