Is Social Networking Holding You Hostage

     Are you being held hostage by social networking and social media?  Is it keeping you back or keeping you inside?  Are you too tied up by it to break free for even a minute?

     You talk about writing that great novel.  Your wife is bugging you about planning a vacation. Work is something you squeeze in between blog posts, or sometimes during.

     Has your social crew become your only friends? When was the last time you took time to have coffee out with some friends? Besides a Tweetup I mean.

     If these thing describe you, then there’s a good chance you’re being held hostage.  You are a hostage of social networking.

     Is it a bad thing? Yes.  It doesn’t seem like it at first. Friends seem to develop overnight.  Folks come out of the wood works to join you for chit chat every day.  But something happens along the way.  You find you just don’t have time to get in those daily blog posts anymore.  That’s just the beginning though.

     Next to be sacrificed are those special projects. Oh sure, you still jump in and hammer a nail here and there, or fix a leaky faucet, but the big projects die a slow death.

     It progresses to canceling plans that might take away from that Friday night live podcast you’re now hooked on.  Your online time grows until Friday nights end up ending on Saturday mornings.

     Perhaps there’s an intervention, but what happens next is the work invasion.  It starts with checking your blog stats during the day, but it ends up progressing to checking your Twitter stream hourly. Finalliy you’re keeping it open just in case. Don’t want to miss those important mid day tweets.

     Where does it end? Who can rescue you?

     It ends when you turn and walk away.  You must be your own rescuer.

     Don’t be lulled into a false sense of non-addiction when you’re physically separated from your computer and the internet.  Take active choice and walk away.

     What to replace it with? Replace it with time spent in a good book, time with your wife, playing games with the kids.  Heck, take up a side hobby.  Try taking some long walks, or visiting the museum.  Travel works for some.  It meets so many needs.

     Whatever you do, walk away.  Don’t let your social networking rule your life and hold you hostage.  It’s okay to let it be part of your life, but it shouldn’t be your only life. Don’t let it put a bullet right between the eyes of your life.