Monday, 3 October 2011

Anti-Social Media.


There was a moment at BlogHer in New York last year that has stuck with me ... it was at Sparklecorn, and all the friends I went with had already left because they were tired. I didn't want to go yet .. what a surprise that I should drain every last drop out of a good time even if it means standing alone in a sea of women who all knew each other.

I sat down and watched a group of about four women all pose for photos together. There was something really strange about it that I couldn't put my finger on at first. They were all doing ridiculous poses with each other, snap snapping away (nothing wrong with that) ... but as soon as the photos were taken, they'd all pull apart and silently dive into their phones. Tweeting and uploading and facebooking their awesome time straight away. Thing is, they seemed to be pretending to be having a better time than they actually were.

I imagined the friends who saw these photos would feel a little envious, that they were not there having all the fun. Yet, they didn't dance, or talk, or look at anything else. They just sat there for ages, tapping away at their phones.

I ended up going to dance all by myself, feeling like a complete tool. I was stone cold sober and didn't have anyone to dance with. Then I found some people who were lovely, then I went on to another party and ended up on the couch talking to Fadra for the rest of the night.

And I didn't twitpic any of it - because I was too busy, you know ... actually living it.

::

Social media lovers need to be careful. There's a lot of joking about being addicted, but trust me on this - it really can be an addiction. I know what full-blown addiction feels like. It leaves a person feeling empty, vacant. Missing something. Hollow. Not living life properly. Nothing is ever enough.

I was recently asked to go on a media junket for Ambi Pur, over to Thailand. This was straight after I'd just gotten back from BlogHer in America, courtesy of Ribena. And I said yes - I should not have said yes. You know that scene in Meaning of Life when that waiter is teasing the obese guy with dessert? "It's wafer thin!"

I was the fat greedy blogger and that trip to Thailand pushed me over the edge. I was incredibly flattered to be asked, unfortunately it wasn't the right decision for me, and especially for my family. I imploded when I got back home ... for a number of reasons. I didn't check any modes of social media for a full week, and I could not have given the slightest shit.

It all felt ridiculous. I don't care about my blog stats, my PR pitches, the next invitation, the next party, the next blog conference.

I *do* care about my family. Very much. When I pulled back I realised how deeply I was "in" there. I realise that when I open the lid to my laptop, I may be in the same room physically as my family, but not emotionally. I check out - like, the screen is made from liquid and I stand there in my cossies and say, "See ya suckers!" to my husband and children and just dive in.

Sometimes, I resurface hours later and everybody has gone to bed already.

My children watch me. Scariest thing? In a few years, they will have their own online world - their own facebook accounts. (Newsflash: if you are over 25, facebook doesn't give a shit about you. It's the young ones they target.) I need to start setting a good example right now, today.

An iPhone in my pocket is a computer in my pocket. I've been forcing myself to stop checking mine so incessantly, to leave it in the car when I'm at the park. It's not healthy. And it's not fair. I signed up for Pinterest and Google+ but I have no clue how they work. I hear that Facebook has changed - it's just all too much and nobody can keep up.

Stop inventing things, tech people! Give us a chance to catch our breath - why do we need to communicate with each other so much?

Liz from Mom 101 wrote a great post HERE called "Love, love will tear us apart. Or was that Klout?"

I told her that after I'd pulled back from social media for just one week, Klout emailed me with the subject line: "Oh no! Your Klout score has fallen!"

Which roughly translates as, "Oh finally! You are being a really kick-arse wife and mother this week!"

::

I blog the same way I live my life ..... floundering all the way. I may never look at my stats - but I do care about my blog readers. And my fellow bloggers ... you are all real people. Don't forget to live in the real world.

And if you base your self-worth on your blog or how many hits you get, or when the next event is ... be careful. It's a fine line, man. It's wafer thin.

