Modern Friends in a New Space
Making friends is not easy, don’t let these popular people lie to you, it is as complicated as humans are, sometimes even as stressful as open heart surgery. Okay I will admit, that was a bit melodramatic but you get my point, friends are wonderful to have, but not easy to get.
Let me give some personal context without going on about myself too much; as a young kid, you would probably find me buried in those musty copies of Jane Austen’s classics or sitting with my Physics & English teachers talking about…Oh I don’t know life? As a bookworm, a science nerd, and in a way, a teacher’s pet, I obviously couldn’t have expected to be one of the mean girls, all I could do really was survive. Perhaps that is where I quickly learned to absorb from all sorts of different people. When you’re a wallflower, you often find yourself in a room of amazing people who don’t mind that you are there, and so you get to glean & extrapolate information that nobody expects you to have.
When I got into ‘crypto twitter’ & discord, I had no idea what I was doing (as is obvious in this Medium post), all I knew was that I was about to step into a world where none of what I went through as a kid mattered, at least not on the surface. I was about to interact with people who were possibly just like me and in the same breathe, people who were completely different. Making friends was not a thought, let alone a priority. Kudos to Mob Land because they are the first project I walked into and felt valuable, maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t have to rich to partake, I was and still am early enough to get into it without needing to sell my kidney. Mob Land is where everything snowballed from; I found other projects like EverDragons 2 and Crypto Tech Women, which I am absolutely in love with by the way (obviously, this is NOT financial advice, I’m just fan-girling here), and in all those projects, I found people whose wellbeing I cared about, people who valued me as a person even though they had never physically met me, I found the kind of friendship that was eerily reminiscent of penpals.
I heard the term ‘Modern Friendships’ for the first time on the “Hello Metaverse” podcast by Annie Zhang where she was chatting to Gaby Golberg, an investor at TCG Crypto. Modern Friends are different from the typical friends we are used to afk (away from keyboard), they are people who probably share more of your current life ideals than your afk friends, they probably know and participate more in the web3 space and they are possibly more internationally based since they are on the internet, which is in many ways, borderless. All of these factors make modern friends a new but necessary evolution of relationships, they make it possible for us to grow without the hindrances of the places in which we live, they encourage a global mindset, one that understands and participates in the global ecosystem of crypto and web3, they bypass the social anxiety that sometimes takes over when one is surrounded by too many people. They probably won’t do girl trips and brunches with you but, who knows, the possibilities are endless!
I think the most exciting part of all of this is that all I have to do is be as genuine as I have been, be present and allow myself to be challenged in my growth journey. As I am sure it is clear, I am grateful for this evolution of connection, this new frontier that I get to participate in with likeminded people beside me; and although the traditional friendships we know will never truly go out of style, modern friendships are fast becoming an integral part of the new normal. The space is tumultuous at best, and scammers are now increasingly using what is called social engineering (creating and building a relationship with you over time, and when they feel the opportunity is ripe, swindle you of your assets; sounds wild, but watching “The Tinder Swindler” is evidence that anything is possible). So take your time, be alert, find your tribe, find your people, and thrive in your respective space knowing that you are surrounded by people who (hopefully) think like you and are rooting for you. Be careful & intentional with your energy, time and money, and when you can manage it, be open to the possibilities of the space.
For my wishlist this week, with the presale fast approaching in less than 2 days, Crypto Tech Women is definitely at the top. A community that is all about educating and onboarding women into the space, one that I am excited to be a member of. I am especially hoping to get this baby-fro Queen but all of the CTWomen are absolute gems! I would be honoured to be a steward for any of them ladies.
Thank you for reading this philosophical soliloquy, until the next one, see you in the metasphere. Miss Purple 💜
