Anyone who has seen me (and heard me) do a talk on social media or digital pr will have heard me talk about and sing the praises of Chris Brogan (and if you’ve heard me recently, you’ll have heard me plugging Trust Agents as well) but his latest review – filmed while apparently driving a car – has left me a little ‘ugh’… recording a video while driving? Come on…

This isn’t me being luddite lad…

Now I’m sure Chris is a more than capable driver. I’m really sure that the camera is in a fixed position. In all honesty I don’t even know if driving and speaking to a fixed camera in a car is illegal (the video camera is a hands-free device, which technically makes it legal in the UK, though perhaps someone can tell me otherwise if I’m wrong).

But there are points in the video (for the book by Barry Moltz and Mary Jane Grinstead - BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World) where it looks as if he’s holding the book up and it’s blocking his view, there’s seconds where he’s looking at the camera – and again, while I’m sure he’s judged the conditions and the road around him, it just leaves me a little edgy.

As he points out, customer service is important. Having worked in retail, I agree. I’d start with not putting myself in positions where I might kill them.

(and that’s not to say he would, but could you imagine if you were driving and doing something that had your eye off the road for even a second and you skidded or something else unpredictable happened that caused harm. You would forever ask yourself ‘what if I hadn’t taken my eye off…’)

I’m all for social media, being interactive and immediate everywhere and I can understand a deadline like anyone else. But the world would have waited another hour or so for Chris’ review. This wasn’t a Watergate-level revalation.

As I say, he’s (most likely) doing nothing wrong, but it just leaves me a little… off.

(For the non-parents out there: this is what being a parent does to you at times. You worry and ‘what if’ about some of the most ridiculous things.)