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Sometimes the actions of others impact you in such a strong way that it changes everything.

The way you see things. The things you want. The opportunities ahead of you.

Last night I realized just how much fear has held me back from a lot of things, especially with social media.

You may notice my last name is not on my Twitter account. My Twitter account is not connected to my LinkedIn. My Facebook is not connected to my blog and so on. . . Heck, it was only quite recently that I switched out my cartoonish avatar for the real picture. These things probably make me look like a complete social media moron.

The truth?

I’m not an expert or guru or any of the other terms you see thrown around these days, but I do enjoy social media, find it extremely interesting and spend a lot of my time trying to learn everything I can.

And I know I that I could extend the reach of my Tweets and drive more traffic to my blog posts if I connected all of my social media networks.

Why am I not doing it then??

Fear. There, I said it.

Attempting to separate my Twitter from my Facebook from my LinkedIn from my blog probably doesn’t make a difference as far as my job security and insecurity of being judged by the people I see every day (as opposed to the industry friends I communicate with mostly over social networks). But that nagging, overly cautious voice in the back of my head says “no!! You’ll tweet something that will be perceived wrong and get fired” or “your co-workers will scoff at you and call your posts trite” . . . or some other paranoid and paralyzing warning that censors me – too much.

There is a fine line between what is safe and what is risky to discuss publicly on the internet. We’ve all read numerous horror stories about ill-fated Facebook and Twitter users and bloggers and how they unknowingly (and usually . . . not the most intelligent) posted something that led to them losing their job or worse. We’ve also heard the stories about people who innocently posted something that was misinterpreted and led to trouble.  Maybe it’s the current economic environment, seeing too many of these stories, my own insecurities, or all of the above, but the fear of being 100% me on the internet has held me back from. . . well, a lot.

I’m don’t think I’m alone in this either. At WordCamp Atlanta a few weeks ago, I attended @WadeonTweets’ session “Break Your Barriers to Blogging”. During Q&A, a fellow attendee confessed to the room the same fears and asked “Does anyone else feel this way?” I loudly said “YES.” (I’m an introvert. It came out of my mouth before I knew it and my reaction left me a bit stunned.)

Well, last night something changed.

I had been subtly tweeting my hopes to get some assistance to attend the upcoming EventCamp NYC 2010 (#ec10). An #eventprofs buddy of mine, Samuel J Smith, saw this and suggested I create a ChipIn account and post it on my blog. About twenty minutes later I did just that.

And about three hours later something happened that made my jaw hit the floor and my eyes tear up (the good kind of tears). Another #eventprofs buddy of mine, Paul Salinger, donated enough money to get me one-third of the way to EventCamp. That is a lot of money to give to someone you only know through social networking (so far), and someone you have not always seen eye to eye with on some issues . . . and, well, it’s just a lot of money!

I stared at my laptop monitor, wide-eyed and in disbelief and happiness until the sound of a ping notification from Tweetdeck shook me out of it. Jessica Levin, whom I have had the pleasure of meeting in person once before, messaged me to let me know that if I was successful in securing what she now refers to as my “scholarship” to attend EventCamp, she would share her room for one of the two nights and cover my registration fees. More happy tearing up ensued.

I finally headed to bed, only to hear Tweetdeck ping once more and see that Greg Ruby had shown his support as well. I met Greg at IAEE’s #expoexpo last month and let me tell you, he is awesome and knows his stuff! Despite his somewhat rude driving habits and his tricked out caddy.

WOW. I mean WOW! Did all of this really just happen?

No wonder people like @ThatDrew are changing the world through social media.

How is it that social media has connected me to such amazing and generous people? I mean, these are my mentors! After all, it’s no secret I’m a rookie.

And why am I surprised? I’m a social media evangelist! I LOVE the internet! This shouldn’t shock me, but it did.

Last night I experienced the real power of social media. These amazingly kind and generous acts occurred because I’ve been blessed enough to connect with true leaders who embrace the mentorship role and social networking opened these doors to great relationships and opportunities. (sidebar: I’ve been following Paul, Jessica and Greg on Twitter pretty much since I first started tweeting and I highly recommend you do as well, if you’re not already.)

This past year I’ve really become a social media junkie, and it’s done nothing but good things for me. Recently I’ve decided to step out of my comfort zone and open myself up more to my social networks; part of this initiative is to blog regularly, and it has really been a positive experience. @WadeonTweets was right – the more you do it, the easier it gets.

This social media stuff really can be life-changing. I’ve made friends – true friends – that have demonstrated their support of me, our industry and our social networking community in very powerful ways. These friends are quick to help when I ask for advice, make me laugh, and help me get the big picture when I need it.

These kind and generous acts of my social media friends have forever impacted the way I will look at things.

Fear, insecurity and paranoia have not been protecting my ego or employment status. They have been blocking opportunities and hindering personal and professional development.

I’m done with them. Obviously, I will still think before I tweet or hit publish – but I’m not going to over think every single message I post.

I am even more motivated to find a way to NYC on February 6th to meet more of these awesome people face-to-face and participate in what is sure to be a truly valuable event, EventCamp 2010.

VIVA NEW YORK!

And if this post doesn’t prove the value of social networking and the significance of these relationships, check out what my friend Mike has to say over in McCurry’s Corner.