But I digress.
I'm always on the lookout for ideas to organize and streamline and all that happy crap. Over a year ago, I found a blog called Unclutterer. I found a ton of great info and suggestions, so I read it every single day. I dug back through the archives on occasion, and I even bought the frigging book published by the blog editor.
Today, the blog announced a very cool give-away: During the month of April, there would be four ScanSnap scanners given away to Unclutterer readers. I need this device. My current scanner, while decent, is slooow. I have a ton of papers I would dearly love to convert to digital format, but I don't happen to have $270 laying around. I was delighted by the prospect of winning one of these babies...until I saw the requirements for the give-away: You have to follow the Unclutterer blog on Twitter.
I don't Tweet/Twit/Twat/Twhatever, and I pride myself on that. I know that there are a bazillion people out there happily Tweeting/Twitting/Twatting/Twatevering their brains out, but I'm just not interested.
Wanna know the main reason why I'm not interested?
CLUTTER
I don't need or want Tweets cluttering up my life. The people I know in real life who Tweet/Twit/Twat/Twhatever just babble. Crap about what they had for lunch or which celebrity is the focus of their hot throbbing love this week or - in the case of businesspeople - what they've accomplished in the office today.
I don't need that. Nor do I need a blog that is supposedly devoted to UNcluttering requiring me to clutter my life with electronic flotsam simply for the chance of winning a super-spiffy device. In fact, I think it's really hypocritical of such a blog to require someone to do that. I posted a comment to the blog, expressing my discontent with the Twitter requirement. I also said that I've prided myself on not becoming a Twit.
That comment was removed.
Certainly the editor has the right to do that. After all, it's her blog. If I'm the only Unclutterer fan who doesn't follow the blog on Twitter, so be it. I guess it's not enough that I take the time on a daily basis to read the posts that come across my RSS feed, and frequently go to the blog to comment about how much I appreciated a certain article or answer editor requests for suggestions. I sent a private email to the editor, explaining my belief that it's hypocritical to espouse decluttering yet require readers to sign up for clutter. I've also de-cluttered my RSS feed by unsubscribing from Unclutterer. I don't know if I'll get a response (I'm not holding my breath), and I don't know if I care. There are a jillion other blogs out there on the same topic, so I don't expect that I'll waste away and die for want of information.
I've decided to unclutter my bookshelves, too. Got a copy of "How to Unclutter Your Life in One Week" if anyone wants to buy it. Cheap.
I don't need or want Tweets cluttering up my life. The people I know in real life who Tweet/Twit/Twat/Twhatever just babble. Crap about what they had for lunch or which celebrity is the focus of their hot throbbing love this week or - in the case of businesspeople - what they've accomplished in the office today.
I don't need that. Nor do I need a blog that is supposedly devoted to UNcluttering requiring me to clutter my life with electronic flotsam simply for the chance of winning a super-spiffy device. In fact, I think it's really hypocritical of such a blog to require someone to do that. I posted a comment to the blog, expressing my discontent with the Twitter requirement. I also said that I've prided myself on not becoming a Twit.
That comment was removed.
Certainly the editor has the right to do that. After all, it's her blog. If I'm the only Unclutterer fan who doesn't follow the blog on Twitter, so be it. I guess it's not enough that I take the time on a daily basis to read the posts that come across my RSS feed, and frequently go to the blog to comment about how much I appreciated a certain article or answer editor requests for suggestions. I sent a private email to the editor, explaining my belief that it's hypocritical to espouse decluttering yet require readers to sign up for clutter. I've also de-cluttered my RSS feed by unsubscribing from Unclutterer. I don't know if I'll get a response (I'm not holding my breath), and I don't know if I care. There are a jillion other blogs out there on the same topic, so I don't expect that I'll waste away and die for want of information.
I've decided to unclutter my bookshelves, too. Got a copy of "How to Unclutter Your Life in One Week" if anyone wants to buy it. Cheap.
I'm not on Twitter either, and I think you expressed beautifully why. It's mental clutter, random status updates that aren't half as witty or relevant as people think. Now, if someone has a fascinating job -- say, President or journalist in a war zone or some such, I could see wanting to know what he/she is up to. But... "Waiting in line at the doctor's office"???
ReplyDeleteNo thanks.
Cluttering up the electronic infrastructure is one thing. Privacy, or lack of it is another. I can see public figures doing this--Mark Sanford probably should have; it would have saved him time. Most of us however, do not need to let the general public know where we are.
ReplyDeleteObsessively neat people are just not normal.
ReplyDeleteI would have commented earlier, but I lost my laptop under a mound of laundry that needed to be folded.