PS I am plotting a tribute to my Ambi Pur experience ... to showcase the creativity and originality that us bloggers have to offer. I'm not obligated to do this in any way. I think their reps are slightly alarmed.


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70 comments:

  1. that is why I turned off my stats.

    And sometimes just walk away.

    And if one of my children walk in the room I stop and make eye contact. It is too easy to become enmeshed.

    Love you biatch. Too freaking much.

    x

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  2. Very well said. I think we all come across this dilemma with social media. It really is a beast.
    As a wise woman once said, we must manage our blogs, not let the blogs manage us.
    xxx

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  3. I took a few days off Facebook/Twitter everything this week.

    It was pure heaven. I love my social media, but I loved the break as well. We take holidays from work/home etc, I think taking them from your online life as well is something people don't think about.

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  4. You know how you talked about someone writing a post that you've been developing in your mind, or have sitting in your drafts.
    This was that.
    Mine was written this morning, and WAY more snarkier, and will never see the light of day. But yeah, dude you were in my head.

    It can get all too much can't it?
    And the reason I follow so few blogs? Because I do invest in their lives, I want to be a real friend, even if I can't always reach out and give them a hug. But you're right, my kids, my family, they come first and sometimes it can get too tiring trying to juggle it all and then *I* suffer.

    I'm not yet addicted to social media, but what I fear the most is that I may let one of those friends down.

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  5. Reading this I was reminded of the Year 2000 fireworks (showing my age I know), so excited I spent the whole time taking photos and sending text messages(thank goodness social media wasn't around in those days) that I didn't really enjoy the show - the next year we took a harbour cruise to see the fireworks, and I just sat back and just took the experience - you can guess which one I remember as being the best!
    Yes, it is easy to get caught up in the moment and want to tell the world, but it is more important to live the moment.

    (this of course has been written in the few free minutes I have before dinner whilst mr 5 is watching fireman sam :) )

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  6. EXACTLY - I love these comments already, man I wish I could reply individually *cough BLOGGER cough*

    All of this online/social media stuff is just exploding - everywhere. Globally. And as the trailblazers, I hope we can move forward with mindfulness and responsibilty.

    And lots of idiocy.

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  7. Sometimes I get so caught up in capturing the moment that I forget to live it. Amen sister.

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  8. I had a week of very limited net access last week. I read a book. A real book with pages and that booky smell.

    I sat in the sun and chatted with my husband. I played with my small people.

    And when I got home I realized that the blogosphere kept turning. Twitter kept barreling on and Facebook didn't miss me either.

    And I came to the conclusion that unless I actually have something to say, I shouldn't be blogging.

    Life is too much in here and not enough out there right now. I want sun on my skin.

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  9. Too much truth - aaagggh - it's hurting my eyes!!!
    Well said, woman - well said.
    Especially the 'pretending to have a good time'.
    It's a balancing act this online world meets real world stuff.
    I want my online life to complement my real life. Not destroy it.
    You're pretty amazing, Mrs.
    :-)

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  10. Love this. So true and so well said. I definitely ebb and flow. There are times that I alarm myself at how absorbed I get. There are times when it makes me feel ill just to open the laptop cause I've binged too much.

    On the days when it's too easy to sink into the blogosphere, I try to slap myself a little to wake up.

    It's definitely necessary to be mindful about it all.

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  11. As always, you nail it. Its similar to the way my husband lives when it comes to taking photos. He is of the opinion you need to get out from behind the camera and live the moment, immerse yourself in it and carry the memory that way.

    It also takes me back to lining up to go into Oprah last year and she drove past. My first reaction was to whip out my phone, take pics, text & tweet but my hubs just said "stop, soak it up" and he was so right, It was blink & miss and am so glad I have the memory burning bright in my mind. A fumble with my phone would have cost me that.

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  12. Case in point, I just burnt the sausages cause I was commenting when I should have been watching the dinner!!

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  13. I accidentally dropped my iPhone on Friday night and it broke - I thought I would die. But instead I feel sort of... free?

