I can already hear @r_mario06: “well duh. I coulda told you that.”

yeah. yeah. yeah.

I love it and I’m not ashamed to say it.

FB. twitter. (especially twitter) blogging. LinkedIn (ok not really). flickr. tumblr. get glue. grindr. (ok that last one is a hybrid dating/SN app that I no longer have the need for.) and what I don’t know or don’t do, I wanna know about it.

why do I love it, you scoff?

• I love that I can remain connected to people I might otherwise never hear from and keep up with what’s going on in their lives.
• I love that I can check-in somewhere and it immediately be posted.
• I love that I can automatically send my blog to FB and twitter.
• I love that it brings me friends all over the world.

some people say social networking is a sign of presumption and arrogance and that the constant “oversharing” indicates insecurity and a “notice me!” attitude. maybe for some. but not me. (it’s all about affirmation: not notice me but AFFIRM ME! hahahaha inside joke]

for me it’s about sharing my life, my Self, and—in my experience, forming relationships. heck, I met my last two significant relationships through social networking. (Jury’s still out on that; I’m 1-2 so far haha)

through social networking, you get to step beyond circumstance and geography (with no slight whatsoever directed to those immediately adjacent to either) and get to meet people—without going to a bar. you kinda get to “date” these people to see if you want to be friends. and generally it’s not based on physical appearances. (what a concept, huh? although it’s worth nothing that all my friends are physically attractive.)

and once you become friends, you’re bound—just like any other friendship, brought together because of your shared interests. and you get to know each other through conversation and sharing your lives. it expands your mind and, though virtually, your experiences.

through social networking, I have been able to find people with whom I have very concrete things in common, people who make me laugh, and people who make me think. and though our physical interactions are limited by geography, our exchanges, camaraderie, our friendships are not. I have met people whose cities I could pop into and they’d drop everything to make time for me (i.e. @ChadSF) or provide a place to stay if the need warranted. I have a whole network of additional friends who care about what happens to me, who care about the people in my life, and who encourage me quite often.

those who know me well know that besides my children, my friends are the MOST important thing in the world to me.

not possessions, prestige, or power.

but friends. (followed closely by really great hair. and ice cream.)

social networking has brought me a wealth of friends, adding richly to the cadre of geographically near and dear ones.

I’m so thankful for how social networking makes connecting with other human beings—regardless of time zone—a very real part of my life.

ok well i gotta stop here. now that my blog’s done, i gotta respond to some tweets my phone just alerted me about. and then I gotta need to run check my FB timeline (Aunt Carol tagged me in a pic and there might be new pix of my new niece Sophie Jo). and then gotta post the movies I watched on GetGlue.

ahhhhhhh I love it!