Has passion left the building?

I’ve been feeling kind of uncomfortable about some facets of my Social Media world lately, and I haven’t really been able to put my finger on why. I think I just realized one of the biggest contributing factors, though.

Lately, a lot of the blogs I visit have had themes kind of like:

“I am so busy, this blogging is really getting hard to work in.”

“I’m so busy I put gum inside my shoes and socks inside my mouth.”

“I’m so busy that if I get one more direct message on Twitter I’m going to…xyz that person.”

I haven’t seen a lot of posts lately where someone was really jazzed about their topic, where it was clear that they couldn’t get the words to screen fast enough because they felt so strongly about it.

I have seen a lot of people in Social Media start to kind of go through the motions. And this makes me really, really sad.

I sympathize, but…

I know what it is to be busy. I am essentially doing something work related almost every minute of every day. There are some local friends who I haven’t seen for 3 months. I know that thinking all of the time, constantly giving ideas and help and whatever else, can make you feel like you are bleeding at your jugular.

The reason that I can write a blog post or 2 every day is the same reason why I am immersed in Social Media marketing in the first place. I love it. It touches on issues that I am passionate about. I love sharing ideas with people. I love being taught. I love teaching. It makes me want to get up in the morning. It makes me not want to go to bed.

I schedule time for blogging and for Twitter because I find both extremely enjoyable. Sometimes I might blog about something that is frustrating. Sometimes I might tweet about something sad that is happening to someone. But the sharing of ideas, the whole gestalt of this world – I am passionate about it.

Everybody gets burnt out sometimes

It seems like 2-3 months ago, there would be blog posts by the dozens that would get me thinking all day. I’d find myself arguing with the author in my head while I was making dinner. I’d want to rush to write my own blog post in response. There hasn’t been a lot of that lately though. It feels like a lot of people are just…tired, or like they can’t hear the little jingle of the special bell anymore (that’s a reference to Polar Express, by the way).

If blogging has become a burden to you, a task, something that makes you not want to turn on your computer, I think it shows. If tweeting is something that just annoys you, and you find that all you tweet about is how annoying tweeting is, what is the point in going through the motions?

Don’t stay up for me, Argentina

The perpetual bemoaning of having to blog makes me hesitate to read your blog. If you see that you have readers and comments, are you going to be trapped into making another post? If you are bemoaning having to make a post, is your effort to offer advice really genuine? I never could understand teachers who would stand there and seem to look at the clock more than the students were. It made me uncomfortable, like I was just not getting … something.

The constant belittling of your tweety followers or responders makes me not want to try to respond to you. What if I too end up saying something that bothers you? Will I become the subject of a blog post you once again didn’t want to write?

I still believe that Social Media is about sharing ideas. Learning. Teaching. That’s what I love about it. If you are burnt out, if you’ve lost interest, or if you just simply don’t have the time, it’s okay. People will understand. I will understand. Don’t kill yourself for me. I’d rather you take some time away, rev your engines, and come back with a post from the heart. To me, Social Media and all it entails should be a toy, not an albatross.

What do you think?