Friendship in the Time of Twitter
Friday night I had some pizza and a couple drinks with friends. But these weren’t work friends or friends from college or high school, they were friends I met through Twitter due to our shared passion for travel. It was one of a dozen tweet-ups we’ve had with our Atlanta Travel Tweet-up group, and the dynamic is so unique.
Most friendships start because of being thrown together in some way, whether the two people are sitting next to each other in class, or they see each other every day at work, or they live in the same building. They usually need to have some common interests to keep the friendship going, but generally they just sort of develop organically over time due to close proximity. Some people make friends through team sports, which gives them a good base for friendship, but the closest I’ve had to that was marching band (I played clarinet in case you were wondering) in high school. I did meet my best friend Rachel there through a shared hatred of wearing ugly wool uniforms in 90F degree weather and a desire to never hear the song “You Can Call Me Al” again. (Since typing that, it’s now stuck in my head…damn it.) But last summer a few travel lovers sought out new friendships.
Spencer, who writes about mental journeys as well as physical travels, was coming to Atlanta for a few days, so a few of us who knew each other only on Twitter organized a tweet-up at Fado Irish Pub. This was the birth of our tweet-up group.
Caroline was the organizer, setting up the Facebook page and the Twitter account, and coming up with ideas for our tweet-ups. We went to a local brewery, Chris Guillebeau’s book tour, and various dinners usually at restaurants with international cuisine. She recently left to go to Australia on her work/travel visa and turned the Facebook page and Twitter account over to me. I was sad to see her go, not only because I can’t quite figure out the event function on the Facebook page, but because we had fun gossiping and talking about boys.
Nick joined us from the beginning too. A self-proclaimed introvert, he can be a bit quiet at first, but I learned quickly how hilarious he truly is. Like the rest of us, he enjoys traveling and has big plans for changing his life to include more travel and not be tied down to a location. He likes to entertain us with hooker metaphors, and I always find myself laughing out loud when reading his blog.
Brandon is a social media consultant for socially conscience companies and organizations, he has an incredibly warm heart, and he’s planning a cross country road trip to Portland and beyond. He lives in an AMAZING loft (which is for sale) with great views of the city. We hung out at his place for our most recent tweet-up and spent most of the night on the roof enjoying the spring air.

Other great people I’ve met in Atlanta: Amy and I met at a Google Travel Tweet-up last spring, and she is planning her dream vacation to Australia later this year. Jonathan and I met at the same Google Travel Tweet-up. He is a travel agent specializing in Ireland and the UK. Akila and Patrick are currently on the road and met up with us once while visiting family in the Atlanta area. I know I’m forgetting a few, but you get the idea.
We all love to travel but have different goals and different ways of traveling. We’re more interested in each other’s future than past, and we’ve only vaguely discussed details like careers. I feel like we skipped some of that getting to know each other stuff because we already share a common passion. We don’t always do or want what most people think of as normal or traditional. Meeting these people has made me realize that I’m not alone, and that the possibilities are endless. We can relate to each other’s desire to travel the world and break convention. It’s like having a support group for travel addicts, except we encourage each other’s addiction. As I sat on the roof, I couldn’t help but smile.
Bonus points for Twitter: I met the love of my life through Twitter. Doesn’t get any better than that!
You might also enjoy:
- On Living a Non-Traditional Life
- 3 Years into the Life I Never Could’ve Imagined
- Non-Traditional Interviews: Living in a Caravan in New Zealand
April 11, 2011 @ 12:02 AM
It’s really awesome how the internet has changed how we connect to people. Like you said, most friendships are based on geography and when that’s gone, the friendship generally follows.
As an introvert, It generally takes some time to be able to connect with people. Blogging and twitter makes it much easier to find people that have more in common then just location.
It’s interesting that the whole “What do you do?” doesn’t come up in our conversations, at least not at first.
I recently got to meet a bunch of people in Austin that I knew online. There wasn’t any awkwardness as some people might think, it was actually more natural then the dreadful networking event. As an introvert it was a bit overwhelming, but most events are as crazy as SXSW.
I’m really glad that I’ve gotten to know you and every one else. The internet was supposed to turn everybody into hermits, but that myth has been busted. I’m more social now then I’ve ever been.
By the way, I’m not familiar with this song… that’s probably a good thing.
April 11, 2011 @ 12:17 AM
Yeah, I think that awkwardness isn’t there because we already know we’ll probably get along well, we already have common ground. I agree about that myth of the internet turning us into hermits, definitely not the case with the people we know.
April 10, 2011 @ 11:23 PM
I met two people in person in Sydney, Australia (@Vagabondquest) whom I originally met on Twitter and my website, and we’re still friends. It was really, really cool to sit and talk travel with them, because there’s really no one else I can talk travel with like that. Twitter seemed so cold to me at first, but there really are real people out there. It’s a great idea to connect with them.
April 10, 2011 @ 11:27 PM
Thanks Sabina! It took me months to really understand Twitter, but once I got the hang of it, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I’ve met so many great people!
April 11, 2011 @ 12:01 AM
Hey Ali – I’m really glad we connected on Twitter and got a chance to hang out. Sorry I was falling asleep on you Friday night! I guess I was more exhausted than I thought after the new site launch.
Anyway, I look forward to the next one before I hit the road. It’s all happening so fast now…
Talk with you soon. 🙂
April 11, 2011 @ 12:10 AM
I think I was falling asleep too. We’ll definitely have to hang out again soon, plus I owe you a meal!
April 11, 2011 @ 12:16 AM
Ah, the weird and wonderful world of twitter. I’ve “met” some amazing people on there. I should start a tweet-up in Portland! Anyway, that was fun to read your story. I love the different ways of connecting these days.
