I discovered the Internet back in 1994. I was the night monitor for Boston University's computer lab; Mosaic was the browser of choice and alt.sex had more than just spam. In 1997, I began blogging (before blogging was a word) under the moniker "the slackmistress" at the weekly-updated the slack. I added a LiveJournal in 2002 and then moved to the slack daily in 2006.
I was the Tila Tequila (minus the faux lesbianism and dead eyes) of CNET's now-defunct Consumating.com - a social networking site for nerds, occupying the Most Popular Consumator slot for over a year. I garnered a huge Internet write-in vote to be one of "Wired Magazine's Sexiest Geeks" back in 2006 and even managed to be selected as a runner-up on Violet Blue's 2006 GILF (Geeks I'd Like to....) list. My blogs and vlogs have been featured on Mediabistro's Fishbowl LA and NY, LA Metblogs, and Nerve.com's Scanner blog.
I've also got a long (but only semi-sordid) history of dating nerds that I've met through online dating and social networking, although I retired my amateur dating status and went pro when I met and married my husband - who proposed via blog comments, natch - in 2007.
Currently, I only use my powers for good.
about antisocial networking
I know scores of delightfully nerdy, geeky, and dorky men and women*. The have two things in common: they all rule and they all have they're not always so easy with that whole social interaction thing. Not because they don't have anything to offer, but because they don't know how to show that they have anything to offer. Or they're to shy to join in on the conversation. I know. I used to be one of them.
Maybe you were on debate, or a mathlete, or played D&D, maybe you were into 17th century poets or the SCA. Maybe you dig Marvel Universe and BSG. Maybe you prefer the company of your Wii to that of your loved ones.
It doesn't matter what brand of nerdery you're into, the fact is that we've all felt the sting of social anxiety, and now that socializing online is just as common as off, navigating those waters can be nervewracking. We're not going to discuss how to promote your blog or discuss SEO tactics (not that there's anything wrong with that). We're going to discuss navigating the personal politics of your online life, and making it happily coexist with your offline one.
And that's Antisocial Networking.
*Note: I am using geek, nerd and dork interchangeably. I know that in the lexicon, the definitions of each vary. However, if you're going to get all Comic Book Guy and let it bother you that much, chances are you need this blog more than ever.
