Why The ‘Always Open’ Internet Global Village Is Both A Blessing And A Curse

“Don’t you ever sleep?”

I have lost count the amount of times people have asked me this recently. Why? Because I operate more than 160 WhatsApp groups to facilitate virtual networking and there is always someone somewhere in my enormous network that is wide awake and ready to do business. 

In an ideal world, I would retire at 11pm and rise at 7am – but the ‘always on’ interconnected world which we all now inhabit is far from ideal when it comes to me trying to get a good night’s sleep.

That being said, I love the fact that the connected world in which we now inhabit has become a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. The perceptual shift required for countries, companies, and individuals to remain competitive in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The world literally is our oyster.

Bill Gates once mused that the internet in becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. Well, that tomorrow is now today.

Recently, I have been showing Americans how to use WhatsApp which is kind of ironic since it’s owned by Facebook and is ‘Made in USA’. In India, Europe and elsewhere it’s pretty much ubiquitous – more than two billion people use it globally and it is the world’s most popular communications platform.   

But in the United States itself, only about one in five Americans use it. I’m on a mission to make that one in four. And most of those that do use it for voice and videocalls when they or friends and family are travelling overseas. They certainly don’t realize that it is in fact an invaluable business tool.

Educating them on how to use WhatsApp has opened their eyes to a whole new world -quite literally. 

Once inside one of my groups which cover a wide range of industries and business subjects, they can see – in real time – who has read their message introducing themselves to other members of the group by outlining who they are, what they do, and who they would like to meet. They often comment to me how amazed they are to ‘see’ people from all over Asia Pacific, Australasia, Europe – the entire planet.

And therein lies the conundrum: since the rising and setting of the sun varies according to where we are, so do our time-zones. I love that fact that I can engage with someone, somewhere at any time I choose within the 24 hours of any given day. But I also hate it too, which is why I sometimes perform a reset by switching off my cell-phone and going on a digital detox.

This usually manifests itself in a long walk in my local forest. And when I get back, I often feel sleepy and go to sleep. Now there’s an idea. ??