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Why I love my social media community

January 26th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

OK I don’t own the community but it’s one I belong to and this weekend I was left seriously impressed.

There are 2 groups. People I have met personally and people I only know online (IM, twitter, plurk, whatever…). Those of you I know personally have become really great friends and I trust them when it comes to a time of need. In the Pittsburgh area we’re one big family. The craft beer podcasting/blogging circles I run in are basically the same. We need something and there is always a person who offers help.

Then there was this weekend. 2 people whom I’ve never met and only have spoken with online offered to help me out thanks to Twitter.

XM Antenna – My XM Radio was dead in the water and I have a hard time living without it. After troubleshooting with support it was determined that a new antenna was needed. I posted on Twitter what happened and within minutes I had someone from out of town offer me their old antenna (a new one is $40). Fortunately I was able to pick one up elsewhere for free but the fact that someone I had just started following was being this generous was amazing to me. I’d say who he was but I don’t need the vultures after him :)

Dressers – The baby’s room had some extra furniture and I don’t own a truck. I had 2 options, give to someone or pitch to the dumpster. Granted I could have donated to Goodwill but that is a whole different mess. We didn’t want any money, we wanted to give these to someone who would get use out of them so I posted on Twitter (and this site).  Within 2 minutes I had offers. They went to Megan who’s future brother in law was in need of dressers and had a truck. Sunday afternoon he shows up and takes them away. I have never met her before but we’ve chatted on a couple formats.  Again, social networking coming to the rescue. It was brought up to me that I could have posted on Freecycle but I wasn’t comfortable with a complete stranger coming to my house. Granted that I had never met Megan but I knew enough that it didn’t bother me.

This weekend was a great example that the internet isn’t filled with the horrors that Chris Hansen wants you to believe. There are great people out there who may not know it but little actions like this mean a lot. I’m proud to boast that Pittsburgh and SW PA has a great community. In fact I hear on a regular basis that other cities wish they could have a community as tight as ours. Everyone I have encountered with online or IRL has a genuine soul. Either I have the ability to weed out the jagoffs or the reason why people get involved in social media is because they need an escape from everyday life and are good people. I see messages everyday online of people helping others through tools like Twitter and Plurk. Maybe this is the next step in rebuilding faith in humanity.

Thank you Pittsburgh.

Oh in case you missed them, here are the dressers


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    Categories: Friends, Pittsburgh
    • http://37roses.com Jennie

      Oh Doogle, big hugs! We love you too! Are you able to attend the TweetUp HeatUp tonight? It will once again prove the multitude of the genuine people we’ve got in this thing.

    • http://www.craftbeerradio.com Jeff Bearer

      If I’m getting rid of something and it’s not complete junk I always post it on freecycle. You would be surprised at the crap people will come and get. Yesterday I saved a 1960′s slide projector, with 30 years of dust on the lens from the landfill. Over the past few years I’ve not thrown out over a hundred items. And most of the time, you can just set it on the porch, and not have to deal with the freecycle people in person.

      I love the freecyclers who ask for stuff like an xbox 360, or a car that is reliable.

    • http://douglasderda.com douglas

      Jennie, I wish I could but Lushie have a week of baby/birth related classes at night. We’re hitting crunch time to get everything ready.

      Jeff, oh I agree if you’re trying to dump some things it’s really useful and I may have a few more things to go as I’m cleaning up the basement. If it wasn’t for Megan those dressers would have been yours :)

      Anyone need Decanters? great for wine or liquor :) I have about 5-6 that need a home.

    • http://www.burghbaby.com Burgh Baby

      I can tell you first hand that Pittsburgh social media is special. I know of very few so-called mommy bloggers that are even acknowledged by bloggers and podcasters from other aspects of life. In Pittsburgh, it’s rare that someone even cares what you talk about on your site. It’s nothing but support.

      You get some credit for that, btw. ;-)

    • http://www.burghseyeview.com Hutch Jr.

      I feel the same way and I’m glad I got the chance to meet you. I wish I could’ve caught up with you in Shadyside tonight, I took the Military Special for a spin. Maybe I’ll get up to Wexford for the next tasting…I think it’s Magic Hat

    • http://douglasderda.com douglas

      I’m booked all week with baby classes of some sort so I won’t be at 3 Sons this week. puppy is working late so he probably wont be there either. We may do next week though!