Social Media and Human Nature

Human Nature? What type of person are you? Are you the type to be skeptical about everyone you meet asking yourself “Ok, is this person for real or are they going to hurt me?” Are you judgmental when you meet someone? Are you willing to give a helping hand to someone who asks for it or do you want to know what their motives are before you help them? When using social media tools like twitter and face book are you less judgmental and more open to help someone as long as it is not face to face?

If I ask myself this question and if I am perfectly honest? I would have to admit the fact that I am somewhat more judgmental when I meet someone face to face rather than on the internet. Coming face to face with someone for the first time in today’s society can sometimes be a little scary. In today’s world the news is full of stories of people luring others to meet them and then hurting or even killing them. To actually meet someone that you have never met or have barely talked to on the phone or internet doesn’t give you a lot to go on what that person’s nature is like.

I like to think that I trust someone until they give me a reason not to trust them but within reason. I try not to put myself in situation where something could go wrong. For example, Chip and I met eight years ago through a yahoo chat room. I was a young disable woman and interested in finding someone to hopefully spend the rest of my life with and I was willing to take a chance on finding someone through the internet; although I had heard many horror stories about doing this as well. My first plan was to not put myself into a situation that would be hard to get out of. We chatted online for a good couple of months and I didn’t even give him my phone number until just before we met in person. When we finally did meet in person, it was in a public mall where I knew most of the people who worked there because I had worked there as a food delivery service person to the store employees for tips. Needless to say, I was relatively comfortable meeting anyone there. We spent about a month or so meeting and dating at the mall and other places around town. At the time neither of us was driving since he has poor vision and my van was out of commission. As I got to know him and realized that he was a very nice guy and I was falling in love I eventually let him know where I lived and we spent a lot more time together.

Anyway, my point is that I’m the type that likes to know what I’m getting into and that I am actually helping someone when I give them assistance. Some people are more trusting from the get go than I am. Willing to give help without thinking about it first. I wish I was a little more like this but sometimes I think it can also get you into some trouble that you didn’t count on.

There are two people on twitter that I really have to say that I admire. They are usernames Amtrekker and Twitchhiker. I first found out about Amtrekker on geocaching.com and then twitter. He is a guy that had a list of 50 things he wanted to do in his lifetime and he quit his job relying on the kindness of strangers from the internet to help him accomplish them by traveling around the U.S and Canada on a shoestring budget and not paying for a single night of accomodations. He then made videos and blogged about his adventures for all to enjoy. You can find his adventures here http://www.amtrekker.com . Twitchhiker is a more recent adventurer who, like Amtrekker, is traveling around the world as far as he can go within 30 days only through the kindness of strangers from Twitter. His adventures can be found here http://www.twitchhiker.com . I really have to say that the adventures that these guys have been through really have strengthened my trust in human nature. The kindness that has been shown to them is overwhelming and goes to show that there really are more good, helpful, and reliable people in the world than the news on tv would have you believe.

Happy Adventures and Happy Blogging!

Nora