3 Online interaction can be tough. For some of us it is challenging to engage in sustained, thoughtful interchanges in asynchronous (different time) online interactions. Between the lag time from response to response and the flat textual environment, the spark fades. This is an issue for those of us with learning styles that favor visual and kinesthetic experiences -- experiences which are not well-supported by text.

4 We often talk of content-centric context. But what if we experienced our online interactions in a multi-sensory context -- even if that means "creating" the context ourselves. "Roll-your-own" reality.

5 Consider, or even, dare I ask, try this approach to connection and reconnection in a text-based interaction:

• 6 When coming into an online thread that wants your attention, in all senses, start by taking a deep breath. Slow down. Pause for a beat.

• 7 Put aside multitasking. Don't let an email alert distract you.

• 8 If your short-term memory is like mine, read back over some number of previous postings. Reestablish context. Take your fingers, poised for a quick response, off the keyboard. Do you remember what this thread is about? Is it still on topic or has it "drifted?" Why?

• 9 As you read, try and recapture your initial response. Were you excited? Bored? Irritated? Intrigued? Neutral? Compare it to your current response. Has something changed in your response? Why?

• 10 Now add in the people. Refocus on the names of the people posting in the "thread" or conversation. What do you know about them? Have you clicked on their bios to find out more about them? Have you seen a picture of any of them? Do you know some of them better than others? How does this affect your reading of their words?
  
• 11 What tone might the writers be using if they were speaking their words out loud? How does this affect your reading of their words?

• 12 If your learning preferences tend towards the visual or kinesthetic, imagine this group of people sitting in a circle, or around a meal-table. Hear the sound of their breathing. Smell someone's perfume. Hear glasses clinking. Look at their facial expressions in your mind's eye. What do you see?

• 13 Now return to the words. Has the context changed? Is your connection reestablished? If so, then you have learned that for you to fully participate in a text-based world, you can use more than text, and recall the other senses that record human interaction.

14 The next time you go online to interact with others, be there in all your senses. Create a fuller context. And see if the experience changes.