The fine art of friends;

Rediscovering the fine art of making friends at a personal level; as opposed to the new age way of doing so online;and then establishing a rapport via social media to learn that it isn't quite as easy as I'd thought.

At a recent event met two people that have influenced and changed my view of technology, the way we use it in our lives and the future of its use. For purposes of this we'll refer to him as Jay Z and her as Beyonce.

Beyonce is someone that is immersed in technology, rising to mass online fame through YouTube and has been very influential in the online sphere as a result.

Jay Z is someone that knows of, and understands new technologies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube but does not partake in any of these formats because;from what I can gather; doesn't like the impersonality of the approach.

Wanting to become closer friends with Jay Z I decided to do what any new age person would do; I searched for him on social websites, surprised with the lack of results I asked Beyonce about Jay's lack of presence online.

The answer was surprising, 'he only has email'.

Suddenly I was confronted with the dilemma of not knowing how to impress him from the fringe with witty bon report and so forth, if I had to face one-to-one email with Jay.

So I left it and decided to give up. Jay Z had other plans and emailed me first.

I heard you were keen to get my facebook details etc. Sorry I’m pretty detached from all that. I am however an efficient emailer, good on the phone and even better in person.

'Damn' I though, 'now I will have to go through this awkward state of talking to someone directly. It's just too real'.

We exchanged pleasantries and I made up some lame excuse for wanting to talk to him about being really interested in advertising jingles. Considering how I don't watch, or like, television I perhaps could have thought of something more befitting. Or I could have said that I liked him, and wanted to be his friend.

Gooey.

All the while, Beyonce and I have been talking through social media streams, and exchanging hilarious commentaries like 'your mum' and 'your face'.

Eventually Jay Z and I caught up and had drinks, dinner and shared great conversation, discovering that we have a lot in common and it seems as though a good friendship will come of this. Even without social media.

The most notable thing to come from this whole adventure is that whilst Beyonce is quite famous, speaks at many technology events and is highly admired for her untainted perspective and approach to the online space, it is Jay Z that I have learnt lessons on the impact of easily accessible information about people we're available to.

Similarly to large enterprises, I think that it would be wise of us to all have social media policies to ensure we don't get too lost in the fine art of people, and relating to others outside of the Internet.