Sun Communicators' Group Blog

Barbecue Grills Aren't Spooky After All

The adage says, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Good thing I have a puppy, since she has clearly shown me that while change is hard and unsettling in some ways, it's not so bad in other ways.

Ron, Bella and I recently moved. You may be thinking "yep, moving sucks," and while you're right, that's not exactly the change to which I am referring.   I'm talking potty training, barbecue grills and social media.  Are you confused and making that adorable, tilted puppy-dog look.  What? 

Bella, (then and now) was amazing at adapting to some changes after the move, but not others. It was fascinating to watch. She adapted to our new home environment very well, almost immediately potty trained herself, figuring out how to tell Daddy and me that she needed to go out.  However, once out on our walks, many at 5am (and no, I'm not a morning person), I notice that even after almost three months, she still gets spooked by unfamiliar things, like a neighbor's barbecue grill left out overnight to cool, or a moving shadow caused by the street light shining through a tree blowing in the wind.  Bella doesn't mind barbecues anymore, but she still gets spooked sometimes, and runs toward home in a quick trot with her ears pinned back.

Now comes the social media parallel.  Yes, behavior change.

I consider myself as having a knack for new technologies, but at the same time I'm a little spooked by the world of social networking that is all around us.

I text, I IM, I "get" blogs.  I was involved in the project last summer to set up the Sun Alumni blog.  Not the technology side, mind you, but getting an understanding the way they work and the guidelines that keep it a pure, self-regulated media. And I have a wonderful manager who even allowed me to get savvy about blogs and be a panelist at a conference.  These two experiences were a year ago, and yet you are reading my first blog entry to give you a sense of my struggle.

I don't know why, but I find something intimidating about diving into the deep end of the pool of social media.  I mean, will it change communication as we've known it...I suppose in some ways 'yes' and in other ways 'no.'  In any case, I will take a page out of Bella's book. She gracefully sits down and raises her paw to my hand,  clearly communicating that it's time to go out.  Now it's my turn.  I will sit down and raise my paw to the keyboard, learning and embracing the world of social media...shallow end first.

Thank you, Bella, for showing Mommy that barbecue grills aren't spooky after all.

Posted at 10:59AM Jun 18, 2007 by Lisa Neuman in Sun  |  Comments[2]