Friends from Blogging

13 Oct 2023 | ~2 minute read

I've been lucky enough to make a number of friends off the back of this blog (and also their blogs). This is a bit of a feel good post about how social media isn't the only way to meet new people.

I've talked at length about my challenges with social media/microblogging vs traditional blogging, to which I generally get responses similar to this:

But Kev, social media is great way of meeting new people.

-- Social media person

I agree, social media person, it is a great of meeting people, but so is a blog. And for me, the interactions that come off the back of this blog are generally far deeper than those from social networks/mocroblogging.

I'm gonna use the term microblogging throughout the rest of this post. What I mean by that is social media and all related services. For example, Mastodon, Twitter, Blue Sky, Threads etc.

Microblogging is like passing someone in the corridor - you quickly exchange pleasantries, maybe stop and talk for a minute on the way to the loo, or to grab a coffee, but that's it. The interaction goes no further than that.

On the other hand, emailing is like going for a coffee with someone. You spend time together. You have a proper conversation. It's a deeper, more interesting connection.

I much prefer the latter.

Reply by email

When I replaced comments with a reply by email button a couple years ago, I was able to start going for virtual coffees with other people. Some people email me now and then, other people have become legitimate friends whom I email on the regular. Both scenarios are throughly enjoyed by me.

So I wanted to list out some of the friends I've made off the back this whole blogging lark. In alphabetical order:

This is just a list of people off the top of my head (I'm sorry if I missed you, it wasn't intentional). The fact that I can list 11 people off the top of my head, is a testament to how much deeper the email interactions I have go, over microblogging.

I usually get a few emails for every post I publish. My more popular posts can positively swamp my inbox, to the point where it can take me a few days to catch up. Actually, I just searched my mailbox for any email sent to the address I have published on this site...it's over 700 emails!

I love the internet. I love blogging. And I love meeting new people.

Long may it continue...

Reply by email

Want more?

So you've read this post and you're still not satisfied? Ok then, here's some other stuff for you to do: