friendship Archives -

Friendships Across the Miles May 26 #DigiBlogChat

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/cherylholt-209609/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=462072">Cheryl Holt</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=462072">Pixabay</a>

Tuesday, May 26, we’ll discuss Friendships Across the Miles | Image by Cheryl Holt from Pixabay

On Tuesday, May 26, we’ll discuss Friendships Across the Miles on Bluesky at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time.

Maricar (@maricarjagger.bsky.social) is someone who’s had plenty of friendships across the miles. She travels a bit and can visit those friends at times, so she’s the perfect person to have this conversation. We’ve all had long-distance friendships, haven’t we? If you have successfully navigated a long-distance friendship, how did that work out? Were there things you might do differently, and what were they? We’ll talk about long-distance friendships, and more on Tuesday, as well as all the usual side conversations.

Join us on BlueSky each Tuesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time for #DigiBlogChat. My partner for these chats is @LazBlazter. If you need to know how to participate, click here: How to Join #DigiBlogChat. P.S. Don’t forget to add the #DigiBlogChat hashtag!

NOTE THE TIME: 8pm UK, 9pm W Europe, 3pm ET, Noon PDT

Questions

Q1. How long is your longest friendship? #DigiBlogChat

Q2. What is the biggest challenge in keeping in touch with friends? #DigiBlogChat

Q3. What method do you use to keep in touch with friends? #DigiBlogChat

Q4. What activities do friends enjoy together on and off line? #DigiBlogChat

Q5. What qualities are important in keeping a friendship alive? #DigiBlogChat

Q6. How to prevent misunderstanding in a long-distance friendship? #DigiBlogChat

Q7. How do you celebrate milestones in your life with friends across the miles? #DigiBlogChat

Q8. What is the benefit of a long-distance friendship? #DigiBlogChat

Q9. Tell us in how many countries do you have friends? #DigiBlogChat

Q10. What can strengthen a long-distance friendship? #DigiBlogChat

Q11. Bonus: Have you met up with anyone from #DigiBlogChat

How to Discover a Wealth of Friends with Social Media Hashtags

Connect, Don’t Disconnect, on Social Media

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about loneliness and isolation. And I got to thinking about social media. We’re all on at least one or more platforms, right? But how often do you hear about people connecting through social media, even though it’s supposed to be social? More often, you hear about how everyone is becoming more isolated.

A Stranger is a Friend You Haven’t Met

Recently, I traveled to Japan, and met a couple of people that I knew only through our social media connections. I knew a few people in Japan–mostly relatives–and have been tweeting or posting along with others. So I thought “why not try to meet some people in real life?”

Shinjuku and Flowers

The first person I met was Chiaki F, who I’ve known since forever on Twitter. We met for coffee in Shinjuku. Since we ended up hitting it off, we went shopping together, and ended up talking for hours! It was such fun to meet her, even though we’d already done some of the work on Twitter and Instagram. And now, when I see her flower posts on Instagram or Twitter, I really understand where she’s coming from. Flowers are a big deal in Japan. So when the cherry blossoms bloom, for instance, everyone gets involved and goes to where the blossoms are. I can’t imagine people here in the United States having the same reaction to beautiful trees–although I wish they would! There are also wisterias, azaleas, and autumn leaves which are also a huge deal.

Kimonos and Tea

The next person I met was Mizuho. We crossed paths in a more roundabout way. I’m part of a Facebook group, and a friend of hers had posted about the beautiful kimonos her mother had left her. I took my mother to meet her at her studio, and we had tea and osembe (Japanese crackers), which is always a winning combination. And I purchased an antique kimono from her. I really loved hearing her stories about her life in the U.S. It turns out that Mizuho had been to Santa Cruz, and had also studied in Colorado. Such a small world! We have been connected on Instagram, and sometimes use the same hashtags there.

Follow the Hashtags!

If you’re traveling, and have the opportunity to meet someone in real life that you’ve only known through social media, I strongly recommend connecting with them. And although you may be following local hashtags, you might want to begin following the hashtags of the places you are going to visit before you get there. So for me, those might be #Tokyo, #Japan, and so on. Where do you plan to visit? Leave me a comment, please!