The Assault On Anywhen

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 01:53 AM PST

I’m frustrated. I just spent about 20 hours without connection to the web. No email. No Twitter. No blog comments. No nothing. The technical reason was that my flight was seriously delayed, then held in the air, and then when I got to the UK (where I write this), I learned that neither of my phones is GSM-enabled, so I’m without communications technology.

But none of that is why I’m frustrated.

I have SEVERAL emails from people complaining that they didn’t hear back from me. In most of them, it was within 24 hours of the original mail. In other times, I hadn’t been in touch and it was okay that they nudge me. But the ones from within 24 hours. Seriously?

This Has to Stop

None of us are performing surgery (unless you are). You’re not calling me for the antidote to a poison. We MUST police ourselves about our sense of urgency. What happens, and I can be guilty, is that when WE need something, we push for it, not really taking into consideration the other side of the equation. So instead of just ticking something off our list, we come off as insistent and insensitive to other people’s situations.

How I Am Going to React

I’m saying no. I’m going to say no to a BOATLOAD of things I’ve originally said yes to, simply because I’m very frustrated. I can appreciate your need to get things done. I can appreciate your wanting to include me. But I can’t be held to a 24 hour clock.

We’re Ruining Anywhen

Anywhen: the problem the Internet solved. I’m blogging this at 4:38AM eastern time. It’s 9:38AM UK time. You can read this anyWHEN. See the beauty of it?

(AnyWHERE is what telephones solve. Get it?)

But when we have everyone held to urgency and time locks, we’ve ruined Anywhen. And I am a citizen of that world. I am an Internet person who is being pushed to constrained time, and I think I’m done.

(Mind you, I’m severely jet-lagged, had a really really bad day of travel, and haven’t had access to the net for a while, so I’m also a bit over-reactive.)

But please, can we please lose our addiction to urgency? Because I’m in a serious mood to defend AnyWHEN vigorously.

Photo credit Cl@re Bear

Stop Talking About Yourself

Posted: 26 Feb 2010 01:30 AM PST

Check your last 10 blog posts, your last 10 tweets. Are they all about you. Are they all about your products, your services, whatever it is you’re pushing? How many are about you versus those that are about others (either directly about them or empowering them)?

I just went to a few blogs in a row to get a sense of it. Here are some of the ratios I saw, with self-referential in the left, and about others in the right:

* 9:1 (not saying who)
* 1:9 (my blog)
* 0:10 (Christopher S. Penn wins most selfless).
* 0:10 (Julien Smith is the same.)
* 1:9 (Brian Clark).

Those were just a few I checked out. Most were heavily weighted towards talking about others (though often citing examples from our own perspective). But when I go look at corporate blogs, and/or less focused blogs, the ratio changed a great deal.

How does your blog stack up? How do your tweets stack up? How much are you promoting others?

Photo credit visualpanic