It reminded me of a golf outing where I was invited to play at an very exclusive club in North Scottsdale. One of the members of our foursome arrived at the course and headed to the range to warm up. While there, this player’s cell phone, that was in a pocket on his golf bag, began to ring. Of course he walked over to answer. About that time, the member who invited us quickly took action. It was against club rules to USE a cell phone on the course–and he needed to shut down this guy before things reflected badly on him. You see, in the world of exclusivity, the cell phone that once was the fashion statement for success had become commonplace–everyone had one now. The new exclusivity was to NOT be reachable–of course this was 8 years ago, way back in 2002.

Now people are beginning to feel the exhaustion of social networks. The active personal branding is now creating a compulsive need to “report” on the important things, places, and people that you near. This is the one thing about Twitter and Facebook updates and Google Buzz that drives me crazy. People are more concerned about what others might “think” about their social status. In a world where narcissism rules, Twitter is the ultimate outlet for self marketing. But as Carr mentions, it might be done in vain–Leo Laporte had thousands of people unaware of his social updates for weeks, and NO ONE missed them.

This post will be mentioned on Twitter. But to be honest, I don’t know why. Like Carr, I finding less and less value in the narcissistic posts people publish. A few–like @humancell, however, continue to be the same person I began following years ago. Others, say little about themselves UNLESS it includes other important people and places–like the where some follower mentions their @name and then RTs to show that they have important followers. Complete narcissism.

Now I don’t feel so bad for being a recluse for the past 18 months. I was just ahead of my time and didn’t realize it.