We had a very interesting conversation yesterday at the Tech Forum in IL about “how people greet us.”
“I follow you on twitter.” “I read your blog.” I met you in Second Life.” “I have participated in your projects.” etc.
Being known virtually — each of these greetings are specific in context — yet to me, they show a bit of difference in depth of knowledge of me.
If you say to me “I follow you on twitter” that lets me know that you know the quick, short, silly, personable, not deep, helpful, Jen. I give quick content, never anything really deep, a link once in a while, and a glimpse into my personal life….just a glimpse. Smiles, you know what I looked like (LOL, in 2003) and you have links to my website. You might feel you “know me” but pretty much — at least with the content on twitter — you are just getting to know me.
If you say to me “I read your blog” that lets me know that you see a different side of me…sometimes a bit more deep. More than 140 characters, you see my thoughts develop and read of my frustrations, my hopes, dreams, and again, a glimpse into my personal life….but again, just a glimpse!! If you read my blog regularly, you know what makes me tick, what beliefs I have, my foundations, and my passions. The level of understanding of me goes up a bit more than twitter.
If you say “I met you in Second Life”….smiles, that could mean a myriad of things. You have seen the skinny Jen (LOL — isn’t SL great) — and probably 20 years younger. You see the Jen it would be fun to be — skier, surfer, hangglider, skidoer, in all fairness – the more adventurous Jen. It is easy to take risks when you know you can’t die. 
You have also seen the “let’s play and explore Jen.” You have seen my taste in home decor, seen my competitiveness in game playing, and realize that I enjoy being a tour guide. And my clothes are more fashionable in SL too. In a way – you have met Jen’s alter ego…..bit more adventurous, much more active.
If you say “I have participated in your projects” — you touch my heart immediately. That lets me know you have seen the creative Jen, the educational Jen, the passion of Jen. You have seen how I try hard to create “fun” in education yet also provide the foundation for a good lesson to be learned. You have seen my organization side, my creativity side, my encouraging side, and my (at times) controlling side!! If you let me know you have participated in my projects — you put a smile on my face. You have met the “Teacher Jen.” and you know the academic Jen a bit more.
With the internet conversations and communications being so vast and the spaciousness of it all — letting someone know where you know them from is a quick way to establish a contact. But don’t let it end there…….
it becomes the starting point of good conversation………………………
So — LOL, how would I greet you??
Jen
Y’know Jen, I have been thinking about this topic ever since David Jakes wrote about it some time back. It’s funny, how our impressions of “knowing” someone that you have met online make us more excited about meeting them (like I was about meeting you yesterday) or sometimes NOT interested (like after someone made a VERY judgmental statement about the urban poor in a UStream chat).
I’m puzzled by the reactions of those who have placed themselves squarely in the spotlight, but seem offended that I am honored to meet them. After all, it’s not like I’m gushing over them like some Paris Hilton fan. If I have subscribed to (and perhaps commented on) your blog, I have considered your thoughts worthy — lined them up next to mine and looked at the differences and commonalities — and decided that it would be worthwhile to partake in that experience the next time that you proffer something up.
Geographic reasons might prevent me from being able to work should-to-shoulder with you, but reading your blog (and sometimes your Tweets) might mean that I can bring your ideas into a project of mine in the future. That’s the best “close second” I can imagine.
Twitter has broadened my horizons in the past few months — far beyond that which any grad class, ed tech journal or conference has ever been able to do. My Google Reader personal limit is 100, so I choose carefully among the many ed tech bloggers whose work comes across my screen. Will I ever meet all 100? Probably not. But I follow about 80 of them in Twitter, and that’s the “personal side” that complements their professional work I keep up with fairly regularly.
I’ve been “on the brink” for a while, taking in the formats and posting habits of my favored bloggers, weighing opinions about how to develop a digital presence — and honestly, looking for a better professional situation which will provide me classrooms/teachers/students to share all of this new knowledge with. When I finally do put all of that together, develop that “footprint” and get a reader or two… I think I’ll be more thoughtful in my greetings to followers of any sort, thanks to discussions of this type.
Great post. Hope you’re enjoying the windy city!
I liked being greeted with a HUG!!
Sorry I laughing at Lor comment “I liked being greeted with a HUG!!” makes me realise I haven’t shared enough about myself online. At this point I’m feeling very concerned for any person who follows me online then meets me f2f and tries to hug or kiss me. I don’t even let close friends or family touch me (they all have got used to this part of me). Looks like I might need to work on this especially as in SL I’m quite happy to sit on people’s laps.
I agree Jen all the different social networks build different levels of your relationship. I’ve even added videos of me to my blog to give people more visual clues to what I’m like.
Getting back to meeting people f2f – not an issue. The chances of me meeting anyone from online f2f are really slim due to geographical isolation.
I’m such as try-hard drama queen wanting to be famous that I’d practically wet myself in excitement if someone came up to me and said they followed my blog or me on twitter!
@Sue Isn’t it funny, I don’t like to be hugged or kissed by strangers either. I thought that was because I was a prissy Pom. This has caused me some problems because lots of hugging & kissing goes on in New Zealand especially amongst Maori, so I have to join in or cause offense.
My worry is with all our alter egos, we really don’t know each other at all, and need to approach each other with bubble wrap on our feelings. No, not my worry, but rather the reality. And this has been made abundantly clear to many with acquaintances (if one can even call them that) recently. We are glad you enjoyed Chicago this weekend, even though there were extra patrols around the city due to severe street violence and gang activity. My son lives there, so i kind of follow the weather and news. Just be careful. You never know what the true feelings are of the cultivated friendships from the tools we use today. As you say, some tools reveal very little, and some only reveal a “wannabe” personality.
@kmulford — So far, I have found, that my perceptions of people have been pretty accurate in who I think they are virtually — and when I meet them F2F. And I hope that to be true of myself as well to them. It was a delight to meet you in IL…..and hope our paths cross again — both virtually and F2F.
@Lor Hugs are nice.
@Sue I tend to be a hugger but appreciate your viewpoint greatly. I assume people WANT to be hugged — and that might not be true. As for your location — smiles, you are not as far away as you used to be. Thinking of a trip to visit you would have seemed impossible a few years ago — now it isn’t a question of IF but a question of WHEN.
@Sarah — Remind me to be cautious when I hug you. LOL Thanks for posting — you made me smile.
@Cathy Nelson — I agree that you can be correct in “do we really know each other” and even in F2F contact, we each have our layers and they are peeled off as the comfort level of friendship becomes deeper. There are friends that I am very superficial to — and also friends that I let see my deepest darkest parts (but that is very limited!) I am glad I did not see the “scary” part of Chicago yesterday — we did see the “GIVE ME A HUG” campaign going on….took a minute to process what it was….and some Freshman preorientation tours at the university. I was lucky to see the BEST of Chicago and had a great day.
Hey Jen,
I follow you on Twitter, read your blog, shared your projects with a teacher at my school AND met you in real life! I’m lucky to have met you!
@Chad I am lucky too — blessed as well.
Good luck with your newest project.
I think we do develop our own ideas about people depending on how we meet them. I’m starting a video conference project and just chatting with a few people via Skype has been great. Even though we don’t have deep conversations, it’s nice to see and hear the real person. I do hope to meet many of the people I’m learning from this summer at NECC. It just might be the highlight of my summer.