Do today’s social media moms feel the pressure to be always on?

So most moms can’t go a day without using their mobile phone, laptop, or home computer. Her smart phone is her command center, her remote control and she uses it constantly throughout the day. Even while watching TV, studies show moms have their laptop on and the mobile phone by their side. I recently had an opportunity to be in on the taping of a television program so I had to turn my phone off for about four hours. People both on and offline wondered where I had disappeared to and some were actually concerned where I was. This begged the question, am I on too much? And…

Is there pressure to be always on and connected?

I know I wake up in the morning and check in and before I go to sleep I make one last check across all of my email accounts, social networking sites and my mobile phone. I can cut down the time on the weekends, but I never turn completely off. I’m the worst. I’m sure part of it is that social is my job, but with busy lives and kids, it’s the only way to keep up. The few times I’ve tried to shut down, I usually miss something important or someone yells at me “where were you? ” like my daughter who expects me to be available by all means of communication. We even got caught by out twitter followers for tweeting at each other while in the same house.

So I asked a few very social and connected moms:

“I do always feel on, but I don’t feel too much pressure from it. I think from my years in TV News, I love the fast pace, the feeling of being in the know and interacting with my social networks. I can shut it off when I need to, but I really enjoy it .”
Rene Syler, goodenoughmother.com

“With regard to work and clients, there is an element of pressure to reply to messages pretty quickly, as they can be pretty sure that my iPhone or iPad or computer are always close at hand. That creates a blurring of the work day, as we are literally carry it around with us. With personal communications, and especially with tools like BBM, you can actually see if the person has read your message. If that’s not pressure to respond, I don’t know what is.
Mara Shapiro, BeNiceOrLeaveThanks.com

“My thumbs are tired. My eyes feel strained. All of a sudden, I get migraines. My attention span is out the window. Since my blackberry came into my life, I can’t put it down. I even sneak a few peaks in the middle of the night. Before Mr. Blackberry and I met, I never even awoke during the night. And forget about a good-morning kiss for my husband, my PDA gets me first.”
Denise Albert, MomsAndTheCity.com

“At this point technology has been naturally woven into our family lifestyle. So we are not always on. We are very flexible. Most evenings all electronics are off. However when we travel or dine-out we do enjoy a good Smart Phone or Tablet game together! The key is to not get ‘lost’ or caught up in tech so much that the family is no longer interacting anymore. We love tech and actually interact more now that it’s integrated within how we live…”
Kimberly Blaine, TheGoToMom.com

Do you feel pressured to be always on?

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