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  14. Oh you are one very wise woman, Miss Eden. I'm guilty of being sucked in to the social media vortex. There are big pluses though. Wouldn't have met you without it.

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  15. Fantastic words Eden....

    I LOVE it when I leave my phone at home. To be uncontactable is beautiful, it's just so free and light.

    I can't do Facebook and twitter because I am really just to slow! I am a little old fashioned also.

    But I think what you do is amazing.....
    I want to say so much more, but I tend to sound like a tool.
    So I will shut up and go back out to the veggie patch where the wireless cannot reach me, thankgod!

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  16. I think my kids are used to seeing the profile of me, always on my phone and iPad. It's not healthy. It has to stop. I have to cut back.

    My klout score has fallen considerably since I've cut back on twitter, but I can't be bothered all the effort to have it high again. Seriously what does that prove anyway?

    Thanks for this timely reminder to live.

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  17. Luckily, I don't base my self worth on my blog stats. I'm not even sure self worth can get that low. (Ka-boom tish!) :)

    My iPhone is broken at the moment and I swear I can feel my brain re-wiring itself. It is WEIRD not to be symbiotically linked to my little gadget 24/7.

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  18. I mostly have weekends off. Same as my work life. As I treat social media like work a little and schedule time in for it, same I would for a work project. I find that helps. Although at the Wiggles Exhibition today I took a few pics on Instagram, but that's just because if I didn't I was going to wind some of the pushy mothers who let their kids jump queues or stab myself with a fork, and also because Oliver's drink bottle turned upside down in my bag and spilt on my regular camera.

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  19. It's kinda ironic I'm reading and replying to this on my phone. But want to say I too have said be damned with stats! Bugger the cost to my social ranking! That I played board games all day Sunday with my girl and husband to get their rating is all I care about. And if you so desire, I'll send you a link to the post I did on this very topic no more than 2 weeks ago. But I won't hold my breath and watch my inbox ;-)

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  20. Thank you. I no longer feel like a freak for not tweeting/facebooking/taking photos when I'm at conferences or meet ups.

    I'm currently looking at what I can really manage with my increasingly non-existent time and it's not that much.

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  21. Oh, I understand this so much. Sometimes the Internet makes my head want to implode and I have to remind myself that this is not the real world in here.

    I love instagram, but never remember to take photos and upload them there. I'm too busy playing, or chatting. Probably a good thing.

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  22. High five. Seriously, I feel the same way. I can't tweet because I feel like it takes over my life and then I feel empty and bored and trapped in my own head, which is far from satisfying. You summed it up perfectly! Life is there to be lived, not to be tweeted....

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  23. Funny to read this post today. I have a post in my drafts about Facebook, and the way it makes grown women in particular resort to 6 year behaviour. Not sure I want to post it to my blog.
    And what's with the needing approval and liking and telling everyone where you are? Look at me! Like me! Like my photos! I'm cool, really!

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  24. I think we all learn this the hard way, and you've nailed that feeling right there. LOVE the imagery of the computer being liquid and jumping right out of that room - that's exactly what happens. x

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  25. Not unusually, I wholly agree! I don't care about stats either but I do care about being genuine & about taking care of my online friends as much as I do my IRL friends. I am going to make myself twitter/blog free at least 2 days a week cos I know I'm not as present sometimes as I should be in the lives of my darling family. And that is not at all right! The great thing is that we can make up our own rules and work out what fits for us. Brilliant post .... Again!

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  26. You are fucking awesome Eden. Just that, and nothing else.

    x

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  27. Sometimes I feel like I spend so much time in the digital world, that I have no sense in my fingertips. The world becomes pixelated and distorted.
    I wrote about this yesterday, and when I pressed publish I felt like deleting my blog. I felt like I cracked the blogging nut and could be done with it. But then I got all these comments and my stats went berserk, and suddenly it felt like reaching a new level of Super Mario Bros. It's a FREAKING GAME!
    I fear for our future generations. It's not just the kids that are hooked. It's the parents too.
    You're awesome Eden.

