Social media has proven to be the craze of the nation. Almost everyone is doing it and I'm willing to bet all have tried at least once. As creepy as it may seem to allow someone into your personal space via social networks like Twitter or Facebook, I'm an advocate for it. I learn something new from the people I follow on Twitter daily (a lot of which is sheer f*cketry but entertaining nonetheless). I am introduced to a lot of different viewpoints from some of the genius minds that make up my followers. Honestly, I don't see myself joining any other network and taking it as seriously as I have Twitter.
On average, I update my RSS Reader with one new blog/site per week. About 85% of the feeds I am subscribed to, I learned of through Twitter. One of the most recent was Venus Genus. I was hipped to this site through @Ms_She, the hilariously funny voice behind Random Epiphanys (came up on her blog by reading a book review she did on A Belle in Brooklyn).
Venus Genus's creator, Dash, is an amazing journalist whose work I have come to admire. She recently gathered up a group of her friends (four guys and two other girls) to discuss their views on monogamy and relationships over dinner and drinks. Lately, I've been struggling with my stance on both of these topics so of course when it came across my timeline, I clicked on it.
My initial thought upon watching the video was, 'Aw...I wish I could have conversations like this with my friends'. Don't take that to mean that my friends are complete idiots because they're far from it. Just right now, the four of us are at different stages in our lives that prevent us from gathering in such a setting. Then I began to think back on my days in college and how the schools that I attended were not fulfilling enough for me. I didn't get to meet people like the ones in the video where I could go to a restaurant and have these deep conversations bordering debates. Instead, I was the student-athlete who allowed my creativity to be stifled while I allowed people from different backgrounds to entertain me and my thoughts.
I wanted what they had on the video.
As I continued to watch, I felt as if I were apart of their conversation. I found myself laughing out loud at some of their jokes, agreeing with some of their statements as well as disagreeing. Hell, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was sharing a meal with them.
Is it weird that I long for conversations like that? Where everyone is engaged and I'm not just getting bits and pieces. My best friend and I do it all the time through BBM but when I try to comprise a group of people in my mind who I can share that same connection with, I hit a wall.
This brings me back to my first point about Twitter being such a great place to hang out...lol. I have random conversations with complete strangers without leaving the comfort of my home. Of course, I have to practice the art of being concise, as I have to relay the message in 140 characters or less but it works. I love that I can get the advice I need from writers/journalists I admire, as well as network with ones I don't really know yet. It also allows me to market myself on a large platform with my own writing endeavors (http://www.kidshealthclubmagazine.com <<<shameless plug lol). Twitter is a stroke of genius I tell you!
In closing, I say this to Twitter: thank you for being all that you are. I pray that you don't let any other site come along and make you as obsolete as you have done Facebook...
...that's all I have right now...
If you're interested in checking out the videos from Venus Genus, you can do so below. They're broken up into two videos, both of which are 30+ minutes long. Don't be so quick to exit out though. They're worth it.
Part 1
*sorry. Couldn't embed the video for part 2. Just click the link and it'll send you there.*
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