Lost in space

The past week’s events in Mumbai, India, in particular the way ordinary bystanders participated as “citizen journalists” in reporting the terror-attack events as they unfolded via online services such as Twitter and Flickr, got me thinking about how I use Web 1.0 and 2.0 tools, and how I am beginning to feel a bit pixilated in my online activity.

First a small step back… I have been messing around with Facebook over the past few weeks. It started as an experiment in child monitor (mine, not yours!) but has quickly, and remarkably easily, blossomed into a daily activity almost as necessary as checking my e-mail. And therein lies the quandary. Is Facebook the straw that could break this cyber-camel’s back?

Assuming I remember them all, I have cyber selves and accounts at:

• Hotmail – my day-to-day e-mail account.
• Gmail – for my personal-business e-mailing.
• CCICrosby.com – where I handle e-mail for my job.
• Facebook – At my new best time-waster (to quote a friend), I keep tabs on friends, colleagues, and other loose connections. I’ve posted some photos. I also play word puzzle games that I find a bit annoying, but my wife got me into it. And I keep track of several blogs that I like to read.
• delicious – I use this site regularly to keep track of all the websites and blogs I need at my fingertips for work or personal interests.
• Twitter – I do have a Twitter account, though I don’t use it much. A work colleague uses Twitter often to troll for information on articles we’re planning. I just haven’t gotten into the habit. Certainly the Mumbai reporting opened my eyes to new possibilities.
• LinkedIn – Go here to see or join my professional connections and network. I’m still getting the hang of all you can do with LinkedIn from a business standpoint, and I don’t have as cool connections as my wife (she’s linked to the governor, at least one Red Sox ace, and the host of a certain national TV dance show), but I see the potential.
• weber-wise – this blog… thank you for reading.
• Amazon wish list – This is my master file of all music, movies, and books that I hope to get at some point, or simply things that I want to remember for some reason. By the way, Christmas is just around the corner…
• iTunes shopping cart – a companion to my Amazon list. Here is where I keep track of single tunes that I want to add to my collection someday. This was a hard adjustment to make at first, since I consider myself an album kind-of guy. But at 99 cents apiece, I can adjust. I often shuffle music ideas back and forth between iTunes and Amazon as my whims and priorities change.
• Peapod – I love this service, which lets me grocery shop online and have someone else lug in the heavy bags. And the site’s database keeps track of everything I’ve ever ordered, so I can do all my shopping in a few quick clicks.
• MySpace – Mostly dormant at this time (you’ll see, I have basically no friends here). I set it up last year, partly as a cyber exercise and partly to keep tabs on my son, his friends, and my brother.
• Second Life – OK, I’m really adrift here. I created a character this summer (named Spyder Wirefly… cool, eh!?) but I find it darned difficult to do anything. I had a heck of a time modifying my avatar’s appearance; I can barely figure out how to get to the site and move around; and communicating with others…? Maybe I’d be better off living my second life as a mute! The notion of earning Linden dollars, buying or selling stuff, conducting business, running a presidential campaign, or any of the other interesting options you hear about on Second Life… well, let’s just say I’m still learning to do that in my first life.

Seeing it all laid out here, the list is pretty awesome. I remember only five years ago being impressed that I was part of an active listserv. But managing it all demands time and patience, as well as a certain degree of “here I am” ego. It’s no wonder I don’t write in this blog more frequently, or that several of my sites are less that robust. I’m really actually fairly busy at work, thank you, and at home I’ve only got so many hours to give over to my cyber life. I know it will sort itself out and some of these services will fall into disuse. But for now, all I can say is, thank god for bookmarks.