Your online relationships, conversations and creativity are as real as anything you do offline. That’s the message I delivered last weekend at Northern Voice, Canada’s leading blogging conference. My talk, titled Stop Apologizing for Your Online Life, jumped off from the HBR post I wrote last year (which itself jumped off from a much longer work I’ve been developing over the past couple of years).
But as so often happens, brevity brings clarity. The tweets that popped up during my talk in many cases distilled my key points better than I have myself. So let me share some of the highlights — including not only the awesome 140-character summaries but also some of the inspired and inspiring results.
tbains |
“Start getting real. Tips: Make real friends. Take the idea of friendship literally on at least 1 platform.” via @awsamuel #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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danhooker |
Directing our attention is the number one way we can direct the growth of the web. @awsamuel #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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npdemers |
If you’re going to be online, you need to commit to creating meaning, not just filling (virtual) space @awsamuel #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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jason_baker |
Our conversation doesn’t count online by using I.R.L. It’s a mask for apologizing. Start using R.L.T = Real Life Too read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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loxyisme |
“Stop using this fucking acronym: IRL” @awsamuel #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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krystlesivorot |
“If you say my online life isn’t real, my Facebook friends will kick your ass” @awsamuel sticker quote #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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lothwe |
“The next time someone tells you you can’t be “friends” with someone thru Twitter/FB, the appropriate response is $%@& you” @awsamuel #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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maryleong |
@awsamuel: Online life isn’t just about multitasking – you can be as present online as you are in person. #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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| jarrahpenguin | Sorry Kevin B who just friend requested me on FB – I went to @awsamuel‘s talk earlier today and I’m ignoring you RLT #nv11 read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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jdcasa |
Hey @awsamuel, I met my online bro @kootenayborn for the 1st time (offline) at your #nv11 talk. 🙂 #rlt read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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pinkpom |
Everybody on the internet is human, with their own sad story. Even the dicks. Especially the dicks. read, reply or RT this on Twitter |
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Thanks to everybody who shared their response to this talk, both online and offline. And a special thank you to Sandi Amorim for including me in her great blogger’s eye view of this year’s Northern Voice, and to Mike Vardy for an extraordinarily generous words about my talk in his Northern Voice piece for The Next Web.
I’m so delighted this talk struck a chord, and hope I’ll have a chance to bring this message to other conferences and groups in the future. If your organization or event is ready to hear about how they can stop apologizing for life online, I hope you’ll get in touch.
Great post! I’m sorry that I missed your talk, but I appreciated all the tweets from attendees of your session.