Now many of you have probably met someone from Twitter or one of your favorite blogs in real life. Of course, when you had this first interaction it was probably awkward as you had never had a face-to-face conversation with the person and weren’t sure if your personalities would be compatible enough to carry on a conversation, no matter what the topic.

Having gone to Podcamp 2011 in Nashville, I have really taken a larger interest in social media and connecting on the local level. It is amazing how many people around you share common interests. Of course, there is always that boundary of figuring out how to meet them.

Our culture has a certain set of norms that we are expected to follow. If you are engaging in conversation with someone, no matter how much the subject or person you’re speaking with disinterests you, you are expected to remain in that conversation. The situation only gets worse when you go out with a bunch of friends that are talking about things that either you’re not involved with or do not interest you at all.

Now on the other side of that is the mystery of meeting someone from “the Internet” (read in scary movie voice) that you have only chatted with in text or possibly over Skype. What we have been missing out on is the opportunity to come into contact with like-minded individuals that we would otherwise have a hard time tracking down or bumping into serendipitously.