When My Worlds Collide

Apparently I know a lot about #moms. I don't know where this started and I don't know when it started. All I know is that on Klout, I've been deemed to be an influencer in the realm of the motherly.

This is both uncomfortably awkward and terrifically amazing. All at once.

The awesome part lies in the fact that some fancy algorithm out there seems to believe that what I have to say has some type of meaning of import to those that are listening (or reading or whatever you want to call it). But, the awkwardness comes from those moments when the real world collides with the virtual world. In other words, when my expertise in the realm of moms comes up during face to face interactions with other people.

Yes - that's when things get weird.
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Just the other night, while walking to Von Bar on Bleecker Street, I zoned out for a bit while a few friends were talking about activity on Instagram. Must've been the five glasses of wine I had during open bar at the charity date auction.

"You haven't been posting much since Iceland."

When I looked up, I realized that this was a reference made toward me and my dry spell on the photo filtering app.

"Damn, I didn't realize that anyone paid much attention to my posting patterns."

It felt nice to know that someone looked forward to the pictures that I take. Sort of a testament to my ability to select the best possible filter before sharing images out via Facebook, Twitter and every other social network box that I can mark in the app. Yet, I was again made uncomfortable by this willingness to make real world references to my virtual presence.

For the longest time, I was accustomed to divided my conversations. Online postings were simply my ramblings at and with the "interwebs." But now, as I find myself deeply embedded in the school environments, I've found offline chatter about online chatter spark back up. Almost to the level it reached in undergrad after had finished having their minds blown about the advent on Facebook and modern social networking.

By no means does this discomfort mean that I'll begin to further filter the types of things that I say on the internet. I'll keep talking about #moms and I'll keep racking up those Klout points as the company's algorithm sees fit. Yet, it does mean that I'll need to be prepared for the real world consequences of my musings. Perhaps I'll just start to prepare a set of offline talking points to go along with each post that I share that manages to get the attention of more than a handful of people.

And if you'd like to get a sense of what I actually know about moms, you can always follow me on Twitter!

Yours truly,
@drayford