That is the question posed over on BeerUtopia this morning. I got linked over there by the Oregonian’s Reddit for what it’s worth. They proffer that the local pub may be replaced by Twitter or MySpace or Facebook as prices rise and people become more engaged online instead of face to face.
I completely disagree and I think many in Portland would too. Honestly, I have met more people via social media events AT pubs than when I have visited pubs just to have a beer. Also, because I have a connection other than that nice tasty brew, the relationship usually grows beyond the beer. I think of events like the OurPDX Meetups (tomorrow night BTW), Beer&Blog, IgnitePDX and so many others. These are online groups taking it to the pubs to meet in person and bond beyond the keyboard. Heck, that dude in the picture with the Amnesia brew is the one and only Wizardboots and we met him through MySpace. Crazy huh?
I highly doubt beer drinkers will sequester to their home offices and chat online about the latest gossip while drinking their homebrews…wait, that is what I’m doing right now. OFF to the PUB!
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Actually it was on The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s message board….but close enough. My beard was BOLD!!!
Yep, I completely agree with you as well. Twitter is the ONLY thing that has gotten me to go to tech and social events/meetups – not the other way around.
Hello 1997!
Fools! The great Spectre of Social Media will destroy everything in its path!
Sorry, not gonna happen in PDX. Beer will always win out here. But Twitter with beer is a fine thing (and maybe MySpace, Facebook, et. al., too).
Thanks for linking that article, it might have otherwise passed by my radar.
Next month I’ll be in Las Vegas presenting a talk on Portland’s use of social media, titled “Beyond Beer and Blog.” One of the main angles to my talk is that Portland’s “tech scene” has used social media such as Twitter, blogs, and Upcoming to lead to increased participation in face-to-face events such as Beer and Blog, tweetups, Lunch 2.0, etc. Whereas the linked author seems to think Twitter is going to kill the pub, I agree with Dieselboi in that I think it has helped them.
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