Camel, meet straw
I was chatting with a fellow Cape Codder just moments ago. We’ll call this person “Francis.” I’ve known Francis for a while. Years, in fact. Francis is in his mid 30’s like me and works for himself in the service industry. We got on the topic of his website and then blogs. Here’s what Francis said, I swear to God.
“I heard about that, but I don’t really know what it is.”
I don’t know what the hell is going on here on Cape Cod, but I intend to fix it with my last breath. How in the WORLD can a Gen-X business owner in the service industry not know what a blog is?
There is a cloud of technological ignorance in permanent residence over Cape Cod. I’ve been willing to ignore it for years but for the love of all that is Holy I can’t anymore. We’ve got to change this, people.
Not with stupid “The Top Ten Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Weblog” posts or other such nonsense that one one’s going to read anyway, or another Twitter account just for the sake of creating a Twitter account or another Facebook account that’s going to sit and do NOTHING for months except prompt its owner to say, “We never get anything out of that Facebook website.”
So what, then? Well, I don’t know yet. But we’re going to figure it out. Do you want to sell 10 T-shirts or do you want to sell an assload? Do you want to beckon nameless, faceless guests to your inn or do you want to welcome the couple from Scotland you’ve been chatting with for weeks online?
Do you want to test your new beta with the nine people in your family or do want a laundry list of 40 or 50 eager blog readers tripping over themselves to get an invite?
I’m not saying abandon your scrimshaw and cribbage boards. I’m saying find that Scrimshaw Lover’s Group that meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month in Portland, Oregon and become their go-to, hands-down, de-facto source of information.
You say you oversee the annual herring run in Brewster, which no one on earth besides you finds interesting? Bullshit. BULL FREAKING SHIT. There are people all over the planet who would go freaking APE for pictures, videos and first-hand stories on your experiences with that annual event. APE.
Don’t tell me “I’m stupid with the computer” because that phrase makes me livid. “The Computer” (why do people say that, anyway? As if there were ONE computer that we all took turns using) is just a tool. It’s no different than a hammer or a blender or a commemorative statuette of Liberty. It’s plastic and metal. A machine. A tool. Can you use a lemon reamer without burning the house down? Than you can use your computer. In fact, there is absolutely NO reason why you can’t be as effective with yours as I am with mine.
The best part? No one on Cape Cod - including Francis - will read this. No matter. Back broken. Fire lit. Fuse buring. I’m coming, so look out.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:55 am
count me as one Cape Codder who read this and can appreciate everything that you’re saying. : )
September 25th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Now all your comments are from Cape Codder. Don’t you feel silly now. I would have commented sooner, but I had to wait for the previous commenter to finish using the computer that we all share.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I agree with everything said here, the cape has a weird bubble around it when it comes to tech. It’s a gorgeous area, you would tech companies and people alike would be driven here.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Dear Panache, I hate to tell ya… but there are a lot of people in Southern CA that have no idea what a blog is either, have never been on Facebook, are only just getting on (and/or still LOVE) MySpace, are confused by twitter… etc., etc.
I worked at an international Japanese company that makes printers, scanners, etc. in PR and most of those folks didn’t have a clue what any of the above was either.
But be it Cape Cod, LA or Main Street USA… if you figure out how to bring the rest of the sheep into the fold, please let me know!
C ~