Everyone seems to hate the word "blog" lately - so we're really going to have to come up with a classy word for all of the blogger friends you make online. In the advent of the Internet, there was the promise to connect you with the world. But it really didn't. You generally e-mailed the people you used to call on the phone or write a letter.
On Father's Day, I've been blogging for (only) a year now - but what a long, strange trip it's been. After I started a personal blog, I saw the usefulness of the platform and now have blogs for newsletters, blogs for volunteer organizations, blogs for internal communications, blogs and blogs galore. (And I live in fear that I will accidentally post an entry on the wrong blog and confuse the hell out of everyone. I did that once with a Web site - I FTPd the home page of a different Web site...needless to say I check twice now.)
But what I've been most impressed with about blogging is the real feeling of community you get when you read someone's blog and they read yours. Johnny Depp (as Barrie) in Finding Neverland tells his wife, who steals his writer's notebook to see if he's having an affair, "You don't have to steal my journal to get to know me." But don't we sometimes?
So, in honor of the great tradition of blogger friendships, here are the intriguing people I've met that I never would have known otherwise without blogging:
All of my foodie friends at Carnival of the Recipes (mail your recipe by Thursday to be included in each week's round-up)
Paul Chaney (We met in person for lunch months ago at Vasilio's in Ridgeland while he was passing through town - and then last month he came and spoke to my local PR association)
Rex Hammock (Rex, I hope to meet you in person during the ASAE conference in August at Nashville if I get to go!)
Chris Lawrence (we're meeting at Char today for lunch)
Steve Rubel (I can't say that I know him that well - but we have had several brief e-mail conversations. And he's blog-famous now after making the cover of Business Week - which means that a lot of bloggers know who you are but you still can't get a decent seat at a restaurant in New York City!) ;)
Robin Scanlon (We're convinced that we were separated at birth we're so much alike - and she takes beautiful photographs too. But it's hard to like her too much because she gets to live in Hawaii all the time - no fair.)
Dick Waterman (I am going to have to make up an excuse to go to Oxford or Memphis soon so I can meet Dick in person.)
