This summer, Coleman, the outdoor-equipment giant, dubbed its campsite “the Original Social Networking Site.”  More than a cute marketing concept, this claim practically lays down a challenge to our Facebook-Twitter-YouTube-obsessed culture to put down the computers and cell phones and get back to “real” social networking – the kind where people actually do things…together…in person.

So this past weekend, I took Coleman’s challenge: I grabbed some friends and went camping in Middle-of-Nowhere, Mo., where cell phone/Wi-Fi service was nonexistent.  For a full 48 hours, I was unable to check my email, update my Facebook status, send a text or even make a phone call…and to my great relief, I was okay. 

Perhaps it was because I was too preoccupied with activities like building a fire so I could, you know, EAT, but I didn’t once feel the urge to post “Gathering kindling and hoping the rain stops soon” as my Facebook status.  And I didn’t wonder who had emailed me or if I was missing an important text message.   As it turns out, I CAN live sans social networks or cell service (at least for a few days, anyway)!

I take pride in this personal victory considering the New York Times article I ran across last week that revealed many Americans are hopping online soon after, if not before, hopping out of bed each morning.  Whether it’s texting over toast or social networking instead of reading the morning newspaper, this is a trend with which I am all too familiar; I check my email, Facebook and Twitter account via my Palm Pre before my head is even off my pillow every morning. 

But after this weekend of “roughing it,” I can at least take comfort in knowing my morning Internet craving can be overcome.  And you can be sure I’ll keep visiting the “original social networking site” in the future to keep my online habits in check.

Tags: Branding, social networking

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 8:56 am and is filed under Branding, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.