Some days I think I'm fed up with the Web and I just want to cuddle with an old-school notebook and pencil.And other days, I'm downloading new desktop tools, grovelling for a GoogleWave invite and troubleshooting basic html.
As much as I love negotiating language and playing with words all day, I'm exhausted by the constant stream of activity and information. Between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the other social media I come across at work, I feel as if I never have a moment to myself. Someone is always talking and like the compulsive communicator that I am, I am always answering.
This is a hard feeling to deal with because the Web has allowed me to connect with people and communities. I have found (and been found) by yogis, tangueras, bloggers, artists and writers of all varieties. For this, I am truly grateful. But I'm still ambivalent about some aspects.
What I love about Facebook: the dialogues launched by great status lines, birthday reminders, photo albumsI've been limiting my Facebook time over the last two weeks because the "What type of monkey/era/sandwich/cartoon shoe are you?" quizzes are driving me crazy. I don't take quizzes anymore, I don't add applications, I don't join causes, and I don't want any puppy plants on my page. It's not because I'm a mean-spirited person. I just don't like clutter and excessive busyness.
Also, I don't need to know everything about my friends all the time. I like to leave some fodder for discussion when I actually see you. Crazy, I know!
What I love about blogging: It allows me to be a writer of creative non-fictionStretching that part of my brain helps me be a better copywriter and a better fiction writer. However, in order to be a successful blogger, you must have a niche or an angle that sets you apart from the rest.
The only thing that's special about my blog is my worldview. I don't want to be a famous yogi or a famous tango dancer or even a top book critic. I just want to have experiences and write about them. This, understandably, is a hard thing to sell.
What I *like* about Twitter: sharing articles and links of interest, letting my friends help me make discoveries, none of the upkeep of FacebookWhy I haven't progressed to "love" with Twitter: I haven't entirely figured out how it can be of use to me. Of course the big irony is, I'll probably be posting this link on Twitter/Facebook to incite you all to read and comment on this post. Does this make me a hypcrite? Or a masochist?
Mostly, it makes me curious and determined. The Web is an undeniable part of our present - and our future. And as I truly am a compulsive communicator, I will continue to experiment/play with these platforms until I find a happy medium between my needs and how they can benefit those needs.
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1 comment:
Great post. I find that I appreciate similar things about FB and google, and that I haven't yet developed feelings for Twitter.
A friend once warned me to beware of spending too much time engaged in "para-writing" activities. These are activities that *seem* like writing but are actually wasteful of my time and not helping me to produce writing or become a better writer. Activities like reading, writing about writing, etc. It was a good warning.
Something else I try to remember is that working to increase one's on-line visibility doesn't make one a better writer; and it could mean that we are marginally more read. It's probably a better investment to work on a product (e.g. a book) and THEN promote it.
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