It is good to end the year on a topic that regulars will know is close to my heart – social networking.

Lily Allen gave me that warm Christmassy glow when I read that she has dumped all her Facebooking and Tweeting in favour of normal face to face communication. “So I put my BlackBerry, my laptop, my iPod in a box and that’s the end. I won’t use email, I play records on vinyl, I don’t blog. I’ve got more time, more privacy. We’ve ended up in this world of unreal communications and I don”t want that. I want real life back,” she has said.

The burning question is how many of the rest of us could actually join her in this radical move? I am a great believer in the phone call rather than email, especially  in personal situations, but there are times when only the latter will suffice – contacting Charles Arthur for instance.

It is really annoying when you are with someone who spends their whole time checking their iPhone/Blackberry – but it does give you the chance to just sneak a glance at yours!

So, in a social networking way may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a great 2010 – I would call you all personally but I don’t have your number. (Click here for our special Christmas message http://www.eml.com/xmas_2009.htm )