I enjoy following people's blogs and Twitter accounts. After reading what they have to say for a while, I get a sense of their language, attitudes, personality, and interests. As social media becomes more and more transparent, people have stopped hiding behind screen names and have begun branding themselves and their real names with what they talk about. Even the accounts on Twitter that are under a brand name are often run by a real person who is open about who they are.
The relationships that get built online can feel very real and genuine. We regularly talk to that person and share ideas, but how well does the relationship translate to real life? What would it be like to meet one of your Twitter friends on the street? Would you have things to talk about or would things feel odd? How different are online relationships compared to those you can make physical contact with? My suspicion is that in some cases, some who are real-life introverts feel more free to be social butterflies online. While not a bad thing, there has to be some difference between online and real world presence and relationships.
Seth Godin talked recently about how he has built relationships online with people who he has never met, yet could ask to crash at their house for a few days if he was in the area. Would you go out of your way for your online relationships? Have you done anything tangible to show that you are making an effort to connect not just in the online world, but the real one? Quality, and not always quantity makes more of a difference in online relationships, no matter how transparent and real you are.