Today’s Twitter Follow Friday (#FF) post is testimony to the “social” nature of social media. The two people I mentioned in this week are well known in Boston-area social media circles. After reading their tweets and blog posts for over a year, I finally ventured to the Boston Media Makers meet-up (first Sunday of every month at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain) where both are regular attendees. Read on . . . .

Ari Herzog (@ariherzog) is a social media enthusiast who leveraged his presence on the web to a city council seat in the Newburyport, MA. As such, Ari has a unique few of the intersection between social media, online marketing, and local government. He reached out to me after I mentioned I was a resident of neighboring Haverhill, and since then, we’ve had spirited discussions on all topics digital. He also introduced me to an SEO professional who provided valuable feedback on some of my consulting work.

Adam Weiss (@adamweiss) is a Boston area podcaster, photographer, and digital media strategist. He podcasted regularly for Boston’s Museum of Science, and now produces and hosts the critically acclaimed Boston Behind the Scenes podcast. Full disclosure here: I’ve yet to meet Adam in person, but after mentioning at a Boston Media Maker meet-up that I was looking for a social media project to work on, he put me in touch with Jenny Attiyeh, producer of the Thoughcast podcast. I now work with Jenny as a social media producer for Thoughtcast, which includes serving as the Twitter voice of the podcast. Thank you Adam, for the great connection!

Thanks to both Adam and Ari for reaching out to me over the last few weeks. I hope I can soon repay your kindness.

I’ll point out again, that these two valuable connections were made thanks to social media. Both Ari and Adam are active tweeters and bloggers, and considered by many to be thought leaders in their respective areas. Had I never ventured into the world of tweets, blogs, and Facebook updates, or attended the meet-ups organized by other social media types, we never would have met.

And what about you? Do you have a connection or interesting story that had its advent in social media? Let’s here about it in the comments.

If you clicked on the page tabs at the top of the blog, you’ve probably read that my social media activities for the past few years have involved lifecasting.

Lifecasting involves blogging or videoblogging about different events in your life, and just as there are A-list bloggers, there are also A-list lifecasters. iJustine comes to mind. She’s made herself almost into an A-list celebrity thanks to her web presence, which she built through video blogging and use of video sharing sites.

True lifecasting involves strapping a live camera to yourself, and streaming its feed to the Internet. Justin Kan started lifecasting his view of the world in March, 2007, and by the following summer, he received funding to launch a lifecasting web platform featuring more than 60 channels.

My lifecasting activities aren’t quite so involved. I like to take video and pictures whenever we do something (hike, bike ride, kayak paddle) and post a short video documenting the day. Sometimes I’ll forgo the video and put up a blog post with some pictures on one of my blogs. Sometimes I’ll tell the story through the voice of my puppy and post it on his blog. Sometimes I’ll make a quick video of something I do around the house, such as this one of me mowing the lawn in our small garden.

I started doing this for fun in 2006, not realizing that three short years later, I would have a nice digital record of my activities, vacations, and getaways.

Lifecasting is not for everyone. Some folks are much too private to put their activities on the digi-waves. If you (or your loved ones) are over-concious about how you look on camera, then lifecasting is not for you.

For me though, lifecasting is a great hobby. As a daytrip or vacation proceeds, I make sure to spend some time shooting video or taking pictures with lifecast media in mind. Sometimes I’ll even do multiple takes. Once I get home, I can’t wait to get the images and video on to the computer. It’s rare that I don’t have something posted by the end of the next day.

These videos and posts are nothing fancy. Just 2-3 minute clips, some pictures, a few video scenes no more then 10-15 seconds. Add some music, transitions, and maybe a title slide or two, and you have a nice record of a wonderful day, or great memories of a few days away.

I would encourage everyone to try lifecasting. Just keep in mind that editing video is time consuming. You can count on at least an hour of editing for every minute in your final video, but its well worth the time. Need some inspirations? Check out the videos and links scattered amongst this post.

The city I live in often gets a bad rap, as it has seen tough times recently. But in reality, it’s actually not a bad place to live.  There is a nice reconstruction effort in the downtown area, including new lofts and a newly constructed riverwalk.

This summer, a public art project has caught everybody’s eye.

Haverhill was once one the worlds largest manufacturers of women’s shoes. During the early part of the 1900′s, one of every 10 pairs of women’s shoes was made here. To celebrate that history, the city this year organized “Soles of Haverhill,” a public art project in which giant fiberglass casts of women’s shoes were decorated by local artists.

I recently took a weekend morning to travel around the city getting “up close and personal” with some of these outstanding art projects. Two of the artists were nice enough to meet me for a few minutes to talk about the inspiration, and challenges of decorating their “shoes.” Check out the video below:

YouTube – Artful Shoes.