Communication Never Sleeps

There was a time when I frowned upon the use of a cell phone as I swore it would make me “too accessible.” During this time, my Zack Morris (circa 1990 Saved By The Bell)-style cell phone was all I needed. I thought I would never care about PDA's, texting, Blackberry Messenger (BBM, aka instant messaging), let alone all of the other ways to impersonally communicate. But, as I sit here blogging on my laptop, I also have three browsers open–one to my Gmail email account (I also have back-up Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts), another to my Facebook account, and the other to my Twitter account. In addition, my home phone and Blackberry (equipped with email, text capabilities and BBM) sit right next to me. Who am I afraid won’t be able to get in touch with me?

I should have seen the writing on the wall for my obsession with communication when my favorite college housemates so affectionately nicknamed me, “Becca.com.” This nickname was created around 1997-1998 when the email craze was still relatively new. I would spend hours emailing and quickly fell in love with electronic communication. Writing has always been a passion of mine and it thrilled me to know I could “speak” eloquently and not have to utter a word. I no longer requested phone numbers, I wanted everyone’s email addresses.

Now, 12-plus years later,  “Becca.com” wasn’t too far off, except it’s officially rebeccasuhy.com. I now leave no communication vehicle untouched and each one links to the other. If you email me, my signature leads you to my cell phone number and website, visit my website, blog, Facebook or my LinkedIn page, and you can also email me; if you follow me on Twitter you can read my blog, which then allows you to email me, etc… How many ways can people communicate with you? Is this another version of that game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?

I once was afraid of being “too accessible.” Now, I wake up in the middle of the night and check my Blackberry for any messages I may have missed. While I do believe this is normal and part of being technologically in-the-know, I probably should take a break every now and then. 

Therefore, I am signing off…from my blog, Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. I’m also going to put the home phone away and silence my Blackberry.

Gosh, I hope no one wants to get a hold of me!