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Have you Poked anyone lately?

I don't share personal break-throughs here anymore but Moni and John encouraged me to come out here and tell you. Here's the twitter proof (It's THEIR fault)!

Twitter NeWS

So what's the news?

I found an old lost cousin from Venezuela that I have not spoken to in over 20 years through facebook!!

It all started last week when I told my sister that some grade school friends from Venezuela had found me. My sister is clueless about technology and much less social networking, so she signed up and found a bunch of people and even convinced my mom (anti-computer queen) to join. Missy Caulk even joined in the fun and became one of my mom's facebook friends.

Today I get an e-mail notifiying me that my cousin wants to become "friends". I had lost total contact with him and can't believe we were writing back and forth learning about our lives.

Social Networks - beyond fun (or not)

So here's the scoop - I use Twitter, Facebook, linkedIn....and all the other social networks for business. I have met a lot of local business owners, I have learned about new products and new blogs that I would not have ever found on my own. I don't waste a lot of time there and check it ocassionally to see what's new, but the source of information is priceless......and to think that now it has also added to my personal life is unbelievable!

**on a side note - before this week, the most enjoyable part of facebook was being poked by Jeff Turner** (I just HAD to add that!

Go ahead and give it a try

My Venezuelan cousin came back to life through Facebook, I have even become friends with a second cousin from The UK. I can now have regular conversations with my best friend from grade school who lives in Spain. Talk about the Global Power of Social Networking!!

Here's some great articles about social networking in the rain:

John Novak and Facebook

Cheryl Johnson decides to give it a second chance

Pat Kitano gives us a guide

Jeff Turner convinces TLW

Rich Jacobson explains why

Posted by Rick & Ines - Miami Beach Real Estate on 05/18/2008 10:59 PM

Comments (30)

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Originally posted at: Miami Real Estate Blog: Have you Poked anyone lately?

30 Comments on Have you Poked anyone lately?

MAY

2008

Congrats on finding someone through facebook! I found an old Boss I was trying to track down through Lyro.com And now I'm using Facebook to connect with family all over the US I don't get to talk to very often.

Ines ~ What exciting news! It is delightful how many "lost" people are coming together via social networking. What a wonderful use of technology!

Ines, that is soooooo cool! Our world is getting smaller and smaller through social media. I have made so many friends - people that I've met and tons that I can't wait to have an opportunity to mee. It's so much fun!!!

Congratulations on connecting with your cousin!

How awesome! The internet is making our world a closer place - Congrats on re-connecting with your long, lost cousin! - Carla

I know one thing...this place here is getting big...and sometimes lonely...but I found you guys over there....and though I get busy sometimes...guaranty I'll be back.

Bo - thank you! it's really exciting. To think that it's so easy to track down people nowadays.

KK - I could not have even imagined! and I have found family all over the world. Just this week, my English cousin that lives in NY asked for help to find a rental - think how difficult it would have been to get her help just 3 short years ago.

Irina - I thought so too (I'm still pinching myself)

Carla - thank-you - we cannot underestimate the power of the Internet

Sally - see, I told you 5 more minutes! :)

MAY

2008

Ines - Good to see you here on the Rain. Social networks seems to be connecting family members I remembered Jay's story. Glad to hear that your mom decided to get in on the fun. It is amazing how many seniors have now gotten involved, but then again it is a great way to stay in touch with the grand kids.

Hey Ines,

Although I feel facebook is more of a chat room I did find a few people from my past...it's pretty cool seeing what they look like now and what they are doing. I even found a first cousin who I haven't talked to since she was little and now is pregnant with her own:) I'm a member of many of these social networks so it's just hard to keep up with them all.

Ines, how great! I am still learning how to use these but am trying. I haven't found anyone from my past yet but have fun, especially on Twitter. Still haven't taken the time to learn how to add the "tinyurls". Is there a place I can go to learn?

Hmmm never been "poked" on line... could be interesting - could be fun! <grin>

Hope all is well with you.

Jennifer - I even think my mom has found a way to communicate with me during the day when I'm busy. She can't believe it's easier to text me than to call me! : )

Neal - I totally agree. I even see the different social networks peak at different times. I had not even touched FB in over a month and all of a sudden got bombarded with new inquiries. BTW, I have to call you today for a weston referral.

Diane - you can actually go to www.tinyurl.com to convert. You can also load Twirl (which is a fabulous application) and it will have a button to shorten url's on the spot.

Hi Desiree - funny thing about the "poking" is that everytime I get one, it puts a big smile on my face!

Very nice Ines, I have now been found twice as well - once by an old friend and more recently by a relative as well that I too had lost touch with.

I love your story Ines and I am so glad you posted it! LOL very creative way to promote Twitter :)

So will you be planning a face to face meeting sometime in the future?

Ines, I am on several of the places you mention but it's hard to keep up. But I am thrilled to hear you found a long lost cousin, that's exactly what happened to me this year :)

Cool Inez -- congratulations on finding a family member and reconnecting! Amazing what is possible!

Steve - what's amazing to me is not how far we've come with technology, but how fast it is all happening. Imagine where we'll be in a few years?

Moni - it's funny how it was a Facebook story and ended up promoting Twitter (who wudda thunk?)

Of course we'll be planning a face to face in the near future. We just have to figure out who will travel where, but it will definitely happen.

....and thanks for the push btw ;)

Carole - It figures I'm not alone, a lot of people are being found and it's amazing. It is hard to keep up, but you can do as I do and just let it happen.

Lori - thank you! Now I'm thinking of names of friends I have not seen in years to see if I find them - give it a try.

Ines - Recently one of my college roommates found me on Facebook. She has moved several times and I thought that was it. Then last week she poked me on Facebook. It really was great catching up.

Ines...

I am going to TWOAR you with this one :)

TLW...ROAR!

Ines that is great, being able to contact someone that you had lost contact with for years, but if your Mom reads this and sees that you called her the "anti-computer queen" she is going to give you a spanking :) :)

Hola Ines - and you were not even going to tell 'us' about this???? Bad Ines!

Cool news, and isn't it amazing how the world has gotten so much smaller with the internet and all the social networking sites connecting people all over the place?

Ann

Ines... this is great news. I may need to go poke you just to celebrate. :)

Maureen - that is too cool (I'm hoping to find some long lost high school buddies) - we'll see.

TLW - TWOAR back at ya! LOL!

George - HA! I think it will be worst than a spanking - somehow she got to my twitter feed through facebook and asked "so.....do you really twitter from the bathroom when I'm at your house?" OUCH!!!

Ann - I think that's a great way to put it - the world HAS gotten smaller thanks to the Internet. (I did share btw, just not in blog format at first)

Jeff - poke away my friend......I get a smile on my face every single time.

......talking about poking.....when are we doing that 3-way? TLW has to stay up one of these nights

Very cool story about finding your extended family through social media. I'm glad you came to the Rain to share it with everyone!

One of my first Facebook memories is "Mariana has thrown a sheep at you." Sounds entirely silly to the non-users, but in a strange way it's things like that that help us play and interact, and pave the way for deeper online connections.

I haven't poked anyone on Twitter yet. Is it the same as the Facebook poke? I walk a fine line to keep my You Tube life seperate from my real estate life since I don't want my You Tube "friends" to know my real last name. I have a fake one for them. So I do use most of these services, but they're separated.

John - place your curson over your facebook link on the bottom of the post - LOL. I loved that aspect of facebook - throwing sheep, buying drinks, round-housing people - b*tch slapping!! It's hilarious and memorable. Thanks for the push btw - I had forgotten what it felt to write over here.