How A Crush on Pete Cashmore Changed My Life

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by Mallory Dash

OK, maybe “changed my life” is too strong. But read on…

The year was 2007, and I had just begun my young career in tech PR, with nary an interest in Teh Webs, and I didn’t even know what a Twhirl or an Om or a Soshal Meedya was. A few days into my new job, I was doing some research on Silicon Valley movers and shakers, and ran across…

The most beautiful man in the world: Pete Cashmore.

I instantly became hooked on this man and his work, reading Valleywag post after Valleywag post on this Adonis of the Interwebs, this Wonderman of Web 2.0, this Justin Timberlake of Juicy Technology, this Sexy Man of Social Media. Obvi, I immediately placed Mashable on my newly formed Google Reader page, and even started out on this thing called Twitter to follow his updates. Stalker? Me?

Fast forward to 2009. I write for a highly important news source (hey, you’re reading this…), have people that care enough about my life updates to follow me on twitter, go to networking things/tweetups/nerd socials weekly, and actually have stood awkwardly next to met Pete a whole TWO times by now at different events! I know!

What happened in between was my own personal interest/growth/infatuation with social media and using the web to interact with others. But what made my experience more fulfilling was the fact that I was able to actually meet with people in person, through networking events, one-on-one coffees, meetups and even tweetups (even if that word still makes me shudder). In short, I was and am able to forge real relationships with real people through social media, which has proved valuable in both my personal life and my career. And yeah, so while Pete may still have no idea who I am, I have made connections with reporters, PR people, and just plain People that I otherwise never would have if I hadn’t stumbled upon this massive world of the social web.

Which leads me to the point that the value of social media lies in the Social- the tangible, physical connections that make life more interesting, varied and worthwhile. It makes me wonder if my career and social circle would be where it is now if I were a PR professional say, 10 or even 5 years ago.

What was the tipping point in your social media experience? Chances are, it was less creepy than mine…

Oh yeah, and before I forget. If you want to get socsh with the Hoboken crew, the 2nd Hoboken Social Media Meetup is next Tuesday, April 14th. Location will most likely be Trinity, on 3rd and Sinatra… hope to see you there!