Written by Edna Myers
Every morning I get up out of my warm and cozy bed. I walk into my fully equipped kitchen to turn on my coffee pot and open the refrigerator to stare at the choices it holds. Nothing looks good and I wish I had shopped for a better selection the night before. I quickly think of how ungrateful I can really be! Why am I obsessing over what I don’t have while I have so much compared to others in this harsh world?
I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in New Orleans, on the 26th floor, where I’m attending a conference about and for dads. A disturbing dream woke me up in the dark of morning as I hear the sounds of train-horns in the distance and know the Mississippi River is lazing by in one direction and Bourbon Street is in the other direction.
Writing about going without technology is nothing original, for sure, and I’m not going to re-invent the wheel with this column. However, I am going to share my recent experience going without my iPhone for 38 days. The caveat is that I did have use of my phone for calls on a very limited basis and did receive and make about a dozen in the course of those 38 days.
In mid-2013, #DadChat surpassed one billion impressions. I wrote How Much is One Billion at the time so all the amazing facts about numbers are in that column. This time, I simply want to crow a bit about how the entire year turned out for #DadChat AND, what I believe to be the potential and pitfalls for Tweet Chats in the future.
First, the statistics for 2013:
Contributors: 7,956
Tweets: 77,113
Reach: 69.61 million
Impressions 1,883,330,000
We all know that a great keyword is sex. I’ve actually found that money is even better. Hmmm, maybe I should use both? I was having a discussion with a friend about sex appeal and how men and women view each other differently in this regard. In the course of the discussion, I reflected on four women – famous women/actresses – each of whom I’d met and/or worked with in my former life in showbiz.
I’ve been mostly without the use of my iPhone for going on a full week because of traveling overseas. The cost of all the international plans were really silly prohibitive and I thought – what the heck – I can do without, except for emergencies. So, I got a plan that basically costs about 80 cents per minute, bought 200 minutes, and turned off all data use. If my boys need to reach me, they can. Everyone else will get my voice message saying that I’m gone because this particular international phone plan gave me a new sim card and a new number to use while I’m gone and the only people I gave this new number to were my boys.
Yes, Hank Ketcham was thinking of me!
There are many columns about Netiquette as it’s been termed by some – or proper etiquette on Social Media. I have my own thinking and thoughts on this that I’d like to share. It’s less only etiquette than ways to make things easier for all and, in some cases, just thoughts on how to make things better for all.
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of doing this series of columns is ruffling feathers and reflecting – often with humor – on my own life and wife. Since my wife rarely reads my columns, I can write whatever I want with relative impunity. Of course, I’m ALWAYS writing the exact truth. It’s never slanted or biased from my male point-of-view. I’m the objective journalist with this series.
I also have swampland for sale if you’re interested?
