…but man, social networking is more work than it’s worth. Blog comments… if you’re reading a popular blog, there’s no point in answering it because there’s so many comments no one really reads them past the first five or ten and someone else has likely already said what you want to say anyway. Twitter, sure, you can pass along funny or useful info and sometimes have a short conversation but most people seem to fill their “following” list with hundreds of people and I’m sorry but there’s no way you’re _actually_ following hundreds or even a thousand people with any form of meaningful interaction. Just following my friends, family and guildmates on Facebook (about 100 people) takes an hour every day and if you miss a day, well, don’t bother trying to catch up.
There’s so much more to life. Put down your cellphone. Turn off your computer. Go outside in the sun. Go down to the corner pub and buy a beer. Go dig in the garden or walk around the neighborhood and meet your actual neighbors. Post to facebook… tomorrow. You don’t need to tell your three thousand followers on twitter that you’re climbing the steps or going to the bathroom. Wait til you have something worth saying.
There’s lots of things worth saying. Discuss things related to theories about your passion or your job. Post about _meaningful_ happenings in your life. It’s great that you can talk to people you’d be incapable of keeping up with otherwise. But gods, before you write something think to yourself: “Does anyone really care? Am I adding something worth reading to the conversation? Will people who follow me for updates care about this?” Otherwise you’re just adding to the noise.