As if I needed another reason to be social, Mashable has gone and taken it up a few notches. At last count, there are 619 Meetups taking place around the world today to celebrate Social Media Day. From Boulder to Udaipur, places are having panels, while others are having Happy Hour. However your city is celebrating it, the bottomline is it gives you a chance to meet IRL with that person you’ve been tweeting with on Twitter or following on Facebook, or better yet, you’ll truly connect with someone you’ve never interacted with at all.

The entire premise of social media is the interaction you have with others, and nothing makes those connections more poignant or special than physically looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand — or maybe finally giving them a hug. Is it a bit scary for the bashful? Maybe, but there is a constant that I’ve experienced at Tweetups and other such gatherings; the making of new friends.