Ask Elnora--About Electronic Activities??? Lenora Worth

Hello, my BFFs. I'm LOL about how society has become so dependent on electronic gadgets. I long for the good ole days when you actually had to look someone in the eye to talk to them. Now, we have texting, facebooking, tweeting, IMing, Skyping, voice mail and of course, e-mail. Do you know how hard it is to stomp your feet and have a hissy fit through an e-mail!!! Or to tell a story in 140 characters!!!

Going to dinner has become a multi-tasking event, too. The other night, I saw an older couple sitting across from each other in a booth and instead of talking, they were both scrolling on their phones. I wanted to shout, hey, granny and grandpa, say something to each other.

And I'm sure you've been with someone and you see them across the table, one eye on the phone in their hand under the table while you're telling them your delightful and colorful story of how you wrestled a pair of Jimmy Choos out of a woman's hands during clearance in the shoe department. Only they are not really listening. They're more interested in what's streaming on Twitter or what's pinning on Pinterest.

So what about it? I know these necessary evils are here to stay and I actually enjoy them myself. I love being in touch with my friends, my readers and my darling editors. But part of me longs for the days when I didn't know who was calling or I didn't have a phone nearby while enjoying a long, leisurely lunch with a friend. A lunch where we focused on each other and laughed and gossiped and had another round of martinis. Oh, wait. That's only on Mad Men. I don't drink martinis!

Anyway, let's discuss Electronic Etiquette. Have you had experiences that left you exasperated and agitated to the point that you couldn't wait to get home and expound on facebook? Let's hear them!

Ask Elnora--About that word "like"?? Lenora Worth

Hello, my friends. Remember in school when someone would run up to you and ask "Will you be my friend?" Sometimes, Elnora said "yes" and sometimes Elnora ran away shrieking. (But that was mostly so the boy doing the asking would chase me.) These days, the word LIKE is all over cyberspace. It's called social networking, of course. Elnora remembers the good old days when people actually had to get to know each other before they could declare "I really like you." Now, we stare at a screen, look at a picture, or lack of one, and go "Hmmm, let me think about this." For about two seconds. That's because of course we all want to be liked. And if we're liked then we must like that person in return. Another code word for this is "follow". If I follow you, will you follow me? But wait, where are we going? Sometimes, Elnora gets the hives just thinking about this stuff. I don't even know how to make paragraphs appear on this blog, as you can plainly see. So I just do a stream of consciousness rather long continuing paragraph and hope nobody notices that I haven't stopped to take a breath! (Or I insert a picture I rushed out to the backyard to take!) That always breaks things up! See--

But back to this like stuff. The marketing and media darlings at my big, wonderful publishing house "suggest" that we have a digital plan. Yeah, right. I know exactly what that is. Don't we all??? Elnora has joined the big communtiy of writers--that's a no brainer. I love hanging with my peeps! I have a blog and I visit blogs. I'd hate to miss anything! I have a website, too. Hey, maybe I'm getting the hang of this tribe thing!~ I have a Facebook page. I like that! I tweet, although I finally learned not to call it "tweeder." I am from the South, after all. Yes, I have a Google Alert that scares the dickens out of me because I fear it will be a horrible review coming through. A widget? Excuse me, but proper ladies don't indulge in widgets!!!! I am just now confessing to my editors and my digital team about my ... er .... online presence. And I'm going to find out how to join that darn Affiliate program. I did try that once but something went terribly wrong! But ... I like people all over the place and they seem to like me back! So let's discuss social media? What is it that you like about that word "LIKE"? And what is it that gives you the hives??? Oh, and I did clean my office today. Big Daddy really "liked" that! No dust bunnies and my books are all packed away! What do you "LIKE" about social media? Does it help you sell books? Do you have a tribe? (Elnora has more of an entourage that follows her to the shoe sales! Now that's a big LIKE!!!)