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  28. Important to remember for sure. For massively sure. I've just spent two weeks back working full time and I remembered what it was like, to have other things to do.

    And not that I love my blog and social media world any less. Just differently. It's a reminded to have a life outside so I can enjoy the life I've created inside.

    And yes, Klout and I broke up a while ago when I found myself connecting and then using media I didn't even LIKE. Klout's site gets more hits from me being a total junkie. No win for me.

    Timely for me, as always. Well done you.

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  29. I have no mobile phone, which makes people gasp and my 12 yo roll his eyes- but it was (and is) a conscious decision. I adore email. I adore Twitter. I adore the net and all the delicious things you can read. But if I had a phone I'd ALWAYS be reading. I'd whip it out at my daughter's swim class and start checking emails rather than watching her on the beam. I'd read tweets while I wait for appointmenst instead of reading novels. I'd check it in the car and probably crash into the person in front of me.

    There have to be boundaries, and mine is that I am online in my study at a consciously chosen time, and NO others. I went to Bali last week for 10 days with 3 girlfriends and didn't get online at all, except for a couple of emails from the hotel office to check on the kids. It was bliss to be untethered in all the ways that count... sometimes we need to be. Otherwise our attention span is no longer than the blink of that cursor.

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  30. I have had a similar experience a few times when out and about to have fun. Real fun! I wanted to have fun, but the social media junkies wanted to twitpic and tweet and whatever else about all the fun that they were having. Drove me nuts.

    At home though, I have to admit that I hide from my kids in my social media world. I hate being a parent. I hate being a single parent. I hate listening to my kids incessant blathering about Pokemon and Ben 10. My laptop is my gateway to adult interaction.

    I do make myself step away from it and spend time with the kids. I don't love it, but I make myself do it. It's my job,,...

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  31. I don't know what to say - I hate that I can relate to your post a little too much, at the same time I like having this thing to myself that is mine and no one else's. Hubby has his work, so it is my little escape when he's ignoring me - the only ones that do suffer are my kids and like for you, that has to stop for me.
    I love that you have said this cause it can be so dangerous to our real lives. Sad I missed you IRL on Friday tho - Big virtual hugs instead Nic x

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  32. It's always been clear for me that when the things that hold my attention online are not rooted in something that fuels me, they sap my spirit. The things I do online. more so for this reminder you've given us, are about forging friendships and honing my writing.

    I'm so glad you turned into your family, give us a story or two from it why don't ya? ;)

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  34. This hurts too much to comment about. It's too true.

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  35. I wrote this to Naomi after her vlog and I'll say the same to you; Thank you. Thank you for keeping it real, for sharing so honestly. I've only been blogging seriously for four months but early on, I could see how all consuming it could be. Then the other day, I was really struggling with it all agatin. It seems as if "this point" is a common ailment, a hazard of the job, so to speak. If its not already on an agenda, I think blogger's burnout and the balancing act should be a conference or forum topic, just like techie, marketing, and branding stuff. Thank you for the reminder that our real life is what counts and blogging is just a small part.

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  36. Great reminder to live our lives not just tweet it.

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  37. I know this is an escape from life. My husband complains that I spend all my time blogging (really, it's mostly commenting, but he refuses to note the distinction). What he doesn't realize is that I don't turn on the computer until it's just about bed time for our daughter, or maybe while she's "napping" on the weekends. So, mostly I'm ignoring him. :) But he does the same thing, just on different websites. He is actually addicted - I'm just wasting time. And my phone? That's just a better venue for wasting time at work - it's less obvious.

    I do take lots of photos with my phone, but I always forget to upload them to Facebook. But I email a lot, because when my husband's not here, I don't want him to miss out on everything.

