Isn’t it weird…
… how when we were younger, one of the main safety briefings we were told by mums and teachers was to never meet up with strangers from the internet. “Photos and screen names can be faked; you don’t know who they really are!”.
But nowadays I regularly put myself out there to meet up with strangers who I’ve connected with online, and I know plenty of others who do the same. It’s ridiculously common especially if you are self-employed, or have some kind of online-based blog or community. My best friend, Olivia, and I met because we’d followed each other’s blogs & Instagrams, got on well online and decided to meet up in person for a photoshoot.
I guess the point is that the advisors who taught us this mantra were focusing on the wrong part of that sentiment. I mean, yes, the internet does make it easier to meet strangers (and it makes it easier for people to put out ‘fake’ personas), but it also makes it easier to meet new friends, and clients too! Most businesses require that you meet people you’ve only met online before, and hey – just look at Tinder, right?
The point is not that you should never meet up with internet strangers – it’s that if you do decide to meet up with someone you feel you can trust, it should of course always be in a safe situation; whether you’re a child OR an adult. I think as adults we do this naturally; we meet people at the beach, or in a coffee shop, or at a bar or restaurant – situations with plenty of other people around. For children, always go with an adult, and for anyone who wants extra security – always tell someone where you’re going and who with too!
Anyway enough of the lecture – I simply wanted to share my observation that I meet most of my friends nowadays from the internet, and it’s funny that ‘meeting up with strangers’ is now something I do on the regular!
Last weekend, I meet up with Rosie from Rosie Gibson Creative; a photographer and travel blogger living in Launceston. We’d spoken a few times online, and she came down to Falmouth for our recent Cornish Creatives meet-up too, and we decided we fancied a photo-taking adventure somewhere on Saturday afternoon.
We agreed to meet up at Mevagissey – a quaint little fishing village on the coast of The Roseland peninsula that I’ve only ever visited once before age 10 when visiting a friend. We were both excited to take some photographs and to properly meet and chat for the first time!
It was a little bit grey and gloomy, but very still and calm (considering Storm Gareth hadn’t hit just yet) and we had a lovely time walking around the cobbled streets and taking photos of the harbour, chatting about freelance life and other random things.
This is why I love ‘meeting strangers from the internet’ – it’s so easy to find people you have loads in common with, and you end up therefore making some of your closest friendships.
I can imagine Mevagissey is a stunning little hive of activity during the Summer months, but it was so nice to have a look around while it was quiet – plus the weather made for some rather atmospheric photos!
It was nice to get out and about on a Saturday afternoon and tick off one of my Cornwall bucket list items finally! Now I just need more free weekends and some good weather to work on the rest.
All for it! Have met some wonderful people who, as you say, I have masses in common with! It is a great way to make new friends with a similar outlook or hobbies in a non-threatening way, especially if like me you’re an introvert (albeit in my case an extroverted one!). Especially now with Instagram Stories I think it is very hard to fake everything about yourself (and you can kind of tell on those accounts that are trying to present a certain persona), and so you end up getting to know the real person quite well. Now when I meet up with Insta-friends it feels exactly like meeting up with an old friend, and it’s bloody lovely! x
Love your pictures of Mevagissey! It is really quite pretty. Funny thing is – I’m set to move there, but I haven’t *actually* been there myself. It looks so lovely though – I can’t wait!