Pinterest is a Coffee Klatch. Facebook is a Kegger. Twitter is a Cocktail Party.

“Oh, hello there. So nice to meet you. Why, yes, it IS a new top. I got it here. And where have you been lately? Etsy, I presume?”

That is sort of how the casual sharing of ideas happen on Pinterest. Sharing visual ideas, creative concepts and exploring new products is what it’s all about. I follow women in Germany and also rural Georgia who I am positive I will never meet, but they have great recipes and fantastic interior design ideas. All that is missing are coffee and bear claws.

“Dude, I was bombed at the conference! Boss read my post and fired my ass!”

Ah, Facebook. I have seen more former classmates and coworkers drunk in Facebook pictures than in real life. Perhaps Google+ will successfully manage to separate what is and is not appropriate to share for these folks. But I definitely do not want to hear how many beers my mortgage broker downed this weekend. If Facebook were a place in real life, however, there would certainly be a keg.

“I just posted a comment about Whitney Houston’s life story. Link here.”

So I didn’t just post a comment on Whitney Houston’s life story, but my point is that this is where the stories are shared. This is (or at least, can be) the intimate cocktail party conversation. You know when you’re meeting new people and someone says something like, “And that reminds me of this one time in Bangladesh . . .” I don’t know about you, but I shut up and listen because it sounds like something good is about to come out of his mouth. That is the quote and link for me. It’s the promise that there may be a good story if you follow the link. I’ll have a glass of Malbec, thank you.

What I’m saying is, it makes sense to know the cultural climate. I wouldn’t give my weekend update on Pinterest anymore than I would attempt to share a philosophy nugget on Facebook.

But what do you think? Do you agree? What would you serve in your social media reality?