MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over

Posts Tagged ‘east coast’

Twitter: The Friendly Social Network

Jan 14, 2009 Digital Marketing & Metrics, Social Media, Vacations, social networks

east coast boat I just got back from the East Coast. My two boys and I spent a week and a half in the friendly Halifax Regional Municipality. By two boys I mean my baby and three year old. Husband was working.

This is the second time I have traveled alone with the two of them, and each time I think – I need to have my head examined. This is how it goes:

Husband drops me off at the airport with two 60 lb suitcases, 1 giant Graco SUV stroller, 1 baby car seat and base, 1 diaper bag, 1 laptop bag (can’t leave it behind), and 1 small suitcase that my three year old is supposed to look after.

Note – he drops me off because in Toronto he isn’t allowed to leave the car unless he goes to short-term parking (which costs a small fortune). So, we balance everything precariously on a $2 cart.

I carry baby in sling (can’t push cart and stroller) and drag three year old with one hand while attempting to move cart with the other. All the way to the ticket desk. Where I can finally drop off the excess bags.

In Halifax, things are a bit easier as my parents meet me at arrivals and get my bags with me. Also, the airline felt I had too much stuff so they lost a piece for me (the base to the car seat).

On the return home my family drops me off at the front and then goes to park the car. They helped carry the bags inside- but couldn’t leave the car for long – so after getting my boarding pass I struggle to find a way to get the bags to the desk (all of the free carts are gone). Some wonderful East Coasters offer to help. In fact I had about five people offer in a matter of minutes.

I manage to get my brood up to the gate and onto the plane. We were given seats where there wasn’t an additional mask for the baby so the flight attendant had to ask a lady to switch seats. This woman was not inclined to give up her seat for an identical seat. Eventually the attendant convinced her that it had to be done, but I couldn’t help thinking to myself – this woman cannot be an East Coaster.

When we arrive in Toronto we grab a cart at the luggage carousel. I am trying to watch three -year old who is running around and around, look after baby AND grab suitcases. I struggle with supper heavy (Christmas gift laden) suitcases, then put baby in sling and attempt to put stroller on top of luggage. People walk by, look at me and move on. One person said watch the the babies head – as the monkey was staring up at the lights (note he has use of his neck…it was not flopping around!) But, not one person offered to help me.

Twitter is the East Coast

I know, get to the point: What does this have to do with Twitter?

I got to thinking Twitter is such a nice place. Ask a question and followers will answer, share a link and they will thank you, tweet a story and they will laugh with you. Say a simple “good morning” and get five back. It is a social network where we can talk with the famous, the literati, the news makers, companies we love (and hate) and social media gurus – on an even playing field. It is a place where anyone can connect, without the limits of geography and time, to find people with similar passions.

In a small city people offer to help, they stop and share a hello or a story with a perfect stranger, they smile as they walk by actually looking you in the eye. I recall a friends first visit to Halifax, we were walking along the waterfront and a man walked by and said ” Morning, how are you today? Lovely isn’t it”. After the short chat, my friend from Toronto says “who was that?”. I answered ” Just a guy out for a walk, like us!”

Sure, there are people who are jerks out east. Those who butt in front of you in line, or complain about everything, who drive to fast in a school zone, and double park on a narrow street. On Twitter, there are the spammers, the folks who just blast self-promotion, and the occasional individual who just wants to push-buttons to start an arguments. But, they are few and far between. Plus, on Twitter you can “block” them if you want, something you can’t do in life.

I wonder though, what will happen as Twitter grows? Already, Mashable reports incredible growth on Twitter in 2008 – 752%, with 4.43 Million Unique visitors in December. There are no studies that I know of that link population with cranky humans – but my experience having lived in various sized cities is that there is something to say for small cities being “friendlier”. In the big cities people rarely look you in the eye, they walk head down avoiding having to be a helping hand, and rarely start a conversation with a stranger. Perhaps, it is due to the fact that we rarely run into the same people? No need to be nice, if we never see them again? In a small city, chances are you will run into the same people at the grocery store, at the public school, in the mall or at your workplace. I have nothing against big cities, heck I live in the GTA – but they are certainly less personable than cities I have lived in previously Ottawa, and Halifax. Perhaps I wrongly correlate this with the populations (Toronto 6 million, Ottawa 1.5 million, Halifax 400,000) but from my experience it seems to work.

So, what happens to Twitter as it grows? Will it go the way of a big city? Will we eventually only help only our closest connections? Avoiding others? While we can block followers, and not follow others – what can we do about those Twitter users who abuse the system by using #hashtags to get involved in Twitter chats such as #GNO and #journchat? With growth, does Twitter become more susceptible to spam? Will the spammers and pains in the butts find more ways to annoy?

What do you think? Will Twitter sustain the friendliness simply because we choose to be there?

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Tags: east coast, friendly, growth, halifax, kids, social network, toronto, travel, twitter

A Trip East and Christmas Feast (again)

Jan 1, 2009 Family and Friends, Vacations

What trip home would be complete without some travel mishap, or adventure. Too often the trip from Ontario back East has had its problems. In University, I can recall a long 24-hour train rides, with no berth (sleeping space) and an annoying TA from my Philosophy class sitting next to me talking incessantly about social ethics and Anthony Giddens. Then there have been flight delays, rough landings due to fog, and long drives half way across the country. The joy of living so far from family and friends

We took a flight “stand-by” yesterday (husband works for an airline) and sadly got bumped from our flight.

After a sleepless night due to:

1) Baby’s stuffed up nose
2) Staying up late to participate in Twitter’s #GNO
3) And, lying in bed thinking “I must remember to pack this, and that, and this and that”

I would have turned us around and gone home when the flight attendant said it was unlikely to get on the next flight, or the next one. But, my three year old had been telling anyone who would listen that he was going to see Theodore Tugboat; and an Uncle and Aunt were waiting at the other end to meet their new nephew; and of course I miss the East Coast when I am away for too long – so instead I decided to do a semi-milk run. Flying to Ottawa and then on to our destination. So instead of a four hour trip (airport to airport) we were on the go for over 8 hours door to door.

Fun for who I don’t know.

Maybe this guy:

(Yes, that is chocolate and pizza on his face)

When we arrived I received a text from a friend “Are you here yet? Storm-a-coming!”

We just made it in time. Because by the time we had sat down to our New Year’s Eve Lobster:

lobster training

The snow had started. Today it looked like this:

Snow, snow

and this:

and more snow

But, it made it feel like Christmas again. So, we decided to do it again.

Bear and Gifts

Even the dog got in on the action.

Bear with Dog

Well, obviously it was planned. My sons were both spoiled (again), this time by grandparents and Aunt & Uncle. Of course, it was a “Cars” Christmas this year.