Social Media

My Name is IRL

Tweet-ups seem to be the latest rage with kids these days. I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times in my area but the trend hasn’t really hit the Midwest in full force yet. But just this week I’ve had 3 in real life (IRL) meetings with people I only knew online.

Ben Goheen

Published

July 30, 2009

Tweet-ups seem to be the latest rage with kids these days. I've seen it mentioned a couple times in my area but the trend hasn't really hit the Midwest in full force yet. But just this week I've had 3 in real life (IRL) meetings with people I only knew online.

Tweet-ups seem to be the latest rage with kids these days. I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times in my area but the trend hasn’t really hit the Midwest in full force yet. Just this week though I’ve had 3 in real life (IRL) meetings with people I only knew online.

1. Being a Realtor in the Twin Cities, it’s hard not to know about @tboard‘s infamous blog. We’ve tweeted several times about real estate, appraisals, and her awesome photography. So it was great to be able finally meet up for lunch and talk shop, although we did try to limit our sentences to 140 characters or less.

2. A couple weeks ago I asked for a referral for a local title company for a closing. I received a few responses and went with @jasonsandquist‘s suggestion. It went very smooth and I’ll definitely be using Urban Title again for my future transactions.

3. Trying to be as local as possible, I’ve been tweetin’ it up with fellow St. Croix Valley resident @ckbliss. The other day I was asked if I could show a nearby home for his brother, who lives in Poland but is looking at moving back.

It’s been fun so far and I look forward to meeting more online friends. However, I’m not much of a traveler so unless you come to Minnesota you might just remain va-va-virtual to me.

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In this article:Social Media, Twitter

Written By Ben Goheen

As the son of two music teachers, Ben spent his first 21 years trying to make a living with his slightly above average trumpet playing. After no return calls from Dizzy Gillespie and then a failed attempt at becoming a fly girl on "In Living Color," he switched gears and finally found his nichè in real estate. He's a Minnesota appraiser and also a Realtor with his better half, Stacia. Labeled “one to watch” from an anonymous source (thanks mom), Ben is smart, good looking, athletic and a rock star inside his own head. He also never passes up a chance to write his own bio. Find him online at twitter or selling Stillwater Real Estate.

5 Comments

Erion Shehaj

July 30, 2009 at 10:10 pm

It’s been very nice to meet you, Irl 🙂

Reply
Barb Dragotta

August 1, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Just finished a fight with Google, IE8, & Firefox so felt really smart–NOW, really not smart? What is “IRL”, how am I so out of the loop once again ?
Please tell me it is a ‘Minnesota Thing”; since I /we are from Michigan with it’s 15.? % unemployment-it may be my Brain-Drain; everything else seems to be leaving this State–LOL

Reply
Brandie Young

August 3, 2009 at 9:49 pm

Ben – isn’t it great to put 3D faces with the @? I’ve really enjoyed meeting peeps (or tweeps) …

Barb – you are adorable! Minnesota can’t take credit on that. IRL = In Real Life. I think it started as a TRL (three letter acronym) in instant messaging. These days the Tweet ups or Bar Camps bring the relationship from online to IRL. Don’t worry … you still got some charge left.

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