    I can see where things can get addictive and I can see when I'm getting overly immersed. Then it's time to get a grip on reality.

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  38. totes.

    Here's the thing - the line between feeling connected and becoming disconnected is just like Mr Creosote's (you're welcome) wafer - so delicious and yet so devastating at the same time.

    My mind has been poisonous these last few weeks and not just because of Chef's (and therefore our) predicament but because of things I saw and read on twitter and facebook. I became an ugly green seething ball of pustulent bileous envy about other people's lives, holidays, dinners, parties YOU NAME IT.

    And then, I had one of those moments. I remembered how some only project the happy and pretty and golden, THAT IT WAS NOT REALITY.

    I'm pulling back from it all and refocusing on my blog - a place I created to be me, to connect with others but more simply to bookmark moments in my life and to try and make heads and tails of it. Not to monetise, not to grow readerships, not to optimise my place in a search engine for fuck's sake but to simply be me. On metaphorical paper.

    And there you have it - some of us at the frontier of this whole palaver are now stepping back, taking stock and becoming the slow-blog movement of the Interwebs.

    Bring it.

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  39. interesting! for the first time I read an anti social media article and I agree with it... because sometimes we are in fact exagerating having account all over the internet, making thousands of 'friends' and I do need a break too from social media... sometimes

    casete de bijuterii

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  40. Awesome post, E. Really well done. Way to drop kick it. I could live off this one for a week.

    Love ya, Babe.

    D. Was Here.

    XXOO

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  41. I think if you choose to dip your toe into social media, you need to take responsibility for the amount of time you spend doing it.

    Many posts around these days talking about leaving comments, feeling inadequate, feeling jealous and frustrated about their place in the bloggosphere. I think it is really tragic that so many bloggers seem to place so much importance on it. Thanks Eden and the others who have recently posted about stepping back. It is just blogging. Not life x

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  42. Excellent post, I need to live my life, fark I've got four kids, how do I have the time to be online with all the chaos XP

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  43. The last blogging meet up in Sydney I took three photos - one of you and your gorgeous sisters, one of an asparagus dipped in dip which looked like a penis and one of the said asparagus spear in someone's mouth. The rest of the time, the phone stayed in my pocket and I spent my time laughing.

    It drives me crazy when I see people busily tweeting, uploading, FB status etc all the time. It's like people who spend the whole time taking photos at concerts, instead of dancing to the music and losing themselves in the moment. Live baby, live x

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  44. The very beautiful and very eloquent Peggy Saas wrote about this recently... you ladies are very smart!

    http://cakecrumbsbeachsand.blogspot.com/2011/09/too-sociable.html

    I agree with Mrs Woog... there isn't any need for anyone to feel inadequate or jealous or anything about the blogosphere... we must be responsible for the time we spend in it. What's more important at the end of the day?

    xx

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  45. Very, very true. One reason I have stepped back a bit from blogging and commenting and well Twitter I dabble in from time to time but I still don't get it. FB however is my connection to the "real" world, my nights a lonely once my Boo is in bed, so I get to to connect then. However by stepping back I am getting a LOT more done, like starting up a business!

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  46. I try not to spend too much time online but I think I spend too much. I need to work on that.

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  47. Must be something in the water because I'm feeling the same, I've been thinking of starting pr work on my blog ie giveaways, comps, reviews but it seems like alot of work and time that I don't even have now..

    I can't even blog once a day atm, I have 3 kids a farm a job a house not finished and a life.......I can't keep up.....

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  48. Ha! Thanks for the bitch slap of reality.

    After this comment, I'm turning this computer off, grabbing a book and a bubble bath with confidence and purpose! Starting now I am officially ignoring my blog (which I have barely given life...wrote lots of boring posts and one semi-honest post and ran away). My world is big enough without it.

    Yep.

    Seriously.

    Thank you!

