social networking – Page 19

It was one of those mornings. A lot of interruptions, “urgent” calls for assistance, endless email loops, petty irritations, administrivia — all the stuff that sucks the productivity out of the day. You know those kind of days, right?

So I did what any passive-aggressive, digitally connected marketer would do. I vented my frustration to the twitterverse:

And the twitterverse, in the form of @smith_ron_e, responded:

@smith_ron_e is the Twitter handle of Ron Smith, the training officer for Rolla Fire and Rescue. Ron is also an avid social media fan and, like any good firefighter, always on the alert.

I didn’t think any more about Ron’s tweet. But that afternoon, he showed up at my office with several “junior firefighter” helmets for me and others on our staff.

And that’s how I became a junior firefighter.

Thank you, Ron. You (and Twitter) brought some joy into an otherwise frustrating day. And you also reminded me that the figurative “fires” I deal with from time to time are no match for the life-threatening conflagrations you and your fellow firefighters have to respond to. I tip my junior firefighter’s hat to you.

(Photo by B.A. Rupert.)

Here’s something for my fellow bloggers to think about:

Ahmad Abu Khair, a 33-year-old Syrian who has been blogging about the revolutionary events unfolding in the Middle East, was reportedly arrested on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Times‘ technology blog.

Although according to the Times “the charges against Khair hadn’t yet been made public,” it’s reasonable to assume that Khair’s arrest was connected to his posts in support of the uprisings in the region.

Reading about Khair’s arrest last night, I thought about the freedom to blog that I take for granted. How easy it is for me to post on so many topics, so many of them trivial when compared to what others are posting in other, less open parts of the world.

I also wondered: If the words I typed on the screen posed a threat to the government and put me in danger of arrest, jail or worse, would I still blog?

Would you?

Thanks to Adam Johnson (@adamjohnsons) for pointing out the story.