SHOULD you tweet in the presence of company? Not chirp like a bird but post using your cellphone about what’s happening with you on websites like Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare.
Is it good form to engage in telephone twiddling with social networking or e-mail tools while out with friends at a restaurant or on a dinner date with your partner?
There are many arguments that say yes, you can.
It's a power trip. Your phone is a portable portal for you to instantly fire out updates to hundreds of friends and keep up to the second with them.
Why deprive your fans in cyberspace of your penetrating insights just because you are meeting someone in "meatspace"?
Because you can. You have the skill to do it discreetly with one hand out of sight of your friends while regaling them about your latest escapade.
Here's a super-noble reason — you are practising proximity neutrality with your friends. Your online friends shouldn't play second fiddle to those right in front of you.
Or, blame others — someone else started it.
My answer to all these is one question: What if someone whom you value puts you offline while he goes online — when you are sitting across the table?
I guess that most of us would feel a little sad that the other person doesn't think you are worth his undivided attention.
We hurtle through our days sometimes without pausing to consider our ways. Perhaps, we should reconsider when we engage in social networking. At least with those near and dear to you.
I do value social networking for its speed and reach; but it sure can’t replace spending time with people in the real world.
How do you post a hug or touch?
* My apologies to the late Paul Newman for hijacking his quote on monogamy, but why settle for hamburger when you can have steak?