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  49. I've got open night for uni course I am hoping to do next year tomorrow night. I have lots of adventures planned with my family in the year ahead. I am excited about my life in a way I haven't been in a long time. Maybe it took going to BlogHer for me to realise that at the end of the day it's just a blog. It's lovely and I enjoy it. I have made great friends but at the end of the day? It's not the be all and end all. Tis just a blog. Thanks darlin for summing it all up succinctly. I think though sometimes you have to go through all the angst to get it. Or maybe that's just me?

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  50. oh a truer word not spoken in a long time......our TV broke last week - we thought we would die - we looked at lots of pretty, sleek, large, sparkly new TVs - but we just couldn't do it. Gonna do the summer with NO TV.
    Six months.
    NO TV.
    I wonder if we will EVER be that way with our computers????

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  51. I'm not a blogger, don't do twitter or have a Facebook account or even have enough to say to regularly leave comments. I just read, and absorb.
    I love the meaning people like you give me. You make my life richer!

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  52. I love this! I've always been hopeless at twitter. My klout score is falling, yawn...

    I just can't go on twitter too much, and when I'm out and a about, it's very rare that I'm on it.

    Yet, I've always felt so guilty about this. We're always told to tweet lots in blogging world, but I only want to tweet if I actually have something to share. I don't tweet lots. And this year, I've grown to care less about that fact.

    And now I think about it, I think about those in my feed who are tweeting their every fart, and never seem to stop coming up in my feed over the space of a minute.

    I'm never thinking how awesome they are to be tweeting so much. I'm always wishing they'd shut the fuck up so I can read a variety of my tweep's stuff.

    So there's the other side of it. When you tweet less, you avoid being the wanker everyone wishes would shut the fuck up

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  53. Good to talk here and write too. A blog is a connecting place for me. I'm pretty isolated for a number of reasons, and the blogs I read are those written by real people, most of whom I am lucky to say I have met. I am lucky to have found some great people, keeping it real, through the blogosphere..and in places such as Unplugged & Masterclass & Conferences.
    Yes I am learning things too, but the best thing for me is about connecting.
    Thanks Eden!
    Denyse

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  54. I so hear you.

    Can I sit on a couch and talk all night with you next summer at BlogHer?

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  55. If I was there I would have totally danced with you. I would possibly have also taken a photo and tweeted it, but I would enjoy it and I would have only done it once. I met many friends at a work conference by going up to them and simply saying "all my co-workers went to bed, and I want to party can I hang out with you?"

    I wrote a post all about the craziness that is stats, klout, twitter etc: http://wp.me/poVIX-s7

    I so completely know what you mean. I need to be better about unplugging myself.

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  56. I wrote a long essay type response, but just deleted it and wanted to say - brilliant post. Brilliant. xx

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  57. You've prompted so much thinking for me and I'm in the middle of writing my own long winded post inspired by this one.
    Ultimately I just want to say thank you for this post. I look forward to the follow up.

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  58. I so hear you Eden. My naturopath tells me I have adrenal exhaustion, more than likely brought on by too much computer/technology & too little sleep. I've had to give up coffee, tea, coke & chocolate (just kill me now!) limit my reading to a select handful of fave blogs each day, and pretty much put emails and social media aside for a while. Fortunately I hate the new Facebook set up, so it's done me a favour. And I'm just too tired and lazy to figure out how to use twitter, pinterest, & google+.

    Rachael Brown Photography - if you decide to pan that no-tv project, and you live in the Canberra area, I have a couple of tvs that we don't need anymore (they're not cute flatscreens, they're the regular type from ten years ago) but you are welcome to it/them plus we have the digital set top box to go with it. Shoot me through an email if you are interested.

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  59. Free offer by tge way, not trying to use Edenland as my personal classifieds :-)

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  60. I went away for a weeks holiday, no twitter, no internet access and no tv. I did have a mobile, but its just a phone it doesn't do any of the sexy stuff.

