The Internet < Real Life

I've been driving Subarus since 2012 and have loved the experience thoroughly.  However, it isn't just the cars themselves that I enjoy.  A stand-out feature of owning a Subaru, to me, is the community that's around them.  From street racers to soccer moms to adventure-seekers to everything in-between, there's a lot of ways people enjoy these cars.  I'm a firm believer that the people who enjoy Subaru most are those that are actually going out there and enjoying them with their fellow owners... not sitting on their phones picking out the coolest instagram filter to use. 

All too often I meet people that own Subarus that, like a lot of other cars, are enjoyed for a short time and then they just move on to the next best thing.  People tend to go through cars like they do cell phones and I think that's because they haven't experienced a connection with them beyond the steering wheel.  The diverse community around Subaru grants owners plentiful opportunities to go out and experience things outside of their daily 9-5 grind, but that's only if they seek it out or even know that such a thing exists in the first place. 

These days Social media has granted us the potential to connect more with those communities, but all too often, we limit that to online interactions only instead of going out and meeting these people face to face.  Whatever the reason, people seldom take the plunge to go out and meet their fellow owners to go out and enjoy these cars together... and this is the key problem I see all too often.  The increasingly negative tone of sarcastic comments, snide remarks, and general trolling online isn't befitting of a "community" at all, but these people wouldn't be acting like this if they actually knew their fellow owners in person.  It's too easy to hide behind the anonymity of the internet that enables lofty keyboard warriors an indispensable amount of opportunity to wreak havoc however they see fit.  It's a damn shame.

The right way to approach it, in my opinion, is to utilize Social Media to SOCIALIZE and connect with your community!  Meet your fellow owners at events, go to car shows and community outings together, use that common ground of the enjoyment you get out of these cars as a baseline to engage with others and let it grow from there.  And with the All-weather nature of Subaru, we should be able to do that year-round... not just waiting for "Car Show Season".  Do  donuts in the snow in the winter with your buddies!  Go Karting together during the spring rainy season!  Squad up and go to car events together in the summer!  Take a scenic route through some twisty roads in the crisp fall air!  There's things to do with great people if you just take that first step and engage with your community.

The internet can be a great tool to connect people, but it doesn't mean nearly as much to actually make those connections.  I emplore you, if you haven't done so already, to go out and discover this community that is here waiting for you.