New Media in Puerto Rico

Happy New Year everyone! After almost two weeks away I finally got caught up and back to blogging. It was great to be in warm weather - Puerto Rico is fantastic this time of year. The temperature hovered around 80 degrees in the daytime while I was there, then dipped to the 70's at night, and it rained only once!

Those are pretty good conditions for jogging, which I try to do wherever I go, and luckily my mother's apartment where I was staying is close to one of the prettiest trails ever. It's the road that leads to Old San Juan, which still maintains its centuries old, colonial architecture and Spanish charm. I just had to take my camera along a few times to capture some of the beautiful scenery, as you can see from the photo above. For a complete visual log of the palm-tree lined promenade by the sea where I did my runs, visit my Facebook page.

Even though Puerto Rico may often lag in terms of the latest business trends, I was happy to see that new media has made its way there. If you do a search for "Puerto Rico" in Facebook you'll find over 500 pages, including ones for the main newspaper (El Nuevo Dia), three universities, afew radio stations, one for entrepreneurs (with 887 members), one for a major contemporary art musuem, one each for Apple, Walmart and Best Buy, one for a website that sells locally made goods (Antojitos), and one for a restaurant (Payá).

One thing that struck is that back home, networking is done more naturally - even a trip to the supermarket or to the bank will result at least one or two "hellos" and a bit of conversation, which is typical of small towns. I grew up in San Juan and came to the states to go to school when I was 14, so I still have many friends and acquaintances from back then. It seems that everywhere I went I bumped into someone I knew or someone that knew one of my four siblings, who all live there. I can't say the same thing happens to me in New York. It's seldom I'll see a friend on the streets or at an event, unless I expressly plan it that way. Here everything has to be arranged in advance, and God forbid you just drop by a friend's house uninvited! I definitely miss that feeling of community now that I'm back, so I'm grateful there's so many online social networks that exist, even though they may be second best!

How do you connect with friends and business contacts? Share your thoughts!