Un-social me

Since most of you who read this actually know me (I think), you know that I am not a particularly social creature. I enjoy people watching, but I much prefer to sit on the sidelines and rarely interact with people I don't know, or don't know well. And I'm actually happy like this (I know, it's weird, right?). I don't feel left out, or like a wallflower or anything. I don't crave having a big group of friends, and would often rather sit home and read or knit or catch up on Swingtown or what have you than go out with a bunch of people. So it's probably no surprise that I just don't get social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, or what have you). LinkedIn and Naymz make sense to me, because those are more about business networking, and you're expected to only link to people you actually know, however peripherally. But I don't get the "friending" of people you've never met or interacted with.

So I'm on Ravelry, which is in part a social networking site for knitters. I'm on there for other reasons: the project/stash/etc. tracking tools are amazing and incredibly useful. But I do belong to a few groups, though I tend to just lurk, and even that not very much. So on one of the groups is a fellow whose blog I read (I believe I've even commented on it once or twice), and who I'm pretty sure I've actually encountered in person at The Point. And I think he's pretty cool (I'm also pretty sure he's gay, Kit, it's not like that). So I was thinking about "friending" him, but I just felt weird doing it. I mean, as far as I know, he doesn't know me from Adam. I know it would be unlikely for me to approach him in person, so I think it would be a little weird for me to "approach" him online. Am I wrong? Is it normal to friend someone who you sort of know but who you think doesn't know you? Is that how these things work? I just don't know. As I said, I don't get it. But at least I know I don't get it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, they say.

posted by Laura Y. @ 4:50 PM