I quit Facebook today. I like sharing what I’m up to, but it’s very curated. I’ve posted, liked, checked in, and shared photos thousands of times (still don’t think I’ve poked anyone, and I’m happy for that). All real stuff, but it’s polished to the point I wouldn’t recognize it as my life if I wasn’t the one curating it.
Time spent reading and seeing what everyone is up to isn’t a waste, I don’t think. It’s fascinating. Friends I haven’t hugged in 15 years, I’ve seen their little families sprout and grow through Facebook and I’m glad for that. But the volume of information is so great and so captivating, I reach for my phone at stoplights, or when going pee in the middle of the night. I want to be deliberate about putting my phone down more as my daughter watches and absorbs the things I do.
Time spent posting and commenting about my life isn’t a waste either, I don’t think. I want to write and post pictures about as frequently as I do now, but with less concern about polish and curation. Mostly I want what I post to have longevity: if June wants to read it in 50 years, she can go to the Internet Archive and find everything I ever wrote. So a public blog is the right place for that.
I’ll be writing and posting photos here (I hope you’ll read and comment), all my pictures go to SmugMug, talking technology occasionally on Twitter, and if you still want a highly-curated version of what I do, well that’s over on LinkedIn. There are even a few more ways to get ahold of me here.
I’ll be deliberate about calling, texting, and e-mailing folks. If you’d like to say hi, or if I can help you with something, or if you’re in a jam and need a hand: call me or text me, or send me an e-mail. I’d love to hear from you, and I’ll return the kindness.
I took this photo in Oxford, England just outside the Macdonald Randolph Hotel.
Dawn on July 18, 2012, I was heading to the train to get to London and go home to Seattle after a week of training AWS customers. Elli had flown from Boston to meet me in London the week before this. On a later trip to Oxford I stayed at the Old Bank Hotel and it was a wonderful time.