Well, it’s the fifth day now since I’ve started this one-hundred day blackout, and already I can tell that this experiment wasn’t as simple as “tuning out the noise.” What I found, through the course of dealing with a bunch of snafus, is that I’ve been relying on these tools to resolve problems. For some of those issues, like communicating when my site goes down, there is no other tool that exists to send out a message.

Going dark has forced me to circumvent what I normally do, in an attempt to resolve a problem I normally solve through social media. I didn’t expect that to happen. I mean, it’s not even the end of the week and I’m already realizing I use these tools for more than just inane babble and telling you what I eat every day.

Note: I heartily enjoy a decent plate of nachos with real cheese. None of that orange reconstituted dust in a can business.

Sorry, I just had to throw that in there. Anyway, it’s interesting that I’ve experienced first-hand what I often tell people about social media. These are tools that have multiple uses. They don’t just facilitate a constant stream of noise; pick apart what Twitter or Facebook or IMs are being used for and they turn into complex information networks.

Believe me, while I miss some of the conversations with friends that live long distances away, I am enjoying the break. Written words are sounds to me; always have been, always will be. So cutting down on that stream has helped me shrink my world considerably, which is what I felt I needed to do.

I’m not going to post during my appearance at OddCon, but I will do a wrap-up post for the week and another one about OddCon. I’m curious to see if anyone is going to bring this experiment up; I’ve had a few instances where people I’ve never met before mention things that I’ve said online. We shall see what the weekend brings, I suppose. Hopefully, a million sales of The Queen of Crows, right? RIGHT?

What? I’m innocent! No, really.

Okay, you can stop laughing now.

About 100 Days: From April 4th to July 13th I’m turning the lights off on Facebook, Twitter and IMs for personal use. Read 100 Days: Turning off the Lights on Social Media for more information. You can also read the 100 Days post archive.