If you attend LA tech events regularly then you have probably had the pleasure of meeting Michael Pilla and Macala Wright. He is an attorney and online/new media entrepreneur, she is the goddess of interactive marketing for 1928 jewelry. Often I have run into them while out at mixers among the many other people that I see when I venture out. What I didn’t know until recently was that they are actually a couple. A very cute couple that have been secretly dating and have already advanced to that wonderful point in the relationship where you decide throw caution into the wind and live together. And how did this wonderful mashup come to be? With a little Twitter stalking of course.
Michael was introduced to Macala at a LA Mixers event. Even though they both had a presence online their meeting each other was completely organic. Michael saw her from across the room, thought she was cute, and asked a friend who she was and for an introduction. He then immediately went home and followed Macala on Twitter. This is when the stalking began she tells me.
“He was relentless for about two weeks and then finally wore me down.”
Macala explained that she was wary of dating someone that she had met once and really only new online as there are a lot of crazy’s that occupy the internet space and try to pick up on cute girls through Twitter and Facebook. She wanted to make sure that Michael was a stand up guy, so she had a friend that is a private investigator do a little research on him.
“I needed to make sure he was normal, there are a lot of crazies and momma’s boys in LA. I don’t have high standards for Los Angeles, just normal ones”
Michael passed with flying colors and they set out on their first date which happened to be at Digital LA. They arrived to the event separately, left separately and had such a good time together that according to Macala, “Michael never really left, it all just happened so naturally”. The couple decided to keep arriving at events in the same fashion as their first date so they could have to opportunity to see where this relationship would go without the pressure of everyone knowing.
“Tech people in LA though we love them, gossip a lot”
The pair has been dating since October and made the jump to living together by early December. Never in her past had Macala progressed in a relationship so quickly. I asked if both of them being on social networks had an impact on their relationship, did it bring them closer together to have yet another means of communication?
“I learn so much from Michael, he has been in the industry longer”
Thankfully both of them being on social networks has not had a negative impact on their relationship. Many couples have a hard time dealing with their significant other being open and sharing so much of their life online for all to see. The one thing they do have, is a little healthy competition. Sometimes Michael will get jealous of her followers and will immediately unfollow her to lower her twitter count. For instance when she hit 1,000 followers he unfollowed her to drop her count down to 999.
“We brawl over Twitter all the time…sometimes I think he loves Twitter more than me”, she says jokingly.
She describes Michael as being a technology whore who is addicted to Twitter and has a laptop mistress. She has never dated anyone that is more into Twitter and Facebook than she is.
“Someone has to take the backseat in a Twitter relationship, that’s my advice about Twitter, and I think it should be the older one.”
In this day and age most people are turning to the internet to meet new people and not just to the typical dating sites. Services like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter have become the go to places when you want to meet someone new and build a relationship with them, even a romantic one. Many people are also using these sites after meeting someone in real life, think of it as your own person PI. What better way to get an insight into a persons life then by e-stalking them. You can check their twitter to see up to date news of what they are doing, their interests. Facebook to see what their peers and friends are like, and Flickr to make sure they don’t make horrible hair and wardrobe choices.
During a recent survey that we conducted 46% of the the respondents answered yes to dating someone that they met through a social network, with Myspace coming in at number two for the network that they met on. When asked what website do you use the most to meet new people, Twitter was the number one response with Facebook coming in at a close second. It only makes sense that as social networks gain in popularity more and more people would use them as a regular tool for dating.
When asked if they use social networks to research someone they are interested in romantically, most people like Macala said yes. Twitter and Facebook were the most common sites used but Google, Linked in, Flickr and even Friend Feed were mentioned as destinations for e-stalking.
So if your single and looking to meet your own technology fan boy, get those profiles looking as good as you can. You never know when you’ll meet that one special person that even though he hates cats, puts up with yours.
And now for the news you have all been waiting for. In our social network survey we posed the question “Who has the best hair in the LA tech scene?” Have no fear Sean Percival still reins supreme!
Honorable mentions are as follows:
Laurie Percival
AV Flox
Macala Wright
Mike Prasad
Shira Lazar
Efren Toscano
My personal favorite answer to this question was “Sean Percival’s cats”.
(Twitter love birds illustration by Yiying Lu, Photo by Wm. Marc Salsberry)
