Last week I conducted a little bit of an experiment. I took myself out of the world of forever Twittering, using Facebook and the rest of the 24/7 social media frenzy. I used it for only work purposes and that was that. I did it because I wanted to see if I noticed a difference in myself and how my week played out via work and with family. Here's what I noticed-Initially, it wasn't that hard to cut myself off from Twitter. I still posted items for work but I didn't 140 character it up all through the day. I got annoyed when people made fun of me for doing this whole #week of silence. Or when they called me to ask why I was still blogging. Um...work. Gah. By the middle of the week I felt like I was missing out on things. I missed my friends who I talk to through Twitter and know IRL … [Read more...]
Got a case of Twitter Twitches?
Yesterday, Day 1 in my 'week of silence' turned out to be better than I thought. The fact that The Comedian, H and I are all down for the count with a horrific phlegm-producing monster that destroys tissues in a nanosecond is probably the reason. When your nose is on fire, dripping like a hose and your whole body feels like it was an extra on Night of the Living Dead, well, being offline isn't too difficult.I had my moments though. 7 a.m. - I put up my blog post and that was all. I didn't even check my work email. I felt so proud but the feeling was fleeting when I owned up to the fact that I could just as easily grab my phone to check my email. Also? I felt like I had been hit by a maniacal Thomas the Train. So there's that.8:45 a.m.- Normally I am in the car line at TD's school … [Read more...]
Searching for the Sublime
Julia Baird has caused me to pause. There I was sitting in the car line at school waiting for TD to make her wild-haired appearance and reading her piece, 'The Devil Loves Cell Phones'. We have all heard that silence is golden, but is it also the key to the sublime?Baird writes, "The anonymity of the Internet has been replaced by hyper-identity; the idea of shutting up and staring at a rock, piles of sand, or blinking stars for hours, if not weeks, seems profoundly countercultural. I know, it sounds like the lament of the Luddite. But if generations of mystics and seekers have insisted that there's something that connects silence with the sublime, you have to wonder what we are distracting ourselves from—and who we could be if, every now and then, we paused."While I was reading this I was … [Read more...]
Powering Down
I have become what I loathe. Last night I found myself in the middle of girls night with a strong case of Twitter-itch. Not to be confused with jock-itch. I could blame it on my lack of dinner and a bit of wine but really it has more to do with my affliction known as Twitter addiction. I like me some social media and networking, I do. Symptoms include:-Wanting, scratch that, "needing" to check Twitter about every 2.5 seconds. If I can't. It's a big FAIL. -Believing with all my black heart that UberTwitter is quite possibly the prettiest symbol to don my Blackberry screen. I can extol the virtues of UberTwitter to total strangers. A 'squee' is usually involved.-The need to be 'in the know' is always at the forefront of my mind. However, all I end up knowing is what is happening on … [Read more...]