I'm not (totally) anti-social, LOL, but I will admit that I prefer writing blogs and video blogging to having conversations "IRL" - which means "in real life."
Why? I'll give you six very good reasons...
1. You can't interrupt me when I'm blogging. I can just say whatever I want, and ramble on and on and on. You can stop reading, pause or stop my videos, but you can't interrupt my train of thought while I'm actually blogging.
That's pretty awesome. Heh.
2. In real life, I can't edit out something I said - that I wish I hadn't. It's impossible to suck words back in after they come right out of your mouth... before you really thought about what you're saying. Given that happens to me a lot, LOL, I've come to LOVE having the option to edit my ramblings before they get published.
3. In real life, I can't moderate comments. I'm stuck with them, and I *have* to either respond to them or ignore them - right on the spot. Which can be awkward. Very awkward. I much prefer time to process the comment, and how I want to respond. If I want to respond at all...
4. In real life, you can easily get sucked into a really long drawn out conversation. Depending on how many people are involved (and how long winded they are) this could go on for hours! Online I can participate in the conversation - OR NOT - at my leisure, in my own time.
How rude would it be if I interrupted a deep IRL discussion to say "hey, I'm going to go take a nap" then return and try to pick right back up a couple hours later? That would never work. LOL. But online... no problem!
5. In real life, I get harassed by weirdos when I'm out in public. It just happens. I'm a freak magnet. And then there are some people that are just plain annoying. Online, I have the option of clicking "Block User" or clicking the delete button. Man, I wish everything in the real world had those buttons! I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to click MUTE or Block User on someone "in real life."
6. I don't have to be dressed(appropriately) to blog. Or wear make-up. Or fix my hair. Or even take a shower! Unless it's a video blog, and then I can just "fix up from the waist up." That would never work out in real life... unless you happen to stop by my house unexpectedly. Which I don't recommend.
Hanging out with people in person is cool too. Sometimes. But I really love video blogging and writing blogs, and communicating online for the most part. Does that make me antisocial? Nah. An OCD communications control freak maybe... LOL.
I was actually supposed to be at the county fair tonight with my friend Kim and her family. But I opted out and decided to stay home and blog (go figure). I actually had a massive headache earlier - you gotta love Fall allergies! - and really just didn't feel like showering, shaving, waxing, buffing, sloughing, blow drying and all that jive.
Kim can't complain too much though. She's the one that introduced me to this whole internet thing back in the 90's! So she's basically responsible for me getting sucked into blogging and ultimately preferring it over "IRL" communication.
As my online business continues to grow, I find myself looking into dedicated servers. I've already upgraded from shared hosting to a VPS account, but control and security are becoming more and more important.
While doing my research, I had the pleasure of speaking with someone from ServerClub. They were originally founded as a private dedicated hosting facility for their own company, which is Florida-based company Fresh IT Solutions Inc.
With the facility in place and running smoothly for their own company and clients, they ultimately opened their services to the public under the name ServerClub. They offer a variety of dedicated host servers, starting at under $100/month. They offer free instant setup, free lifetime customer support, and full control of your server - among many other features.
More recently they have released the ServerClub iPhone App which allows you to manage your server on the go. You can view server details, reboot your server, submit support tickets and much more. This is a very nice feature!
Remember last Spring when I went to Virgina Beach? While traveling, my sites were hacked. There's nothing like trying to deal with *that* between flights. Fortunately I have a great assistant and security team, and was able to coordinate with them on the phone. But I can certainly see where the mobile app would come in extremely handy in dire situations like that one - or just for easily managing things on the go, even.
What type of hosting plan are you using? While I still have a number of shared hosting plans, and the VPS server, I am seriously looking into upgrading to a single dedicated server. There are many perks, and significant savings over what I am paying now across the board. I'd be curious to hear what you're using, and who you host with, and your thoughts on using dedicated hosting servers. Leave a comment below!
Which can be awkward. Very awkward. I much prefer time to process the comment, and how I want to respond. If I want to respond at all...
As my online business continues to grow, I find myself looking into 