I was reading a fairly interesting write up on “Internet Crush Du Jour” Kristen Sloan (The Winger, Apple’s iPhone Ad), and my mind started spinning a bit on some things.

Firstly, what made this girl so captivating? If you are a guy, and a guy who is into Apple, you totally were into her simple look, her being a ballerina, her using Apple. It was a great decision on Apple’s part because she is exactly the kind of girl you hope will randomly appear in your life to help with your addiction to Apple. Her website got a huge rush of traffic to it, which is weird because: why would people go to a “behind the tu-tu” ballet website? My excuse was that I have dated a ballerina or two, so I am allowed to revisit these things as some kind of healing process. Right, right? Anyway, the surprising thing is her website is pretty spectacular; Well designed, unique idea, loyal niche following (Sidenote: I am really into colons/semi-colons today, even if it means using them incorrectly). I feel like a lot of people visiting her site might have been drawn into it because of similar-to-my-own second hand ballet experiences; crushes on ballerinas, dreams of being a ballerina, crushes on the girl in the iPhone commercial who happens to be a ballerina. It’s a very interesting concept in a marketing sense. Could the NYCB could have paid for more exposure? Probably not, and kudos for realising her abilities and rewarding her with her new position.

The secondary cloud spinning in my head is about the story of her and her boyfriend. I’m sure this story crushed a few people hoping to somehow sweep Miss Sloan off her feet, but it in and of itself says so much about how our world has changed. I had no idea what dodgeball.com was, until this story. It looks interesting, but I am yet to cave into the world of telling everyone where I am at the time I am actually there (I much rather prefer hearing people tell me I was someplace I never was at). The truly interesting thing is the ease that this seemingly “everywoman” has of discussing meeting her boyfriend on, in simpler terms, the invisible world. I know people who have dated people they met online, I know some truly amazing people that I met through the Internet (in varying degrees).

It really makes you think of how you “meet” people, and people’s hang ups on meeting people in “non-traditional” ways. People still get caught up in admitting their significant other was once just a MySpace message, random IM, or fellow website visitor. I decided to mentally list out how I met the people in my life who make regular appearances (meaning I talk to them on a regular basis, stemming over years) to see where I fit in. The summary is that of 10-12 people who are regularly in my life I; met the one’s I am the closest to in a way not involving technology (unless going to college for graphic design counts), stay more in touch with the ones I can email/IM than those I have to call, only one of them was I ever “buying dinner” (those who know me well, know this is what I call the purgatory between full on dating and being friends) on a regular occasion, I have met people because of music websites and online video games who are now very good friends (such a dork).

What does all this tell us? That I am apparently not hip to the times. I utilise technology to meet new people and stay in contact with people I already know constantly, and don’t have many reservations about it. However, I still tend to be pretty “traditional” for as much of a tech-dork as I am. In reality, I think this world is changing, while staying the same. For people to have a lasting effect on us we need to see, hear, feel, smell and touch them, not just read them. I know for many the “invisible world” presents interaction in a more convenient way, and perhaps we find it just as convenient to walk away from people we meet that way.

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