Oh, the irony!

I have a terrible secret that I feel I must admit. For the last few months I've been part of the Specialized Trail Crew, and to attain that position I had to prove my social media chops. Twitter feed and following, blogging ability, community involvement- these were all crucial metrics that I was judged by and deemed decent enough to make the cut. Along with attaining the position in the Trail Crew (along with 7 other guys) I got a pretty nice bike, a bunch of gear, and a few mtn bike trips.

Here's my deep, dark secret: I'm not really all that social. I'm actually sort of shy and quite awkward, at least until I get to know someone. I don't really talk to people in bars unless they start talking to me first and then that makes me feel even more squeamish. The one instance where I actually got a girl's phone number at a bar was initiated by me choking on an ice cube, inevitably starting conversation. I rarely say "hi" to people on the street (although that's probably a result of my NY roots). But somehow somewhere around 300 people (appear to) find my insights throughout the day interesting. And that I find fascinating.

I didn't really think much about this until this morning. I was walking to La Tinga (a local mexican joint) for some breakfast burritos for my co-workers and me. As I'm standing on the corner waiting for the light to change I hear a voice behind me: "are you John?" I turn and the dude on the bike says, " I'm Jared, @jradness on Twitter".

Now at this point I imagine an adept social media junkie invested in promoting his personal brand would take this opportunity to solidify a connection within his network and probably leverage that to get some free drinks, show tickets, mention on a TV show, a job, whatever. I say "imagine" because I simply blurted out, "I'M GETTING BURRITOS. LA TINGA'S OPEN."

Knucklehead.

So if I run into you one day, don't be put off if I appear a bit awkward. I'm actually quite nice and very passionate about the things I'm into, which is probably why I try to share those things with everyone who will listen. And I guess that is what is pretty nifty about what the level of connectedness allows- personal connections based in shared passions despite any interpersonal social blundering. For that, I'm quite thankful.

I'll still let you buy me a beer though.