Virtual superman is just a geek

I find it interesting that as we plan to launch our online business information and networking service called Monday Morning that I’m looking forward to a face to face meeting with the partners today. We Skype daily, we Twitter, we Google, we Ning and we email - but what a great thing face to face interaction will be. Why is this so important? It’s about the emotional connection, the strengthening of bonds, and establishment of trust for a start.
In the mid 1990’s there was a new phenomenon called “chat”. Chat rooms were appearing all over the place as internet connections, mainly dial up, were becoming more ubiquitous. Chat was a precursor to the Facebook and Twitter social networks of today. People were forming superficial relationships with lots of information exchanging going on. Albeit much of it inane or flirtatious dalliances. I never subscribed to this forum back then; it was just too geeky for my liking.
A friend of mine demonstrated the almost cliché result of what can happen with this form of interaction, her chat group decided to meet up in person, and they just didn’t get on. Even after a year of almost constant communication they could not establish a connection in a real world situation. The anonymous bravado of the exchanges had blown their expectations of each other out of proportion and reality just ended up being a crushing disappointment, here words not mine. It turned out that the superman she was virtually in love with was just a geek.
While I totally recommend the use of the web technologies we will be introducing as part of the first Monday Morning Webinar, the face to face aspect has to be a factor in long term strategies. Virtual environments save time and create efficiencies but there’s nothing more satisfying as looking someone in the eye - good old fashioned human interaction.