I just want to reinforce this point. It may be the single strongest reason why I continue to blog. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t need some more new old friends?
Picking up the Conversation Where We Left Off
Shel Israel has a post today about one of the most gratifying and unintended consequences of blogging: running into the friends you’ve never met before:
It is the strangest thing, and if you blog for a while, you’ll know what I’m talking about. You build these trusting friendships, with people you have never met face to face. Then you actually meet. In recent months, I’ve met face-to-face with Shel Holtz, Neville, Evelyn Rodriquez, Tom Raferty, Hugh MacLeod, Loic Le Meur and quite a few others. I considered each of these guys to be old friends before I ever laid eyes on them.
It is the strangest thing. I really like it.
When this happens to me, it feels like I’m re-connecting with an old friend, and we pick up our conversation where we left off.