Why I've Been Quiet on Google+

After this quick post, we'll get back to the real gaming content. I just wanted to post this somewhere that I could link to it and anyone interested could find it.

TL;DR - Trying to get a hold of me on G+ probably won't work, email me if you want to talk

So, if you have me in your circles in Google Plus, you may have noticed that over the last few months I've been rather quiet. You might even have tagged me into something and I never responded. If so, I'm quite sorry! The short version for why I've pulled back from social media is that I read this book: Deep Work . 

It's fantastic, by the way. I've been applying the advice in it not only to work but also to working on RPG material, and that's why you've seen the resurgence of Fellhold posts here the last few weeks.

Anyway, one of the things it recommends is to be more selective with what online tools you engage with, especially social media. It's custom tailored content that is personally addressed to you, doled out in unpredictable intervals - that's pretty much the textbook method of operant conditioning to get people to constantly pay attention. 

Now, Google Plus is probably the least worst of these sites, especially when it comes to Old School-ish/DIY RPG discussion - there's a ton of great, high-value discussions and collaborations going on there. And if you're in my circles talking about that stuff, I love you guys (and gals). But I found myself doing nothing RPG-related but talking on Google Plus, and I realized that wasn't what I wanted.

So, I made the decision to turn off all my Google Plus notifications and stop checking the site. I'm still using it to share when I post new blog posts, because I know not everyone has the same approach as me. But for the next little while, blogs and published books are going to be the hobby stuff that I read.

If you want to talk games, hit up my email through my G+ profile, or leave a comment on a blog post. If you want to have a discussion with lots of people, I'm happy to jump into specific G+ threads - I mostly just want to avoid the constant checking for what's new. 

If you're interested in reading my stuff, one of the points of this approach is to force myself to think harder about my game thoughts, rather than firing off the first thing to pop into my head in a G+ post. That means writing it out in blog posts and putting them here. So, stay tuned.