What am I doing now?

I'm going to argue that what I'm doing right now (as you read this) is an online secret. (It's not, just for the record, anything incriminating. Or at least probably not :) ).

Chances are pretty good that I'm not far from my computer, so you may be able to get some cues about what I'm doing from it. If I'm on your AIM, MSN or Skype buddy list, that'll tell you if I've used my keyboard recently. Google's chat app might tell you the same thing, and I may also have recently updated my status line there. If I'm teaching class on certain days and you're bored enough to watch my Yahoo live channel, you might be able to see video of what I'm doing. Or possibly a still image of what I was doing the last time I logged in. And my Facebook status might also provide you with some information.

Even with all of that, though, you'd have a hard time guessing what I'm doing right now. Care to try? And that's probably a good thing. I don't know most of you and there's little reason for you to have this information.

There may be times, though, when I do want you to know what I'm doing. Or at least have enough information to let you see that I have a minute to chat or that I'm scrambling toward the CSCW deadline and don't want to talk about anything not related to that. And there may be times when I want you to think I'm scrambling toward the CSCW deadline, but am actually out drinking with my friends (possibly even complaining about what a lousy co-author you are :) ).

These are truths, secrets and lies related to interpersonal awareness. And they're my motivation for participating in this workshop.