Lowcountry Geek

Those who know me know that I'm a pretty reserved person.

I have to feel pretty comfortable with you before I'll come out of my shell to engage in a conversation. Notice I said engage and not start-up a conversation. Even out of my shell it's unlikely that I'll start-up a conversation.

Carolyn and I joke all the time about how much I dislike crowds. Isaac, our eldest son, takes after me in that respect.

So all of that brings me to this: Am I really my avatar?

Irleslie the brand is much different than Irleslie the person. As the social media persona I'm constantly Tweeting, updating my Facebook status and 'checking in' on Foursquare. You'd have a pretty difficult time not finding me if you really wanted to.

I've tweeted about everything from Aaron's dirty diapers to my most recent speeding ticket.

It's easy to say that all of this is helping me develop my brand. But the truth is it's also helping me develop as a person.

It's through portals like Twitter that I've met people I honestly could say I'd never interact with otherwise because of my shyness.

If there were a group of people chatting at any sort of social function I'd likely keep my nose in my beer instead of meeting uber-cool, super talented people like @ErikShultz, @timwaz, and @nicolegalletta. Now I'm collaborating with those people and making plans to watch UFC pay-per-views.

So am I my avatar? No, but maybe I'm a little bit closer to it than I thought.