Just ran across this book review of “The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference” by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.

Much of the review, which appeared in the Las Vegas Business Press a week ago, speaks to your blog post and those commenting here. For instance:

“Thinking small starts with talking small, with our mouths and voices, Thaler and Koval argue. E-mailing, texting and Twittering, they argue, keep people at a distance, and distance damages. The American Psychological Association notes that social phobia has become the third-most common mental illness in American, affecting 13 percent of residents.”

It’s worth reading the whole article – http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2009/05/11/news/iq_28272075.txt

Michael Benidt’s last blog post..Pre-Network Your Next Convention

like Anali above, I’m still running old school with my rzr. I have resisted getting a smartphone. now that I’m on twitter more, I occasionally wish I had it for receiving tweets : )

aside from the phone stuff, however, I have been surprised by how ‘social’ social media has been for me. I have met a ton of people that I probably would not have through various gatherings formal and not so – and it was all pretty much through twitter (and @bostontweetup!) I acknowledge Jeff’s point above about blogger mystique, but have found him and others to be equally interesting in person…

in short, I believe social media outlets act as a counterbalance to increasingly portable online worlds – as long as we remeber to ‘hang up and live!’

Todd’s last blog post..ring like fire when you lose your way

Anali’s last blog post..It’s Writers Worth Day!

This is a great post. It hit me in the brain, the heart and the gut (a real rarity when it comes to blog articles). I wanted to protest and say that these gizmos often start conversations, but those days are gone now that pretty much everyone has one. So I began to think of all the times I’ve likely missed an interesting person in the airport, barber shop or doctor’s office. I began to feel a bit ashamed, actually.

I do love Jeff Cutler’s idea above for “unplugged weekends.” I’ve begun to unplug more and more for short periods of time. But, here it is 5 in the morning and I’m catching up on some of my new “electronic relationships.” I’m either hopeless or just need to read more articles like this one.

Thanks – nicely done.

P.S. I didn’t get my phone confiscated, but I DID take those pics AFTER the security guard’s announcement :-)

Speaking of ideas, CC Chapman has the underused but valuable terminology of getting unplugged each weekend. I fail to do so, but I can see the benefit.

A friend came to a Tweetup once and she commented that it was silly how we all were together in the same room but all focused on our little screens. That’s the issue with allowing technology to dictate the methods in which we share.

I could be typing this on my 1930s Royal manual typewriter or faxing it to you or calling you from a payphone – how many are left?? You’d get the message as well as if I had tweeted it to you.

I still find that F2F is the best way to have fun in a group, but it’s a trial for many people to do that type of networking. Being behind a curtain is a ‘safe’ way to be bigger than life and have more of an impact. When we get in front of a physical audience we’re all afraid of our flaws and shortcomings – unrealistically so – and therefore may not put our best voice, foot and face forward.

Good on you for talking to the others on the Group W bench. And also good for not getting your phone confiscated.

Jeff Cutler’s last blog post..Jonathan Coulton Interview – in Five Parts