Kiarash Zarezadeh: Don't let your smartphone be your leash

Don't be fooled by your smartphone. It doesn't bring you more freedom. In my case, it brings more of me to Freedom, the publishing company that's owned me since I graduated college 10 years ago.

Rarely does a weekend pass without an email from the boss, asking why something wasn't done the right way or why something was done the wrong way.

Years ago, that email would sit until I returned to work, allowing me to enjoy my time off without vocational stress. Now, it pops up within minutes.

And it's partly my fault. I could choose to shut it off, but I have a need to know. That's why smartphone owners have them in the first place. Except for my mother, who apparently uses her iPhone 4S as a way to display the cute rabbit suit she bought for it.

Anyway, I received a particularly disturbing email from editor Jim Krumel last week. The subject line read, “When tweets go bad.”

Essentially, it was a cautionary tale of a Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter's misfortune when he mistakenly tweeted some nastiness about the Browns' owner and subsequently lost his position because of questionable objectivity. After decades of service, the writer was moved because he used a technology in a way he wasn't supposed to.

I understand the message Krumel was trying to send with his email, but I had to ask, “Why are we professionally tweeting?”

Social media, text messaging, email and other forms of electronic communication thrived in the hands of geeks, tech-junkies and informal communicators.

Only recently did they gain corporate recognition, suddenly viewed as ways to make a product better or more engaging.

And that's fine. If a business has some Web-savvy employees and wants to them to use their particular talents to help, more power to it.

But when a business thrusts a burden upon workers who have no skill or desire to become Internet celebrities, disasters can happen.

Among the risks are the business losing credibility, the message becoming garbled and the online public withdrawing its trust.

We all know of a business or two with a ridiculous Facebook page, full of good intentions but horrible execution. We've all signed up for a Twitter feed, only to find it's more sales than substance.

I'm not saying I disagree with venturing online with The Lima News' personality. If anything, I'm excited about using my Internet addiction to draw attention to the good work that's being done here.

I just fervently believe the Internet should be left as the playground of those who can't resist it, who feel at home in it, and who dare to be bold with every keystroke and swipe.

It's the final frontier, the last bit of Western wilderness that hasn't been tamed. The men and women meant to rule the Web deserve their smartphones slung at their hips, without the boss telling them when and how to use them.

Just remember to keep your gadgets just as much lassos as they are leashes, and let your boss wait a while for an email response.