Why First Life Will Always Win

IMG_2557

Watching all the Twitter chatter about the latest blogging conference (Blog World Expo) and feeling jealous over the fun they were all having, I had a realization. Even the biggest geeks in the world still like to meet face to face.

It should strike us as odd. After all, look at all the effort put into virtual tools geeks are creating to replace physical meetings. Everything from social tools to Second Life, we are constantly being told the future is virtual.

If bloggers and techies would rather meet in person, what chance is there for the rest of the world to prefer electronic meetings?

Don’t get me wrong, I love to IM, SMS, Twitter and blog more than most, and in person I am extremely shy at introducing myself, but even for me there is something special about actually seeing someone in the flesh and spending time with human beings. I doubt very much the people attending Blog World are there purely for the content.

When you meet someone in person you feel more connected. Those connections form faster and last long after the event. I “know” lots of people purely online but those relationships are a far more slow burn thing, even if it is easier to stay in contact that way.

I believe as our lives become more and more moderated by technology the need to have real world contact will become even more important.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments …

Posted on November 8, 2007 by Chris Garrett 
Filed Under Web 2.0

Comments

12 Responses to “Why First Life Will Always Win”

  1. Sile this Millennium on November 8th, 2007 2:39 pm

    Hi chrisgarrett I am Sile this Millennium and I coming immediately for to meet I am here….now is small world Net is magic what you say Cris?

  2. TDavid on November 8th, 2007 2:48 pm

    Eventually I think the lines between reality and virtual (online) will become more blurred. It’s happening already to some degree with worlds like Second Life (although the technology and scaling there is bad). There are people who cannot (easily) get out of their homes to meet face to face — due to disabilities, for example — and if you ask these people what’s most important they’ll say that any sort of human contact is vital, even if it’s not face to face.

  3. Chris Garrett on November 8th, 2007 2:55 pm

    Good point. Being based in the UK I absolutely rely on electronic means of communication so I have to believe the technology will improve and be more essential, but will the experience ever match meeting someone physically?

  4. Chris Cree on November 8th, 2007 3:03 pm

    Chris,

    My wife heads up a local business women’s networking group and she’s very good at it. I call her my analog networker.

    In-person and online networking have a lot of parallels but still have some differences. Networking in person doesn’t require much comfort with technology (tech isn’t my wife’s strong suit). Blogging and networking online doesn’t require much comfort meeting strangers (I’m a fairly shy person and uncomfortable around new people).

    However because the parallels are so real, both of us are growing and becoming more comfortable out of our areas of expertise.

    I agree with you on the need for more direct personal contact. In our city face to face means a ton as far as gaining new clients goes. I wouldn’t be able to do much business locally if I didn’t get my face out there. Likewise I would have very little if any business from beyond the city limits if I wasn’t active online.

  5. Hsien Lei on November 8th, 2007 3:11 pm

    I’m happy making friends and business acquaintances online but nothing makes a relationship stick better than a face-to-face meeting, handshake, and maybe even a hug. I’ve had several people tell me that while they knew of my online presence, only until they met me in person did they become avid readers because they felt we’d make a strong connection.

  6. Chris Garrett on November 8th, 2007 3:24 pm

    @Chris – All my customers are over seas so even though I am introverted in person, I jump at the chance to meet people. I should do the same as you and get my wife networking in my place :)

    @Hsien – I can believe that, you get a completely different feel for people met face to face, even though I would say I am far better at it online

  7. Sheila Scarborough on November 8th, 2007 6:23 pm

    Hi Chris,

    I’m relatively late to the online world, but I am amazed by how much geeks seem to attend every possible conference and *camp and meetup they can find. They bely the stereotype of shy dweeb who won’t get out from behind their computer.

    Online is great but a combo relationship of both online and face-to-face is very powerful.

  8. Chris Garrett on November 8th, 2007 7:20 pm

    Yes you are right Sheila, a good mix wherever possible is probably the right answer :)

  9. Claudia on November 9th, 2007 3:12 am

    I am so waiting for a bloggers’ expo theme: “Because you seriously need to reach out and touch somebody!” Cheeky, but nothing like a handshake and eye to eye.

  10. Pete Bollini on November 9th, 2007 5:03 am

    Needless to say, you are absolutely right. We mustn’t forget that the human species is a sociable one and needs human contact and interaction to function properly. The isolation the PC engenders should be strictly controlled or we will all become maniacs. Besides, what could be better than a group of people with shared interests getting together and blabbing contentedly away to each other and having a good time? They are not just interacting but also learning from each other. That’s what hhumanity is supposed to be about, isn’t it?

  11. Chris Garrett on November 9th, 2007 3:41 pm

    @Claudia – I like that theme a lot, I think it would be popular :)

    @Pete – Humans are social which is I guess why so many technological solutions have been invented. There is something special about getting together and blabbing though isn’t there :)

  12. Software Versus Physical: Why Go to Conferences? | Blog World Expo Blog on September 21st, 2009 7:09 pm

    [...] mentioned before how even geeks like me prefer to meet in real life given the chance over at the Cogniview blog, but I should explain now my thoughts in [...]

Leave a Reply