"Sisterhood Of The Traveling Tweets"

           Let me start off by saying this: If you havent made any new friends, money, or business ventures from twitter, then you either really suck or are the biggest liar known to man. How many of us are afraid to admit that we're really good friends right now with or are dating somebody we met off a social network? Better yet, how many of us are just plain old anti-social on social networks? Lastly, how many of us actually like some of the people we've met via social network better than the ones we've known for years? Too many of us are so concerned with the opinions of the big personalities that run twitter, that we tend to miss out on great opportunities and people. I called this one Sisterhood of the Traveling Tweets (like the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) because I've become connected to some great people as a result of us catching a glimpse of each other's tweets.

           Whether our timelines are discussing relationships, careers, award shows, etc, we always come across that one person who either tweets something that just speaks to us or makes us laugh hysterically. Next thing you know, you both click follow, you converse on the timeline, finally meet each other at an event, and then you hit it off. Sometimes you actually form friendships with ppl you already knew but never really got the chance to talk to in depth. 2012 is upon us. It's okay, folks.

How is meeting someone at the bar different from meeting someone behind a computer? Or meeting someone through a friend different from meeting someone through a follower? They're both equal strangers to you.

The only things that could affect this tweet and greet are if either party has a ghostwriter for their account or if someone reinvented themselves on twitter (which we see a lot now). I think the real problem lies with those people who create an account actively looking for friends or love. You know, the ones that try too hard, follow/friend request everybody (even the people that arent funny), RT everything with a crying or tears face knowing the joke wasnt that funny, like all your statuses on facebook. You end up having 150 mutual friends/followers with this person and not 1 person out of the 150 knows him/her in real life. The ones that steal your tweets 24 hours after you've posted them to gain friends and clout with your ideas. Yeah, yall are annoying as hell. Dip! And go ask your mother for a hug. But for the most part, meeting people from social networks shouldnt be taboo.

           If you know me, then you know that I'm usually the common denominator (cc: @PardonMySwag) between different crowds of people. My male friends poke fun at me, saying that with every tweet, I'm ruining their diabolical plans of dating multiple girls at once since I'm bringing them all together via retweet. But I love people. People love me. I speak my mind and I don't care about people's opinions.

I'm not good friends with everybody nor do I go out of my way to be friends with people. However, I'm cool enough to give people a fair chance at making an impression on me.

If your nose is turned in the air and your attitude is stuck on "stank", you'll miss out on potentially groundbreaking opportunities. I didnt start this column by keeping my mouth closed and being unfriendly.

           Women are more likely to connect via twitter than guys are. But I've seen a lot more "bros" on my timeline lately, and I actually applaud it. I love the fact that people are coming together from different walks of life instead of having senseless beef. We're all out here supporting each other's events, blogs, clothing lines, and overall talents. When you look at the bigger picture, social networks have changed the game forever. Look at what happened with the search for Janice Lewis recently. All the "twitter homies" united and helped locate a family's prized possession.

           What I do find an issue with is that people can network on twitter, but cant network in person when it counts the most. If you can sell yourself on my timeline and slang your genitals in DMs, then you should be pitching yourself to the CEO of your company at that holiday party. No reason why you should have 2000 followers and be unemployed or without some sort of hustle. It's obvious that your voice is appreciated by people, so use it to do something bigger. New friendships are cool, but new connects are better.

@OffKourse asked, "We all have followers, but how many of us have professional references?"

           For those of you who have made my twitter experience nothing less than greatness, I salute you. From the daily laughs to the new friendships, it's been quite the journey. Some honorable mentions are Sioban, Tassika, Quiante, Sashan, Alicia, Tiff, Samara, Keisha, Lizeth,  Mikey, Seth, and Colton. You guys are dope!  

@T_Lloyd said, "You never know when a true friendship is coming into your life."

           Who knew that one could walk in by way of a username? Don't let people make you feel bad for using a social network for its exact purpose...to socialize. But in the same breath, don't make it your sole method of meeting people and don't mistake every follower for a friend or future partner. If you think a friendship is about to start from these sites, do a background check on these people. Investigate, ask around, google, know what you're getting yourself into. Failure to do so is how jawns with the same "him" end up tweeting each other, how a dude ends up dappin up his queen's boyfriend #2 just cuz he's funny, and how your old skeletons end up meeting your new bones. (cc: @YngBlk_PinUp)

           For you folks who had no identity prior to the social network wave, I sincerely pray for you. Your entire world is fantasy. Filled with fake love, fame, and friends. Filled with pure lies as if people don't know you off the internet. The scary part is that if you deleted your account, your life would be stagnant. No special invites, no way to meet people, nothing to do throughout the day. It's a shame. And to the ones who had an identity but lost it somewhere along their journey, Ima pray for you too. You put on a show to embarrass or expose your real life friends for your cyber buddies. You have fun with that. Too busy entertaining instead of showing your real family love. Too busy fabricating stories for your fanbase, that you forgot to make real memories with the ones that matter. I hope you find yourself again because there are people out there that genuinely love and need you.

           Now onto the fake friendships. Just because you're cool with somebody on twitter doesnt mean yall are besties in real life. I had one girl tell MY friend what she thought was my whole life story. I never even met the jawn before, all of her 'facts' were wrong, and she met my friend from twitter too!

Stop sharing information with people you just met, only to have it used against you later. Everybody is not the love of your life, bro, sis, mans, or whatever other terms of endearment we tend to use.

Cuz while you're telling them your business, they're spreading it to the people they really care about. If there's any life skill you should acquire, it's learning how to read people! Watch how people move, pay attention to what they say, what they do, and how they treat other people. And never underestimate people's relationships. You don't know who people are close with. Just because you've never seen them @ each other, that doesn't mean there aren't heartfelt conversations behind the scenes. Also, take a step back and look at yourself. Are people really your friends, or are they just cool with you? Don't get caught out there being the friend by association. Better yet, dont be that annoying mutual friend who thinks every person he/she meets through somebody is his/her friend.

           I don't care what anybody says. If you're not still friends with anyone from your childhood, your character is questionable unless you're a military baby. So if all your "friends" are from social networks, then you def aren't to be trusted. Who really knows you? Who watched you eat school lunch and can vouch for you? When you send out wedding and baby shower invites, will they be via facebook invite? Do better, yall. Don't get me wrong, people change with time. We weren't always the cool kid with swag. So if you've come up since then, kudos to you. I'm happy for you. But never forget where you came from. Humble yourself.

           Expand your network but don't lose yourself in it. Tighten up your circle but not to the point where you're the only one left in it. Be honest and open with the people that matter, but remember to be inviting to the people that possibly could. You could be one RT away from your next big break.

Hope you learned something. But if you didnt, remember this: Don't add me on LinkedIn if you don’t receive a W-2 or 1099. See yall next week!

- Davey Jones

Follow Me on Twitter: @_DaveyBaby

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