“I Have Nothing to Say and I Intend on Using Every Channel I Can to do so.”

Over the past 15 years of dealing with online communication and the web, in particular, there have been three reoccurring themes in my interactions online. The first being that when a new service comes out or a new channel of online communication is released, I want to be on it. I’ve heard it called the Shiny New Toy syndrome or “The Curse of the Early Adopter.” Whatever the rationale, it’s the draw to the cutting edge that makes me want to join the newest network.

The second point is, for the most part, I am a relatively private and quiet person. I usually don’t want to stand out in a crowd or draw attention to myself. I’m very comfortable working in the background or quietly talking to others. This thought is in direct conflict to the idea that these channels are used for the open expression of an individual or organization. So, the question that I have to answer is what is the purpose of me using this channel, social network, widget or website? If I can only answer “because it is cool and new,” then I’ll run out of content to put on the channel very quickly.

Finally, I get distracted really easily. Some may call it ADD; some may call it being actively “multi-modal”, some may call it a simple lack of focus. It’s hard to maintain an active discussion base when the variety of devices and brands and channels are demanding attention 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

With all of the points, it seems to be hard to maintain a cohesive thought process that isn’t strung out for the multitude of connection points that makes up the Internet.