The Blog of Lisa Morosky

I came across a few new posts this week about how to approach other bloggers, and how to approach online advertisers, and how to email your blogging idols, and how to talk to people on Twitter, and yada, yada, yada.

Am I missing something here? Did online etiquette suddenly become so complicated that it warrants several hundred words to explain? Did online etiquette suddenly become different than “real life” etiquette?

Here’s the only thing I think you need to know: treat others as you’d like to be treated. There’s a reason it’s called the “Golden Rule”. If you base your online connections, as well as all other connections in your life, on this rule, you’ll get it right damn near every time.

Unless you enjoy meeting people then immediately having them ask you for a favor, having pitch after pitch after pitch thrown in your face, being treated like just another blogger, being treated like a rockstar and having your every little move picked apart, and being spammed all over the place – don’t do that to other people.

Whatever situation you face in your online endeavors (contacting a potential advertiser, sending an email to your idol, contacting someone on Twitter or on Facebook, asking someone for something, whatever it is), reverse your outlook and approach it as the other person.

So in order to understand this blog post, I think you need to understand me and where I’m coming from. So here are some general insights into my soul (or something):

I’m not an early adopter.
I never have been. I’ve never had the time or money or intense interest needed to be an early adopter. I simply don’t have the time to be chasing the new all the time.

I’m highly practical, and highly productive.
So that means that I use my stuff until it’s literally breaking. And I’m really only interested in using what’s going to get me to my end goals. Stuff is just stuff to me.

I’m slightly (just slightly) cynical.
I assume anything new is flawed and has to be proven trustworthy, and worthy of my time, money, and effort.

This one is my mom’s fault: every time I buy something, I put myself through the mental “Do I love it, love it, love it?” test.
Growing up, whenever I went shopping with my mom, she’d always ask me if I “love it, love it, love it” before she bought me anything. While I think it engrained in me a little bit of cheapness, it also engrained in me the need to really stop and think about every single purchase I make. If I don’t just love it, love it, love it – I won’t buy it. And when you stop and think about it, you can only love, love, love so many things.

I research everything, literally everything, before I do it or buy it.
I can’t help it. I’m addicted to researching things and making the correct decision the first time around.

Okay. Now that that’s out of the way, here are four new things I don’t care about (yet) and why.

1. iPad
First of all, I’m not a Mac person. I have nothing against Macs, or Apple – I’m just not a Mac person. I haven’t hit a bump in my road that makes me go, “Dammit. If I had a Mac, this wouldn’t be happening.” If I do hit that bump, I’ll buy a Mac. Because it makes sense then because my current situation is keeping me from being productive.

But I don’t care about the iPad. It’s one big iPod Touch. I wouldn’t ever use it. I’d still prefer to travel with and use something like a netbook or a laptop. One hit wonder electronics are useless (read your eBooks on this, make your phone calls with that, browse the Internet with this other thing). It’s just more stuff to carry with you somewhere.

I would care about the iPad if…it could replace several other gadgets I carry with me (a laptop, a cell phone, a camera, etc). If it helps me do more with less, I’m in.

2. Google Buzz
I just don’t care about Google Buzz. It’s just more of the same. Except now that “same” is in my email inbox. Yes, I know you can filter it and keep it out of your inbox and whatnot. But the problem is still there – it’s still in your email, beckoning you to get distracted. It’s the same reason I don’t use Gmail chat anymore – it’s too damn distracting. I don’t want to spend all day entrenched in social media updates. I have a process and agenda for keeping social media under control – because I also have work to do, and a life to live. There’s no reason for me to take time to pay attention to it now.

I would care about Google Buzz if…it replaced another service I spend time and energy on (like Twitter or Facebook or something), or if a resounding majority of those I share and connect with started using Google Buzz as their outlet of choice. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, but it might. And if it does, I’ll be there.

3. New Facebook Redesigns
Facebook can change their design a million times and I will just never care. It’s not like finding and doing things is harder – it’s just less convenient. I don’t understand why people get so up in arms when Facebook redesigns. I think I’ve just come to accept that Facebook appears to be, at times, run by people of sub-par intelligence with zero knowledge of usability.

I would care about new Facebook redesigns if…they muck up my Fan Page designs, make privacy an issue (with settings I can’t manually change), and make using their website take twice as long.

4. Foursquare
Honestly, I had no idea what Foursquare was for a long time (probably longer than everyone else). So I finally took a minute to check it out and wowsers – I don’t care. I don’t travel enough to use it. And also, I don’t generally want everyone knowing where I am.

I’ll admit – Foursquare is a cool idea. And I bet people who travel a lot get good use out of it. I also think there’s a powerful marketing research element to it that some people might find useful.

I would care about Foursquare if…I was at a conference. I’ll probably use it at conferences (not all the time though – I don’t want people knowing where I am when I’m in a random city by myself). Otherwise, I’ll just leave it be until another compelling reason to use it dawns on me.

Generally, I feel that:

• It’s really easy to get caught up in the consumerism of it all when you’re a blogger. It just is. We’re very gadgety people. But I really believe in defining needs versus wants and spending responsibly – and not just because it’s this week’s cool thing to do.
• I don’t need to be buying or participating in anything that’s going to hinder my productivity, or my family life, or my work. I just don’t.
• It takes time and money to be an early adopter – and it’s not a goal of mine to be the first to have or do.
• Everyone uses tools differently. So I’d rather hang out and see how others are using tools, then dive in.