A few of my friends from the Internet: Sana, Gabby, Meg (& me)!

Ahh, strangers from the Internet. Most of you reading this — are just that. But, you are my people and I’m so glad!

Yesterday, I read about 94-year-old Muriel, a prolific tweeter with over 25,000 followers (h/t Danielle!). She goes by the handle @QuiltingMuriel and she’s my favorite find this week. She’s obviously one of those spirited, vivacious people that lives life to the fullest — even at such an old age. That’s just how I want to be! Here are a few of her awesome tweets:

Muriel says of Twitter:

 “I’ve met lots of wonderful people on Twitter, people I might not have met elsewhere. Twitter seems to work best as a conversation, not a monologue, just like life.”

Seriously! Where else would I have heard of this woman? Where else would I have gotten a message from celebrity (Kelsey Grammer, but hey, that’s something!) and where else would major national news reporters be following what I have to say?  Where else would people seek me out for interviews or friendship because of something I said?

Twitter has broken the barriers of social engagement and made us all accessible — it’s made us community instead of confining us to a certain location, career or life situation. We’re not just citizens of our hometowns anymore — we’re residents of the Internet, defenders of our brother’s cause across the country, around the world.

I’m a full-fledged social media believer. I believe in the power of Twitter. I love personality of Facebook. I believe in the friendships that develop, the information spread, the personal connections made. I enjoy the uniqueness of Instagram, which is distinctly different than Pinterest or Facebook. Every social medium is its own animal and for me, that’s part of the fun.

Amy is a new friend — she came from the Internet 🙂

  
I’ve met my favorite runners, made new IRL friends, expanded my career, created a brand for myself and found a way to share the things that are important to me with thousands and thousands of people — literally. 

I got to thinking about it this week, when Boston happened. I knew several people running Boston — but I didn’t really know them. We’ve never met, some of them I forget their first names because we’re on Twitter handle basis — RunWiki, SkinnyRunner, HealthyHungryHappy and more.

Where were they? I can’t text them. I don’t know their husbands. I don’t even have their email addresses. I read their blogs. I tweet them. But I know them by their words, their photos, their excitement, their love of running. And I hoped they were all okay. Whether they know it or not, they are part of my online community and like a good neighbor, I wanted to be sure they were safe.

It’s a weird world we live in — this social media universe where friends are still kind of strangers. But I still like it. I still like it knowing that if I met up with any of these “friends” for coffee, it’d wouldn’t be like talking to someone I have never met. It would be like catching up on our lives — because I already know their dog’s name, their struggle with infertility, or their latest marathon PR.

Met these lovely ladies at Fitbloggin’ last year, Laura and Amanda.

I have met with many “strangers from the Internet” and it’s always been delightful. Usually, these are ladies I have a lot in common with, who I never would have met otherwise. That’s why I love blogger conferences, meetups and twitterchats. I’m social online and offline and I relish the opportunities social media has given me in this regard.

Thanks to you for being my community — even though we may have never met.