Strangers in the night exchanging...tweets

Today was a milestone day for me for two reasons. First, I took part in my first video chat via skype. For some of you this is not a big deal but it was my first time and it was pretty darn cool. The second reason was related to the first because I “met” my first Twitter personality in person, even though it technically was not in person since it was via skype.

If you are like me you chat and tweet with numerous people in any given day on a variety of social media. In addition, you might also have never actually met these people in real life. I have actively engaged in Twitter as a form of Professional Development for about 4 months. In that time I have “met” some incredibly inspiring and motivating people. Yet, in reality they are all perfect strangers. I have never met them in person. I don’t know where they went to college. I haven’t met their spouses. I haven’t had a beer with them…and yet I talk to them daily and I consider them an integral part of my professional life.

This truly is an amazing phenomenon to think that some of the most influential people in our professional lives are often strangers. Now I know that over time I will meet these people at conferences and webinars, and that I am just starting out inthe social media game. However, the fact remains I don’t know these people beyond what their bio states or what I can garner from their profile picture. Yes, if you look at my picture you will clearly see that I am a Jedi…nothing else matters… :)

In closing, I was very happy to “meet”, although virtually, Lyn Hilt today and look forward to putting more faces with names in the future. Yet I still sit here amazed at the amount of collaboration and collegiality that exists among strangers. For the three or four random folks that read my ramblings if you are looking to connect, you can find me on twitter @stumpteacher and on skype as well via stumpteacher.