Okay, my friends, time to 'fess up.
How in the world do you do all your internet-y stuff? How do you have time to go to work, clean your house, make delicious food from scratch, tend to your children, read other blogs, maintain your own blog (or two or three!), catch up with people on Facebook, and Twitter all over the world wide web without remaining chained to your computers?
You guys have had some kind of microchip implanted in your brains, haven't you?
Seriously, I feel like a schlub when it comes to the social networking arena. There is a reason that I am like a hermit in real life, and I think it's starting to spill over into my on-line life.
You have sent me all manner of cute friendliness on Facebook - writing on my wall, virtual plants, pieces of chocolate, adult beverages, pokes, quizzes - and I am so slow that it looks like I am ignoring you.
And against all odds, I have people following me on Twitter, even though I just updated today after dropping off the radar for two months! I'm surprised I haven't gotten an email from Twitter asking me to stop pretending that I'm a member.
I am at a loss as to how to maintain the instant-ness of the medium. I usually check blogs in my reader in the morning, and then I typically don't get a chance to return to the computer until the evening when I try to post something here. By the time I can check back in with Twitter or Facebook, I see that people left me a note four hours ago. Or four days ago. Either way, I think I'm supposed to be a little quicker on the uptake than that.
So, if you are a fan of all the social networking sites, how do you do it? Am I just a slacker? (A distinct possibility.) Do you all have handy gadgets or programs to help you? Like a microchip in your head?
I'm sure I'll get around to implementing your suggestions in the next ten years or so.
Have you noticed the lack of posts on my blog during the past few weeks as compared to the previous month or two? That's because I unchained myself from the computer.
ReplyDeleteYup. You guessed my secret. See, I spend AT LEAST 8 hours every day working on a computer. During my day there are plenty of time where I'm waiting for things to happen so I swing by Facebook, Twitter or one of my 7 personal email accounts (I kid you not) so I don't get bored and wander off. Cause that would totally happen.
I decided that posting to my blog really shouldn't be happening at work and THEN stopped turning my laptop on as soon as we finished eating dinner at night.
Before I would take a second to update Twitter, send you a chocolate on Facebook or something else as Princess took her turn at Candy Land. My cyber-life multitasking had encroached on my real life. Once I realized it I put an end to it.
This is exactly why we don't have any kind of unlimited text or data for our cell phone plan. If we did I'd get a Crackberry or iPhone and I would never get away from the cyber-world.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that for me it took being connected all. the. time. and it is just not worth it. The other option is to learn to live without sleep - again, not an option.
Ah, your blog is in my reader and I'll come read any time you post.
I think from my generous supply of posts recently, you can consider me an expert at this subject. Let me see, I do not have a clue what twitter even is except I see it on people's side bar. I do not have a facebook account, although my husband does so I live vicariously through him, and until about 15 posts ago, I couldn't even put a picture on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI know there are a lot of people out there who post every day or twelve times a day, but I do not know how they do it! I am doing good to get in one or two a week and they are pitiful grasps these days...I can't remember from one moment to the next what I was going to post about and when I finally sit down...I can't think of a thing. I have even considered quitting--again--but I just love the few friends I have made, so I just putter along hoping one day, I can join the ranks of other bloggers out there who do keep up with theirs.
Frankly, I am glad to see other people like me who struggle with it!
I give myself 45 morning minutes to play on the computer and another 1/2 hour at night.
ReplyDelete(Sometimes this becomes more.)
I do not cook delicious meals ...okay lately I have been a crockpot queen.
And I know you are mostly speaking to other moms, but I for some people- this IS their "thing." I have friends who devote oodles of time to tennis, with others it's scrapbooking, and still others are at the gym all the time.
Geez- don't sweat it.
Isn't this supposed to be fun?
And who cares...you'll always have this MUSING CATHOLIC TEACHER as a loyal reader, right?
I don't have toddlers or babies in the house anymore. So I don't have to hide the computer in a gated location and visit it only in the dead of night. I can take 5 minutes here or there.
ReplyDelete(And on days like today when I am couchbound with cramps, I can play on there a lot longer. Love my laptop!)
I'm with t. i spend most of my time at work on the computer and a lot fo that time is wasted, no, spent visiting blogs and facebook. I also do not make many things from scratch. And my laundry pile is horrendous and i haven't mopped my kitchen floor since August when the mop broke. And I don't send little gifts on facebook because I don't have time. So, that's it. Let yourself off the hook. this is supposed to be fun. ANd when facebook and blogging cease to be fun, it's time for a break.
ReplyDeleteI have insomnia so I often do this stuff in the dead of night.
ReplyDeleteI stay logged in during the day, and just come in and check up on Twitter and Facebook when I get a chance. It takes me just a few minutes to do those things. Also, I don't sweat it when I have nothing to say on Twitter, or I have not visited Facebook in a while. In the end, it is just entertainment. And I would wager that most of your virtual friends are busy moms too, and we don't expect you to do anything more than you are able. I don't get on the computer on the weekends, and I rarely get on in the evening. I do most of my internet stuff while Butterfly sleeps and the boys play together. I imagine you are busier because you have no one to keep Sally busy. And I'm not even going to talk about my laundry habits and recent loss of cooking mojo.
ReplyDeleteI'm not blogging daily anymore either. Not only have I run dry of things to blog about (and like it wasn't boring enough before...) but my time is running low.
ReplyDeleteI work on the computer though. So as I'm working I can check Twitter, Facebook and stuff quickly. And it helps that the computer is in the kitchen.
If you figure it out, let me know :) !!
ReplyDeleteAnd my Twitter account is even worse than yours ... I signed up, but have never twittered on it, LOL.
I say you are doing what you need to be doing, talking care of your family and using the social networking as a hobby, not a way of life :) !!
As someone who grew up basically knowing from birth what a computer was and how to work it, I can say that even I don't spend that much time devoted to internet-y things. Hello...I actually have a blog of my own and I haven't written on it in something like THREE YEARS, so no worries, right! I do have accounts on all the hip sites (Facebook, etc.) and to be honest, as with many people who commented, I often end up checking them when I'm actually supposed to be entering info. about a client's meds into the system at work. Let me tell you, it is a dangerous thing allowing me internet access during work hours, because I can find myself easily distracted by other sites when I'm really supposed to be doing work. I'm so horrible! I should be dedicating more to my work! Maybe I'll take a lesson from T. I must say though, that I am a texting fiend, and I will teach you one day how to work your phone well enough to send me, or anyone else for that matter, a text message!
ReplyDeleteI think I am the only person I know who is not on facebook. I get the question all the time, when I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, or when I've made a new friend at Bella's school: "Are you on facebook?" And when I say no I always get a curious look. One person actually asked me, "What are you, Amish?". No! I just do what I can do and forget about the rest. I have enough pressure in my life without having the internet adding to it. So cut back if you have to. But blog, sometimes, because I would miss you terribly. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, that's easy. I neglect the family shamelessly.
ReplyDeleteI haven't even investigated twitter and facebook for exactly this reason...there just isn't enough time.
ReplyDeleteReally, I do what I can when I can. That's all I can do...
I do love your blog, so I check in at least 5x a week, but the rest of it...forget it. I would rather be working in the yard, or baking, or reading a good book...by the way, I would really like to read a book that YOU wrote! (Hint)
ReplyDeleteHaha. I'm laughing along with ya, sister! All I know is this thing is way too addictive.
ReplyDelete