Nothing is the same as it was.

I just read this timely blog post on Skype etiquette. Timely since the topic for FO2010 this week is skypping - if I can be forgiven for turning a proper noun into into a verb! I totally agree - to maintain any sort of balance or concentration I find I really have to monitor my link to technology whether it is instant messaging, my Blackberry or Skype.  Somehow it feels even harder to ignore that bing or buzz than it is to ignore a ringing telephone.  I am striving to unplug my internet connection and turn off my Blackberry when I need to focus. And yes - striving is the operative word here!  I no longer describe myself as a multi-tasker and am a bit resentful of the way technology tempts us to flit from one thing to the next. How can that be either healthy or productive?  Or is it just me getting older and slower?

David Hopkins,the author of the above mentioned blog also posted this great infographic of Maslow's needs and the social media that fulfil 'em.  What it does for me is link two seemingly diametrically opposed aspects of my current reality - needs based Nonviolent Communication  with the exploration of social media in Facilitating Online.

Before I got around to publishing this post - lo and behold - I discover that fellow student Jean Jacoby from way down under has been reading and writing about exactly the same blog!  Now that is synchronous!