It's a Small Twitter World, After All.

Tweet

Do you go to tweet-ups? I do. Hey, I’m a people person and I like to yadda yadda. For those of you who may not know, Tweet-ups are simply gatherings of people who Tweet. Some good souls like to organize them. Lots of times, they're at a restaurant. And perhaps better yet, sometimes the food and drink is free. But you don't have to be a tweep to go; anyone is welcome. However, if you don’t tweet the likelihood of your hearing about a tweet-up event goes way down.

For me, tweet-ups are fun. It’s great to meet those you’ve been tweeting with “in real life”; on the other hand, it’s an opportunity to meet those that you haven’t "met" on Twitter. This year I've been to four or five of these gatherings; not counting!

But I'd like to discuss one in particular. Back in February, I attended a tweet-up about 27 miles from my home. Many of the folks there were people I had met before at other gatherings. This particular tweet-up was small, maybe 50 to 60 people, held at a restaurant.

After purchasing some liquid refreshment, I chatted with a few folks. Was feeling rather hungry and a long table had been set up in that area of the establishment just for us. I continued to chat with one gent, and invited him to sit down with me. We talked some more, then ordered some food. Meanwhile, the seat to the right of me was now occupied. I said to my new friend on the left, “Let me say hello over there for a moment”.

Turning to the right, I introduced myself. We started talking about that area of Southern California in a broad sense. As the conversation continued, the geography narrowed; shrinking from Orange County to Central Orange County, to a city, and then parts of that city. Imagine both of our surprises when we discovered that we lived around the corner from each other! Sadly, it has taken me close to nine years to meet my neighbor!  And now, six plus months later, if we’re together at a tweet-up talking to someone, we both start blurting out the story.

Indeed, it’s a small world after all. And Twitter is but one medium that has made it smaller.

Post tweet-up. About a week after, we met for a friendly neighborhood walk where we paused twice to show off our homes. Bob* has also cheerfully helped me keep my kitchen stocked with Hass avocados, fresh from his backyard tree. And since then we’ve saved on gas by carpooling to tweet-ups. Thank you Twitter!










* not his real name