Building Community
Grateful for higher ed, conferences, and the chance to connect IRL
One day—a dozen or so years ago now—I was standing in the airport shuttle line at LAX, staring at my phone, and out of nowhere I heard someone shout “Hey, it’s Rae Clemmons!”
And that’s how I met Kyle for the first time.
Or at least, that’s how I met him face-to-face. Kyle and I had actually been following each other for years on Twitter, long before we ever met in person.
To this day, he remains one of my closest professional friends (who graciously gave me permission to share this story).
I was reminded of this story when I attended a conference last week and another colleague came up to our table to introduce himself. We, too, have been in each other’s virtual network for years but had never met in person—until now.
Connecting IRL
The conference I attended last week was fantastic. As someone who works remotely, it was nice to see and interact with people for a couple of days.
Yep, you read that right. Even introverts like me appreciate human interaction every now and again.
Talking to the numerous faculty, staff, and administrators—and the occasional student—who came to our booth was great. Truly.
What made the conference even better was connecting with colleagues and friends who I rarely see anymore—online or in person. It was in one of those moments that I realized …
I really miss Twitter.
It’s Just Not the Same
Over a vegan burrito lunch with a CIO friend I haven’t seen in five or six years, we chatted about the demise of Twitter—and our virtual professional community alongside it.
I’m on LinkedIn, as well as here on Substack. He’s on Bluesky and Threads.
They have comparable features in some cases and similar audiences in others. But the reach, engagement, and community we were able to build—it’s just not the same.
A few years ago I used this app to see my closest connections, and was so delighted by the community it reflected. Some of my dearest friends were in there, as were folks I’ve worked with and people I deeply respect.
Today, I keep in touch with some of these same folks on LinkedIn, others in private Slack groups or over text. A few read this blog (hi!). But others I rarely hear from anymore, and certainly don’t see in real life.
Which is sad. Because I miss learning from these amazing folks and reading about what’s going on in their lives—professional and personal.
For all that we’ve gained in our rapidly evolving digital world, we've lost some things too—including a place to build authentic connections and community online.
Which makes me grateful to once again be back in a role where I’m focused on higher ed. Where I’m able to attend campus meetings and conferences, live and in person.
And where I can reconnect with my community … sometimes over a vegan burrito.
PS: I’d love to know—where do you go these days to find and build your professional community?
Bonus read: I wrote this post in 2013, about the power of tech to bring us together. My family and I still do that weekly video call, but with an ever-growing number of disparate social platforms, algorithm-drive content, and increasing polarization leading to echo chambers—I’m not sure that I still believe that it can anymore. What do you think?
Yes, this is "that" Kyle. '-) To answer your question, I've settled in on BlueSky, but it isn't really a professional network for me. LinkedIn seems to serve more ads and promoted posts than stuff from people I'm connected to, so that's kind of a bust too. I haven't been on Facebook in years (except to see who wished me a happy birthday), and I deleted my Twitter account. Barely been on Instagram, never on TikTok or Threads, tried and failed at Mastodon. I think that's a long way of saying that my professional network is mostly what it's going to be I suspect, and maybe that's OK as I enter the last phase of my career.