To quote a great movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy: “It was the most useful thing the gods had ever given them, a real labor-saving device. But the gods had been careless. They had sent only one. And now, for the first time in their lives, here was a thing that could not be shared because there was only one of it. Suddenly, everybody needed it most of the time. A thing they had never needed before became a necessity.  And unfamiliar emotions began to stir…anger, jealousy, hate and violence …”

Did I mention my sister and I fought over the computer? Savagely. Something needed to be done. My mother proposed we take turns. One hour of work, and then switch. Seemed like a novel idea. Until one day, I desperately needed to type a paper for school, and my sister sat there on the computer, playing Arconoid and Oregon Trail.

That’s not the point. The point is that work should take priority over play, right? This hour for an hour thing had not been thought out well enough. The fighting ensued…

In any event, I bring up this story to highlight a recent conundrum. Just last week, I was just about to leave on a trip with a friend. I knew I would have limited access to internet, so I jumped on the computer one last time. My name is Jamie and I am an addict. In my last five minutes with a computer, I didn’t know what to check first.

So as to not annoy my friend or delay our trip, I decided I should only check the essentials.  And then I realized. Everything had somehow become essential. I NEEDED to check Facebook, for work, although it may not have seemed like that to my friend. (At least I wasn’t playing Farmville.*)

As there are so many ways to connect and relate to others these days, I often question the proper tactic. Call, write, text, chat, Facebook, Skype, blog; share a map, pictures, calendar, or a document, etc…The list goes on and on.

In the next few months my organization, Catalytic Communities, will offer social media training to community leaders being displaced, or threatened to be displaced, by the Olympics here in Rio. Our goal is technology training, unification, and thought dispersal. In deciding what is most essential for me, I also wonder what will be most essential for them.

What are the best social media and technology devices out there to help them get their ideas, opinions, and voices heard?

*I have never, EVER played Farmville.

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