Turn off, tune out – part 2…

Instead of lengthy comments on a comment, I figured this could be its own post. Rich Kelly, from Interbike, commented on the previous post. First, thanks for reading, Rich. Second, as I was writing the original post, I was thinking “well, really how different is my blogging from twittering?” I would say it’s quite a bit different. I try to only write something that I feel is of interest to someone who is as into bikes as I am. Originally, this was about my opening a bike shop, but it somehow morphed into what it is today – day-to-day bike shop happenings, commentary on bikes and the industry and maybe some neat pictures and humor.

Okay, so on to Rich’s comment.

“I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for your nice words about our blog being a helpful source of industry news. As for your thoughts on Twitter and other social media, I get bouts of socialnetworkitis pretty frequently myself and am sometimes challenged to keep up with all the Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace “friends” and updates. Twitter, though, seems to have “stuck” with me. It’s a simple and easy way to stay in touch with friends and colleagues in the industry. It’s unobtrusive and the short 140 character limit keeps posts quick and to the point.

My use of Twitter for the show this year is to have it send out reminders of events (“The Hite-Rite tech clinic starts in 15 minutes in room 201”), updates (“The Lance Armstrong autograph signing has been moved to the LeMond Cycles booth”) and any other news that might pop up during the show. It’s free, totally opt-in and you can choose to have it send the posts to your cell phone or just check it every now and then on one of the pc’s in the online lounge or your laptop if you have one. I’m guessing you won’t be bringing an iPhone with you to the show…

Yes, there are inane posts that are all over Twitter. There are also worthless blog posts – does that devalue blogs as a communication tool?

Along with the inaneness there are also great bits of info and insight into what’s going on in the community. Just choose the right people to follow. It’s also a great way to get feedback or opinions on ideas you may have. Again, it’s just another way to stay in touch, meet and communicate with other people.”

Yes, I do understand the value of using twitter as a tool. There are situations when someone has pertinent information that others will find useful and possibly save them some time. However, I would venture that that only accounts for a small percentage of twitter posts – and that is a total guess because I’ve not really seen a twitter post. But I can imagine.

And, yes, there are worthless blog posts. That is, I believe, a lack of focus on what you are trying to convey in your (that’s a collective “your”) blog. Staying on task with the reason you started a blog in the first place is difficult. There’s blogs I read that definitely stray far beyond their marketing boundaries.

The one thing that I have a hard time understanding (and it’s probably just me), is where do folks find the time to do all this blogging, twittering, facebooking, myspacing, linkedining… Maybe this is what folks like to do in their spare time. What did these people do with their time before they were bloggers, twitterers, myspacers, linkediners? Surely, they did something with their time. Did they stop doing what they were doing previously, or just fit in all this new stuff with the old? Do they miss doing what they used to do?

All these new types of activities are called social media. I think that’s the wrong terminology. Social as a term pertains to interactions between people. Sure, that can be taken many different ways and one of them can be socializing through electronic devices. However, I prefer social as personal, face-to-face interactions between people. As people walk the streets, site at their desk, commute on the train, they may be “socializing,” but they are socializing impersonally, looking into a small screen and seeing letters and words. They aren’t standing next to a person talking to them.

I’m an observer. I walk through airports (when I used to fly a lot, over a million miles on one airline) and watch people. Other people walk through airports on their phones or frantically forming words on a tiny keypad. I feel they are missing out on the great act of observing humans or watching planes take off and land. When I’m in Las Vegas for Interbike, I’ll walk to the show and watch people. When I’m at the show, I’ll be waking aisles checking out the vendors.

Sorry, Rich, I don’t think I will be opting in to Twitter to get up to the second posts about happenings. I’m sure you would constitute as a “right” person to follow, but I don’t want to. I just don’t want to make the time to follow you (no offense) or anyone else. You’re correct, I don’t have an iPhone, let alone a cell phone. I spend enough time on my laptop (which I won’t be bringing either) that I don’t want to be tethered by an even more portable electronic device.

One thing that I keep thinking about is, in this day, with all these “tools,” people are afraid of missing something. Missing out on what’s next. For those with tivo players, missing a show. Missing a text message. It’s okay to miss a tv show. It’s okay to miss the next blog post I make. It’s okay to miss seeing someone. The world isn’t going to end. And besides, if you don’t know you missed it, how do you miss it?

Oh, and thanks for the info on the Hite-Rite tech clinic, I’m giddy with anticipation ;-). And brilliant bit regarding the autograph signing. Took me a minute to “get it,” but had a good chuckle! Hope you have a good Interbike. I’m really looking forward to the show after missing it last year.

(What’s playing: Journey Wheel in the Sky oh, yeah!)