Thursday, April 29, 2010

Help Me, Internets! I've Been Oblivious!

Now that I'm coming out of the "survival mode" of the infant stage and the fog of winter (because of my SAD), I'm starting to realize some things that I feel pretty lame for not having noticed before.

I'm not even going to write about the things that I've been oblivious to or left undone in real life. Instead, I'm going to talk about things in this awesome online community I have become a part of that I feel stupid for missing.

-Some people who I feel that I've become good online friends with have blogs that I didn't even realize existed! How could I have missed the names with obvious links to google profiles with blogs listed or the blogs themselves. Am I blind?

-Some blogs that I did discover previously are not in my reader, even though I totally thought they were and that the person just must not be updating. Once I realized that I'd missed some, I've checked out my reader and tried to update it.

-I didn't realize that some people who are on Twitter and even following me were not in my Follow list. These are people whose blogs I read and have even commented to me on Twitter. I've just gone through and added a bunch of people to my Follow list, but I'm concerned that I'm still missing people who I want to follow.

-I wanted to keep up with email correspondence and replying to comments on my blog, but I keep lagging behind or don't have the time. I'm trying to parse through my overwhelming gmail inbox, but that's not a quick and simple task.

-The DC area meet ups pretty much don't happen in the winter, but I'm finally getting back to organizing them. Who the heck put me in charge of these?

-Perhaps the thing I'm most disappointed about is the way the email support group for DC area people has not become what I had hoped it would. I know that it is up to me to really get it going, but for whatever reason I have not been able to. I'm not quite sure how to make it what I want it to become, but even when I do send out email, there isn't a lot of response. I guess I've been hoping that once we start doing the meet ups again, people will start emailing more. However only two people responded about the May meet up. The point of it was to become a network of support for each other, but no one seems to be reaching out.

So I come to you all as a petitioner. Please let me know the following:

-Have I missed your blog either by not visiting or not having you in my blog roll (which should mimic my reader)?
-Am I not following you on Twitter?
-Have I missed an email or a response to something you wrote that you would like a response to?
-Can you come to a DC area meet up in May? Which day? (Please note that there have been two requests for it NOT to be the first weekend of May, so it won't be this weekend.) Where? I can just decide all this and whoever shows up shows up, or you all can have some input.
-Does someone else want to help me organize and keep up with the DC area meet ups and the email group?
-In what ways can I/we improve the DC area email group to work better for you all?

I like you people, and I want to put in the work to keep up with my online friends. Can you please help me do that? Unless you can't stand me and wish I would stop commenting on your site. In that case, you can send me an email to let me know and I total will. After I leave one last comment telling you to suck it!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Whoa! Those are some powerful words there, missy! ;)

I created a Twitter account and used it all of twice I think. I can barely keep up with my blog and FB let alone another social networking mechanism.

I don't know how you keep up with everyone as you do. I guess I finally need to download a reader (wordpress only reads other wordpress blogs as far as I can tell). It seems to me you do a pretty good job keeping up and anyone who thinks otherwise can SUCK IT!

z said...

No no no. You're good. I am sorry I haven't responded to the DC area meetup. It's buried in my gmail but life has been super busy here the past month. And i don't mean that in the "I forgot- I am making an excuse" kind of way. I truly mean we have been very very busy and I haven't really had a chance to sift through my inbox too much.
So thanks for organizing. Sorry i haven't responded but we won't be able to meet up in May because it's shaping up to be another busy month.

Katie said...

I saw that you finally followed me on Twitter yesterday. :) Funny thng is, I hadn't realized you weren't following me yet!

Incidentally, I'm certain it's beer o'clock SOMEWHERE.

mom2boy said...

I have a twitter account but it isn't linked to my blog and I am never on it unless I want to yell anonomously out into the void. You stop by my tiny blog plenty - :) I'm not terribly good about regularly posting things or even giving more than 5 minutes thought about what I'm throwing up there. It is amatuer hour for sure. You have a great blog and I appreciate how much effort you put into it!

caramama said...

All: This post is not at all intended to make anyone else feel bad. Londo pointed out that I do this or something like it every spring, after coming out of the winter fog. You should see all the organization and cleaning I'm doing in our house!

@la folle maman (cirquedubebe) - Well, it turns out that you have a great excuse for not keeping up with things, don't you? You do whatever you want online and IRL. You know I'll meet you for lunch whenever we can work out a time. As for Twitter, I just recently got back into it.

@z - I totally understand how things can get super busy! I'm going to try to do the next meet up either in June or July, so hopefully you can make it then.

@Katie - I thought I was following you too! (Does Twitter ever drop followers/followees by accident?) Once I realized I wasn't following, I started to wonder who else I might be missing, and that's what sparked this post. So really, it's your fault. Though I appreciate the encouragement for drinking, haha! And I thought of you when I finally did get my glass of wine last night (at dinner)!

nej said...

We're good. I enjoy reading your blog and appreciate your comments on mine, although I almost want to ask you to stop just because your last sentence was so funny.

If I still lived in Arlington, I'd be all over the DC meet-up. All over it.

geeks in rome said...

HELLO!! please don't tell me to suck it (or vaffanculo either for that matter :)

welcome back from the fog! I hope you get some people to come out with you and play!

caramama said...

@mom2boy - Thanks! That's nice to hear. I just recently linked my Twitter account to my blog in the hopes that it would help me get back into it. And now I'm totally addicted again. Heh. And I think you post plenty, and they are good posts.

@nej - Well, you can just suck it then! Hehe. If you are ever back in the area, let me know and maybe we can coordinate a meet up for when you are!

@geeks in rome - Thanks! While I generally don't condone cursing on my site (which is pretty funny cause IRL I curse like a sailor), I will let it slide if it's in another language. HA! (Incidentally, I never knew how to spell that, since I just learned it verbally.)

eep said...

I fully intend to participate in the meetup, but between having the baby and dealing with RSV, I haven't signed up for the email list or commented on the meetup post. Sorry. I hope that as things settle down I will be able to engage more fully.

TheFeministBreeder said...

This happens to me all the time. I start talking to someone on Twitter who I TOTALLY thought I was following, and it turns out I wasn't following them. On some occasions, I absolutely know I WAS following them, but Twitter has got some bugs and accidentally unfollows people sometimes for you. One time, I saw someone unfollowed me, and I asked her about it because I was really, really shocked by it, and she was like "What? I did NOT unfollow you! I swear!" Turns out it was Twitter.

Now, I just blame everything on Twitter, even if it wasn't their fault. I'm busy - and flighty. It cannot be helped.

caramama said...

@eep - Glad to hear from you! I know you've got a lot going on. No pressure or guilt intended at all! But please please please let me know if there is any way I can help you out.

@Gina (TheFeministBreeder) - Then I'm NOT crazy (at least in this). Twitter really does unfollow people by itself. Thank you for that!

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