    Do you know what I had missed when I got back NOTHING. I had a great holiday though, read a bundle of books and actually connected with real life events, not just which celeb is trending on Twitter

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  61. I went to my first blogger conference last week, it was fun but seriously I was amazed that nobody was watching the speaker.

    After years of being the speaker I was shocked. Sure we're digital media women, but it's Elisa of BlogHer telling us about her life...a little eye contact perhaps?

    Could it be that I'm becoming jaded already? Nahh not until I am offered that trip to sit on a panel with you one day.

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  62. There seems to be a lot of this sentiment going around. Like a virus. Pretty a good one to catch though. I wrote about it this week too. I hate that feeling of diving into the screen and emotionally checking out. I love my children but parenting can be so hard that I want to escape with the nearest socially acceptable drug of choice. Empty? Yes.

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  63. So bloody true! I have no idea if you read my blog, but I blog random, and if life is busy I enjoy the moments. I don't fob the kids off or the party/celebration I'm at to blog or tweet about it, I take in the moment. I enjoy the REAL LIFE peeps I'm being awesome with - not saying blogging peeps or tweeps aren't awesome... you know what I mean!! - I share the awesome after the fact... have you checked out the wedding cake pic on my blog yet? EPIC!

    As for klout *pffft!* I watch my klout score fall cause I can't tweet cause my computer hates twitter... and yanno, I couldn't give a rats... the blogging biatches I luffs know I'm awesome without high klout lol

    miss.cinders@SMOM - on Husbands computer so I have no idea what my password is to log in to comment lol

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  64. I know how you feel. Not the stuff about getting sponsored and freebies and lovely trips away. Not that part. But I feel like so much is happening so fast, and I can't freaking keep up. There are always people out there who are more awesome than me and doing better than me, who know more than me.
    Every month, I take at least a few days off twitter and fb and blogging because I have to. I need it for my sanity. And I know my blog status suffers, my klout score, whatever is that falls, and the number of comments I get falls; but I don't care much. Sometimes I don't post and I lose followers. But I can't do everything.
    Every month I think of giving up blogging.
    And then I think of the therapy and joy it gives me, and just take a step back.
    If I keep doing it for the right reasons, I guess it's okay.
    It's given me a lot, it's put me in touch with people like you.
    I just have to make sure I'm doing it for the right reason.
    PS if you get offered another trip to Thailand, I'll die my hair red and go on a crash diet and pretend to be you, 'kay.

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  65. Holy Cow.

    This post here.
    It's just like falling in love with you, like the first time.

    I love you.

    I agree with you.

    Are we not all thinking this?

    Or is it just the few chosen who see the bullshit for what it is???

    I love you, Eden Riley.

    Feels like the first time.

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  66. I think the Twitter is the main culprit for sucking people in and making them forget they have a life. I think it's rather aptly named, actually.

    Facebook status updates leave a lot to be desired as well.

    But, maybe I'm naive, but blogging is different to me. It's not the same kind of 'look at me looking at me' stuff. Or maybe for some, but not for me.

    But when all is said and done, it's just a blog, only a blog.

    x

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  67. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  68. Brilllllliant post. I started blogging like a mad woman at the beginning then I realised I have so much going on in my real life that I was adding more stress than I need. So now I just go with the flow. I deactivate Facebook every now and again as I have no self control lol. I am in slight hermit mode at the moment, something to do with mad ass depression. But reading this has made me feel like I'm not alone in that need to juggle and balance out all the elements in my life.
    Love your work Eden :-)

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  69. Perspective. You give perspective, Eden.

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  70. I am the newest immigrant to the Edenland and loving it!!! You make me feel better, laugh, think, hope, liberated and even ashamed of myself (I have ads on my new(is) blog)!
    And this post made me feel so much better about missing a certain event the pictures of which I am sure I will see on my FB page soon!

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Write to be understood, speak to be heard. - Lawrence Powell

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