Say what you need to say...

What are you doing?

What's on your mind?

I'll Facebook you...friend me...follow me...send me a tweet...check out my latest blog...IM me...email me...call me...meet me for dinner...

What does it all mean?

We all communicate in different ways, and many of us are now using new technology to communicate with each other and reach out to communicate with those we don't even know.

As most of you know, I Twitter, I Facebook, I obviously blog...but hey, I also might send a friend an email. I might even call some of them. And yes, I might actually meet with some in person. Crazy, right?

Is one way right or wrong? Is one way superior to another? I think not. And I think most of you would agree with me. And frankly, whether you do or don't is really of no consequence to me. I think the way you communicate varies depending on the person and the reason you need to communicate.

There are some friends I literally never talk to on the phone...it's just not something we do. But they are no less my friends than those I do talk to on the phone. And it's impossible to get together in person with some friends because they have the nerve to live in other towns and/or states. However, because of all the technology available to us, I don't feel any less close to them either. We're able to keep in touch in a variety of ways.

Finally, there are new friends I've met, at least virtually, through Twitter and Facebook. I may never meet some of these folks in person, and that's okay. Our friendship may never require that. I do wonder though, if we were to ever meet in person, if we would be able to sustain the conversation we have started online.

The dynamic of conversation does seem to depend on how the relationship started. For people we meet in person, conversing online in some fashion is fairly simple...it's a continuation of what we started in the real world. However, for those we met online, and have possibly never met in person, we may hold back in our conversation. We may choose to only share certain aspects of ourselves. There's also the opportunity to be someone we're not...maybe someone we'd like to be...someone we wish we were.

I read various tweets and am amazed at the level of depth some people aspire to. Then I wonder...are they kidding me? Are they really that deep? Or are they just searching for attention? Wondering how far they can take something?

My tweets and status updates are pretty basic...although sometimes I do go on a lyric frenzy. Some say it's boring to share where you are throughout your day...that they don't really care that you are on your way to lunch/just had lunch/having a nap/heading to bed. I don't know if it's boring, but I know that 100+ people follow me on Twitter and almost 400 are my friends on Facebook, and there's no way I know that many people in real life...so there must be something interesting about what I say.

Anyhow...I guess that's enough conversing about conversing for one night. I'd be curious to hear what you think about some of this stuff.

Oh...and answers to the April 18 lyric quiz:

#1 - Matt Nathanson/Come on Get Higher

#2 - Lifehouse/The Joke

#3 - Thirty Seconds to Mars/From Yesterday

#4 - Kelly Clarkson/I Do Not Hook Up

#5 - Jars of Clay/Closer

How'd you do?