It started with a reply to a blog entry back in February. I clicked on his profile link and began to explore who this person was. Curious by what I found I sent him a connection request, joined his group and soon we became virtual friends in this playground called XING.
Dean Hua represents a XING’ster ‘true and blue’ (Aussie speak). He’s mastered the art of a digital identity – without even realising it. And until a few weeks back when we shared a bowl of edamame in Washington I would have sworn that he was a different person.
As synchronicity would have it, reading The Virtual Handshake on the journey from Hamburg to Washington, I became obsessed with the whole concept of digital identity. You see, Dean is a super cool, fun, smart, young entrepreneur who designs vibrant sites and moderates one of the most popular English communities on XING the Entrepreneurs Playground . I was certain that he’d be totally out there as a person in real life. He was all but one ingredient. Which confused the real Dean from the virtual Dean in my mind. And that was that he’s actually quite… quiet… And as I later learned when I started raving about the book I’d just read, he’s a case study in it!
As we explore the depths of this social phenomenon of on-line networking tune into the perceptions you have in your mind of a person you’ve developed a virtual relationship with until that moment when you meet face to face…
Read Dean’s blog account of our meeting.
Link to this article:
http://blog.xing.com/2006/11/have-you-met-a-xingster-lately/trackback/
XING´s official twitter account
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Wonderful!
I’m registered in this Xing community.
Thanks a lot Mariaspika!
>>>And as I later learned when I started raving about the book I’d just read, he’s a case study in it!
Thanks Maria. I’m glad to be your case study rather than a basket case
Actually, I come into contact with quite a few people via phone or in person that I meet online from this or other sites. I think they all seem a little different than how they may come off online. I learned that early on so I try not to have too many preconcieved notions about them if and when I finally meet them face to face or phone for that matter.
I would highly recommend anyone to sit down and talk to Maria as she is one of those fascinating people that makes your brain work in overdrive with her own thought process and views of the world.
And next time, let me lead the way for coffee so that we won’t get lost in a big city like Washington DC
KIT
Dean
“As we explore the depths of this social phenomenon of on-line networking tune into the perceptions you have in your mind of a person you’ve developed a virtual relationship with until that moment when you meet face to face…”
I believe, this is a quite common experience in the web. Like, you read a book and later on you watch the movie (or visa versa). There is of course no substitute for a personal meeting. Almost all of my Xing contacts are from real life or are “completed” in real life if they had been originated in virtual networking. And there has been surprises. In both directions.
But that’s what life is all about. Isn’t it?
And a good social networking solution helps a lot
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