Social Kathleen

I do a lot of social networking online.  Probably not as much as some people, but quite a bit — Twitter, Facebook, a few Ning networks, a little bit of MySpace, several e-mail lists, and a fair amount of reading and commenting on blogs.

I’m really not very social in the flesh, though.  I suppose that is fairly common among those who hang out on the web.  If you’re reading this, there’s a high probability that you know exactly what I’m talking about (and if you’re not reading this, you may think we’re all freaks).

On Twitter, or in a chat room, I don’t hesitate too long before jumping into a conversation.  In person, approaching someone, or a group of someones, is much more difficult.  If I’ve “met” someone online, it’s a little easier.  I have managed to introduce myself to Lelo and Melissa Lion in person at Back Fence PDX (where I also somehow introduced myself to Betsy Richter without having met her online first).  I’ve also met Corina and thirdculturemom, and hope to meet others from our little network someday.

I’m sure I saw some of you internet people at the Portland Pie-Off.  Some of you I spoke with, even if we didn’t officially introduce ourselves (hello, Jack Bog); some I probably didn’t recognize — or I wasn’t sure, and was too chicken to ask!

Anyway, I’m grateful for the networking opportunities offered on the web.  They are perfect for introverts like me.

Which brings me to the subject of ORBlogs.  ORBlogs is (or was) a blog aggregator/directory for blogs in and about Oregon. I’m not all that knowledgeable about it (go to Silicon Florist for more info and links), but I know that it’s been a great resource both for finding other Oregon blogs and for promoting Oregon blogs.  I used it to promote the Camp Arrowhead blog while we were trying to save the camp, and while we were recruiting campers for this summer.

Sadly, ORBlogs founder Paul Bausch has announced that he is closing the site:  “I’m shutting ORblogs down now because the site continues to grow and the job of maintaining the site at the level I feel is necessary to keep it valuable has grown with it, putting it out of the bounds of a hobby.”

Oregon bloggers are already looking for a way to save this valuable service.  In fact, ORBlogs will be discussed tonight during Beer and Blog at the Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub.

If you’re interested in the effort to save ORBlogs, be sure to stop by for Beer and Blog or head over to Silicon Florist to read and comment.

LAST MINUTE ADDITION:  @turoczy just tweeted this link, saying “@mettadore may be our ORBlogs knight in shining armor!”