I love learning about other cultures, so one of my favorite things about social media is getting to talk to people from around the world. I keep some pretty strict boundaries on my social media; for example, I’m not friends on Facebook with anyone I have not actually met in real life and I am not connected on LinkedIn with anyone I am not acquainted with professionally. While I’ve been fortunate to have worked and travelled internationally, those friends and connections on Facebook and LinkedIn still tend to be fairly monochromatic in the sense that my personal circles fashion around the same friends, lines of work, or school and work alumni.
My fairly recent opening up beyond these restricted venues has broadened my exposure to some great new circles. In 2015, my friend Tess and I were invited to represent the United States in the opening ceremonies for the New York City Marathon (which, by the way, was just as awesome as it sounds). I decided to start tweeting again so I could share some of the whole marathon experience with a broader audience.
When I ran the marathon previously, my one regret was that I felt I missed out on some of the international flavor the marathon provides by keeping my social media limited to my strict personal circles. I had so much fun interacting with other runners and meeting new people, I decided the time had come to start blogging again.
What a joy! So far in 2016, I’ve had visitors from 19 different countries, many of which have become followers who I’ve chatted with and visited their blogs. I so enjoy hearing their stories and perspectives. I’m particularly entertained by hearing how they feel about the insanity that is our current election drama.
I’ve also met more people from around the United States, which, if you’ve never visited here, is really like seven or eight or 30 different countries. The cultures of California and New York are nothing alike. Even the cultures between northern California and southern California can be individually described.
Thanks for visiting and reading and sharing your stories with me. I look forward to meeting and interacting with even more of you wonderful, fascinating people!
