o9Media

I’ve been sitting here, as I usually do, trying to figure out the best way to not write an article. I’m pretty good at it if you haven’t noticed, but a promise is a promise. So, I immediately went to work on Google searching for that new, exciting plug. Yet, I always found myself not doing my work. I decided to analyze what my brain found so fascinating every time my mind would deviate from the task at hand. And every time I would catch myself using one of the various social networking tools of the web.

I have more social networking tools than I’d like to admit. Running through the list sounds like I may be over-exaggerating; Facebook, Twitter, Brightkite, and Socialthing. The reality is that I update each daily and go into withdrawal when I don’t. Which to me seems a bit overboard. But the alarming reality is that there are people who frequent these websites more than I do and on a larger scale. Some probably won’t get the connections, which is okay seeing as how two I currently belong to are in beta. That said, I would be more than happy elaborating.

The first on my list is our old friend Facebook. I guarantee that at least ninety percent of readers have an account. I feel this doesn’t need much explaining. It’s the MySpace of Web 2.0 and right now is one of the safest and easiest way of communicating with friends via the web.

Second on my list is Twitter, the simplest of my four services. Call me lazy, but I can’t explain it any better than Twitter’s own explanation: “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Coming in at number three is Brightkite, a service currently in beta. Brightkite is a location-based social networking system. It’s basically the love-child of a relationship-gone-a-rye between Twitter and GoogleMaps. But, come on, that’s not always a bad thing . . . right? I thoroughly enjoy the Brightkite service, but it still feels a bit too much like Twitter. So much so to the point where you can sync Brightkite updates with Twitter!

Finally, we have Socialthing, a tool for the socially-crazed much like myself. Socialthing is the gateway for everything updates. It syncs all of your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, del.icio.us, Last.fm, Pownce, Youtube, and Vimeo accounts; also allowing you to simultaneously update your stats on any give accounts. LiveJounral, MySpace, and RSS feed access are in the works, and you can vote for any site that you want to use in the future on Socialthing. Socialthing truly is a social thing.

Hopefully, you can now see what I’m getting at. And now to the case at hand: Has being connected to the world gone too far?

I for one think it has, even though I accept it more than others and admit to visiting my handful of sites daily. Plus, I may have the occasional hissy-fit when I can’t get my iPod to connect to check my updates, but I’m not a Lifecaster, nor do I need “E”. Thank God for that.

What do the readers think? Should we all slow down and smell the flowers or should we continue the development of slowing turning the world into the Matrix.

During the writing process of this article I posted four Twits, updated Brightkite four times, checked Socialthing twice, and checked Facebook once.