Everywhere I turn, people are tweeting, posting updates on Facebook or text messaging. This makes me wonder if the compulsion to stay in touch with their online contacts means they miss out on face-to-face encounters.

If I’m at a networking meeting (and I attend quite a few of these in the course of a month), I like to feel as if I’m connecting with the people around me. The trouble is – because their attention is diverted by the latest text message they received or something they are tweeting – I don’t feel that they’re giving 100% of their attention to the meeting at hand, maybe not even 25%. Why bother coming to a face-to-face event if they’re going to sit at their laptop or send a stream of messages via their phone? Are they missing out on making a physical connection? I think so.

It’s not that I’m against these forms of communication. Quite the contrary. As a social media specialist I always advocate the benefits of using social media to attract new followers (who may ultimately become clients) and maintain contact with current followers. However, I think there’s a time and a place for these communications. Is anything so critical that you have to respond immediately, regardless of what is going on around you?

And don’t get me started on the subject of people texting while driving. I recently watched an AT&T video about texting and driving that was enough to scare anyone from doing that again.

What’s the solution? I encourage my clients to use an editorial calendar. Plan what you want to broadcast and when. If you’re going to be at a meeting at the scheduled time, use Hootsuite to set up your message to be posted at the appointed time. Hootsuite is one of several online tools you can use to schedule your social media updates. If you are at a conference and want to tweet about the content, consider sending the tweets during breaks between sessions.

Tweeting or texting in meetings can be distracting to others around you and disrespectful of the meeting organizers, whether it’s a local networking meeting or a national conference of your peers.

Social media has made the world smaller, and it’s a great tool for staying in touch with more people on a daily basis than ever before, but I don’t think it should get in the way of face-to-face activities.

What are your views on this subject? Do you prefer to separate your online networking from face-to-face networking and give each the attention it deserves?