April 11, 2011 @ 12:46 AM
Thanks Kim! You totally should put something together, there are tons of travel people in Portland!
April 11, 2011 @ 1:35 AM
Aww I miss you guys! I will be back in December so I will tweet up with whoever will still be there!
April 11, 2011 @ 7:09 AM
I guess “back in December” means you decided to stay the whole year, sounds great!
April 11, 2011 @ 6:28 AM
Great post.
Here we are in the middle of a mileage run and – just last night – we were talking about how we know people in every city we’re visiting. Thanks to the Internet. All along our journey, we’ve been able to meet up with people who have shared a perspective of their cities that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen.
Looks like we have lots of great people to meet if we make it to Atlanta!
April 11, 2011 @ 7:10 AM
Thanks! Yep, definitely a handful of us here, let me know if you do make it to Atlanta!
April 11, 2011 @ 9:01 AM
Aww, thanks for including me in your post! 🙂 I’m glad we met at the Google Travel event and I hate that I haven’t been able to get together for some of the more recent Tweet-ups. I definitely want to try and make it to the next one for sure.
I love that the internet provide opportunities to people with like interests to find each other. It’s been great finding people on Twitter to follow (not that I always interact with them) and read about their thoughts/travels.
April 11, 2011 @ 11:36 PM
I totally understand, things get in the way sometimes. I’m sure we’ll try to have another one soon!
April 11, 2011 @ 11:51 AM
Oh man you know I love twitter & the reason I love it is because of what you said here. I am at the start of my RTW trip and I have already met a handful of tweeps that I have been chatting for months and I love it. Its so awesome to just meet and know you already share a passion for traveling and for blogging. You instantly have a million things to talk about. They also turn into a support group for all the crazy ideas you have floating in your head…lol!!!
April 11, 2011 @ 11:37 PM
Exactly! I can’t wait to meet even more twitter friends, including you!
April 11, 2011 @ 12:11 PM
Cool story. It’s amazing how easy it is to meet up with people you’ve met on Twitter. I was recently at the TBU Conference in Manchester and it was great to actually meet people I had only met on Twitter before and you’re right, the bond is almost immediate and so nice to talk about the future and not the past.
April 11, 2011 @ 11:39 PM
TBU sounded like it was lots of fun, awesome that you got to meet so many people you’ve talked to on twitter! I’m looking forward to that at TBEX in June.
April 13, 2011 @ 9:04 AM
I love Twitter and can’t wait to finally meet up with tweeps this summer at the WDS AND TBEX conferences including you Ali…and you Kim…and Nick, will you be there too? Gonna be good times! Cheers!
April 13, 2011 @ 1:04 PM
I’ll be at TBEX, can’t wait to meet you!
April 13, 2011 @ 5:58 PM
So glad that we got to meet y’all while we were in Atlanta! We’ll definitely hope to do it again next time we’re in ATL. And, very much looking forward to TBEX.
April 13, 2011 @ 7:34 PM
Yep, only 2 months until TBEX!
April 19, 2011 @ 6:36 PM
I really love meeting my Twitter and travel peeps. Nick was no exception – especially once you get him talking.
April 20, 2011 @ 5:26 AM
Yeah Nick is a great guy, glad you got to meet him!
April 29, 2011 @ 4:00 PM
I’ve met some truly fantastic people through the Twitter travel scene and made some fantastic new (and close) friends! It’s funny when you think that the point of Facebook is to connect with people you already know, whereas the point of Twitter seems to be the exact opposite!
And Ali, can’t wait to meet you at TBEX!
April 29, 2011 @ 7:48 PM
I totally agree with you, I’m so glad I joined Twitter because of all the people it’s led me to. Looking forward to meeting you at TBEX too!
The Friday Five--Awesome Travel Blog Posts: April 29, 2011 - Aaron's Worldwide Adventures
April 29, 2011 @ 4:20 PM
[…] Friendship in the Time of Twitter […]
Travel Writing Round Up [May 2011] « Caroline in the City
May 3, 2011 @ 5:47 AM
[…] “Friendship in the Time of Twitter,” Ali’s Adventures: I love this post and not just because I have a shout out in it. How many people can say they’ve met genuine friends on Twitter? Ones they would call in a real-life situation, not just to talk Twitter? I can count Ali, along with others I’ve met through the Atlanta Travel Tweetups, on that list. I left the group in good hands with her and although I wish I could be there to sip margaritas and talk travel, I know they’re doing just fine without me. […]
May 15, 2011 @ 1:04 PM
Hi,
It’s really nice to see how the social networks really connect people and create friendships or even relationships. I myself am a fan of Facebook and Twitter and consider them great websites through which you can meet new people and promote your business(es).
Joshua
May 24, 2011 @ 2:13 AM
Its the whole essence of social networking , or web 2.0 to be more precise, TO MAKE MORE FRIENDS. Its always easy to get anything done with having friends on your side, than doing it alone. And I even have taken time to visit my best virtual friends! 🙂
Travel Writing Round Up [May 2011] - Caroline in the City
August 1, 2012 @ 4:08 AM
[…] “Friendship in the Time of Twitter,” Ali’s Adventures: I love this post and not just because I have a shout out in it. How many people can say they’ve met genuine friends on Twitter? Ones they would call in a real-life situation, not just to talk Twitter? I can count Ali, along with others I’ve met through the Atlanta Travel Tweetups, on that list. I left the group in good hands with her and although I wish I could be there to sip margaritas and talk travel, I know they’re doing just fine without me. […]
How Twitter and Travel Changed My Life
October 15, 2012 @ 8:55 AM
[…] Friendship in the Time of Twitter by @AliAdventures7 […]