Social Media lets you connect with people you’d ordinarily never even know, much less meet in person. It provides an opportunity to expand your network to the farthest reaches of the planet like no communications tool before it. Think about it – before SocMe, if you read a magazine article written by a guy in India and you really liked the article and felt compelled to connect with him, you’d have to pick up the phone and call. Eww.
Expanding networks means entering into new relationships with new people. Sure, these relationships are accommodated by wires and glass, but they’re driven by real people. And depending on the level of authenticity and openness people bring to the table, you can become quite close. Which makes it a little awkward when the relationships don’t work out. Sure, you’ll never make everyone you meet happy – there’s no reason to even try. If you’re yourself though, and you make what appear to be sincere connections with other people through your sharing on Twitter (or anywhere in SocMe), when someone you think you’re close to unfollows you, it makes you to think about why. People say it doesn’t, because people are too cool to admit this, but trust me – they do.
Recently, I was surprised to see a particular person unfollow me. We'd passionaltely engaged each other for more than a year and a half. And this guy didn't even say goodbye. I know because I unfollow people who unfollow me. I'm a prick like that – sue me. Anyway, I even tweeted ‘goodbye’ before reciprocating his unfollow. So it was no mistake. I get that people change and all that, but it’s still weird.
However, this stuff happens here. And it makes you wonder – if only for an hour. Then you move on.
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Jim Mitchem/@smashadv
Note: I don't unfollow anyone unless they unfollow me. I don't care if we disagree on every subject. This is not to say I follow everyone either – nor do I follow everyone back, but I do follow people if we productively engage. Ok, this is starting to sound really stupid now. Erase this whole post from your memory. {{swinging a pocket watch}}
