11 July 2010
Twitter...
I swore I would never do it. I couldn't imagine that I would have anything interesting to say to post status updates. For pete's sake, I rarely do the Facebook status updates. But, when I started hanging out with a great group of ladies once a week for Happy Hour, I took the plunge. They were all on Twitter and they are such a fun, hilarious group of ladies, I felt like I was missing out. So, I jumped in. I am not a hardcore Tweep, mostly I Tweet funny things that have happened throughout my day and respond to other Tweep's Tweets. I'm pretty selective with who I follow and who follows me: I mostly follow local Salem Tweeps and local Salem businesses. It keeps me connected with my community. We've had a few Tweet-ups, which has been great fun, meeting new Salemites and hanging out. Twitter has offered a great opportunity to get to know local people who really just want to support our city and our local businesses. Thinking about twitter and are a local person? Look me up! Join the fun.
09 July 2010
I have Smart Phone Envy...
There, I said it. I am envious of all my friends who have smart phones. I personally have an "average intelligence" phone. Yup, if my phone took an IQ test, it would score 100. If not for the touchscreen, it would have scored around 85. We're due for new phones in August and I had been counting down, licking my lips and drooling over the Droids. I polled my Tweeps (Twitter People), who told me which one to go for. I was set, counting down the days.
But, then something changed. First, I started researching costs. Do I really want to pay an extra $30 per month to have internet access on my phone? If both hubby and I got smart phones, we would pay more for internet on our phones than we do for the high speed internet at our house. Second, one of my Tweeps recently took a hiatus from Twitter, citing it was too much of a distraction, always staring at his phone. I realized that maybe having an average intelligence phone IS a good thing. I can't spend my day playing on my phone, distracted from real life. I can only tweet by sending "blind tweets," text messages from my cell phone, without seeing a response immediately. I can only check my email, my facebook, my twitter, and all my other internet obsessions (I'm talking to you Cute Overload, I Can Has Cheezburger, and Itty Bitty Kitty Committee - can you see a pattern?) while on the computer. And I really don't like to sit in front of the lap top for long periods of time - it's hot and not that comfortable. In fact, now that I am out of grad school, I rarely turn the computer on over the weekend. It's a great break and it keeps me from getting to obsessed.
In this age, I think we have lost some of our civility. A friend showed me a book she's been reading last night called "Choosing Civility: the 25 Rules for Considerate Conduct" by P.M. Forni and it got me to thinking. It use to be (back in my days, kids...) we didn't answer the phones or the door during dinner. If you were out with friends, there wasn't the distraction of a cell phone ringing. We weren't instantly available for anyone and everyone to reach us. That has been totally lost with all of this new technology and I miss it. For me, I try to make it a general rule of thumb: if I am with another human being, I don't answer my phone unless it's an emergency or information I've been waiting on. Everything else can wait. I don't expect this from anyone else, just something I do for myself, because I don't want to get lost in a world of technology. I want to balance it with real life experiences.
But, then something changed. First, I started researching costs. Do I really want to pay an extra $30 per month to have internet access on my phone? If both hubby and I got smart phones, we would pay more for internet on our phones than we do for the high speed internet at our house. Second, one of my Tweeps recently took a hiatus from Twitter, citing it was too much of a distraction, always staring at his phone. I realized that maybe having an average intelligence phone IS a good thing. I can't spend my day playing on my phone, distracted from real life. I can only tweet by sending "blind tweets," text messages from my cell phone, without seeing a response immediately. I can only check my email, my facebook, my twitter, and all my other internet obsessions (I'm talking to you Cute Overload, I Can Has Cheezburger, and Itty Bitty Kitty Committee - can you see a pattern?) while on the computer. And I really don't like to sit in front of the lap top for long periods of time - it's hot and not that comfortable. In fact, now that I am out of grad school, I rarely turn the computer on over the weekend. It's a great break and it keeps me from getting to obsessed.
In this age, I think we have lost some of our civility. A friend showed me a book she's been reading last night called "Choosing Civility: the 25 Rules for Considerate Conduct" by P.M. Forni and it got me to thinking. It use to be (back in my days, kids...) we didn't answer the phones or the door during dinner. If you were out with friends, there wasn't the distraction of a cell phone ringing. We weren't instantly available for anyone and everyone to reach us. That has been totally lost with all of this new technology and I miss it. For me, I try to make it a general rule of thumb: if I am with another human being, I don't answer my phone unless it's an emergency or information I've been waiting on. Everything else can wait. I don't expect this from anyone else, just something I do for myself, because I don't want to get lost in a world of technology. I want to balance it with real life experiences.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)