It all started innocently enough. @pprlisa (Lisa Dilg) of Twitter placed a red beret on her avatar and started the “Anti-Pl*rk Revolución.” Plurk is a website similar to Twitter in that it is a social journal to “Share your life with friends, family and fans.” Some of @pprlisa’s followers also donned red berets and posted messages on Twitter denigrating the Plurk website. Of course this was all in jest but some “plurkers” did not take it this way. See the following amusing Plurk conversation.
It has now become custom, among a certain group of Twitter users, to don the red beret specifically at five P.M. on Fridays, though the berets occasionally pop up at other times. The circle of Twitter people (or Tweeple) who do this are the same circle I met eight days prior to this post at the Waltham, Massachusetts Tweetup hosted by @justTamar (Tamar Wallace). It is hard for me to explain what it is to witness this phenomenon for the first time. One night earlier this week I was tweeting with my new friends when I noticed that one by one, all their avatars were suddenly wearing red berets. That is when I was first told the back story to the “Anti-Pl*rk Revolución.” I donned my own beret and joined the Revolución.
This morning, coincidently a Friday, @prp2 (aka Pete) changed his avatar to show himself in a jaunty summery straw hat. I liked it, so I swiped it and stuck it on my avatar. As the day wore on, more and more of the people I follow appeared wearing the same straw hat. As I write this, @JuliaGoolia is still making hats for people. They are everywhere. The result is what you see here. What a community!
Last Thursday I attended a Tweetup at The Skellig in Waltham. Since there was no sign-up on Yahoo Upcoming or EventBrite I had no way of knowing who else was attending. My Twitter friend, Barbara, canceled last minute as it was a very warm day and she would rather drink tea in air conditioned comfort than hang out at an Irish bar with a bunch of sweaty geeks discussing technology and media. (Ah, Barbara… tea and air conditioning? Where is your mettle?)
The event was at 7PM and without Barbara, I arrived fashionably late at about 7:40. I figured the group would be assembled and it would be easier to recognize them. I scanned the pub and recognized no one. No matter. I knew the pub had wireless so I had brought my laptop. I checked in on Twitter and found out @geechee_girl was still working and would not make it. So much for recognizing anyone. I messaged @geechee_girl and asked her to tell the Tweetup organizer that I was at the bar with a laptop and someone should tell me where they were. “Done” she said but the place was hopping, so after a few minutes I knew the organizer would never hear the message notification.
I gathered my things and did one final scan. There was a table that looked like it may have social media people but I could not know for sure. This is the point where someone like me, who is friendly but not gregarious, understands that if you walk up to a group of people who are NOT involved in social media and ask if they “tweet,” you may be taken into protective custody. What should I do? I have a card with my SM information on it. It makes no sense to people outside SM. I dropped it into their booth and left. If I had the wrong group, they would easily disregard the card. If I had the right group, they would know I had been there.
This is where the fun begins. I stopped at a park outside to test the local Wi-Fi. Allegedly Waltham as made all of Moody Street wireless. If they have tried to do this, they have failed. I ran into a friend and we spoke briefly. Then my mobile phone started to beep. “Are you still there? It looks like everyone is looking for you,” Barbara, in air conditioned comfort, wrote. I started to respond and then, “JustTamar was looking for you nine minutes ago” and “Now lizwebpage is looking for you” came through. I texted back “How do you know?” I knew there was only one way Barbara could know so I didn’t wait for an answer. I went back into the Skellig, walked up to the table I had identified as possible social media people and asked if they knew why I was suddenly getting a bunch of text messages. They asked if I was eldevlin. I knew then I had found my group.
I may be simple. No, I am simple. But I am not so simple that I don’t realize this is what Social Media is all about. Through shared interests and technology I was able to connect with these strangers. I had a great time. I hope they did, too. I made a quick video of my new friends, downloaded it via Utterz and included Air Conditioned Barbara into the conversation. Now she is among their friends. And they have never met her.
Sometimes I get freaked at the walls technology has torn down. I dwell on these things since my day job is Loss Control and Recovery. Security. Insurance. Paying for other people’s lack of caution or proper judgment. For me to be involved in Social Media is out of the mold. All of that being said, I have found a wonderfully diverse group of individuals who I would have never met through conventional channels. Some of my friends are in Prague, Romania, and West Germany so it is obvious why I would have not met them but for Social Media. But some are neighbors. To those who pooh-pooh Social Media as the degradation of our culture, I beg to differ. It is the beginning of a conversation that would have otherwise never happened.
This blog will serve as a repository for my ideas, opinions, my experiences in general and in social media. My main motivation for becoming active in social media is to learn as much as I can from the people around me and in my internet world. I encourage your comments. I especially encourage your comments when you do not agree with me. I believe that it is only through the open, civil exchange of opinions and ideas that we can learn to understand each other, accept each other and live well together. I look forward to learning a lot from you.
