Information Overload: Simplify Social Media

Ready for more Internet interaction tips? Well you better be because this post is going to be full of them. No joke. I made a post a couple of days ago about how to get the most out of Facebook by using filters, privacy options, and Facebook’s many options. By now, we all know what social networks can do for you and TO YOU. If you want, go ahead and read this very interesting post about how being “Twitterin Junkie is NOT GREEN”. Enough said. Social networks and social media is a great way to keep in touch with all of your friends and keeping up with your interests or things that matter most to you. With services catering to almost every category imaginable, people are identifying with one form of social network or another. Every day, thousands are joining new social networks. Have you though about all that time you sink into connecting? That is a big source of energy waste. Wasting your time and energy that could be spent outdoors and wasting electricity powering the medium that allows you to connect with this “virtual social network”. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against being social on the web. I’m on tons of social networks, but here are some ways to keep sane in this world of ours. I repeat, once more, it’s a case of information overload. I don’t know how much more this we can take as a society. Here are tips to make your social media experience a little simpler. It works for me and most people. Try them out for yourself:

Most importantly, if you’re going to be getting around, as in signing up for many services, I’d recommend at least two different email accounts. Use one for notifications and emails from the social network sites themselves. Go ahead and archive those messages just in case you need them for reference later on. Use another account for all your personal mail and business mail. That should be a given. Here are a couple of clients and services that I would recommend. Currently using: Mozilla Thunderbird
Don’t forget to fill out your profiles. If you’ve registered for a site, take that time to fill out your profile. Why? Most sites will have places where you can link the rest of your IDs on the internet. For example, fill out your Facebook profile and be sure to include your websites, contact information, and other social network links. That way, if you leave out information in one place, your viewers have another place to turn to.
If you’re running some sort of a business or just have way too many usernames and registrations on many social networks for your own good, you might want to try this trick out: get a spreadsheet program and archive your login information. In other words, make a spreadsheet with a your login username, password, and a link to the login page. Easy right? This way you won’t have to worry about losing your login information either. Currently using: Openoffice Calc
Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to. Isn’t this the first thing you learned in middle school? Only pay attention to the important things and let the minor things go. It may be a little hard in the beginning, especially on networks where you have lots of friends, but you don’t have to read all the information being chucked at you. Be selective. This is when the filters in Facebook would help you the most.
Learn to use other tools that are usually less complicated than the services themselves. You may have to configure them in your browser, but they are well worth it. Here are some tools that aggregate social networks. Currently using: Digsby
If you’re spending too much time on Twitter, learn to use desktop versions. They’re more efficient. This way, you can apply filters, respond, direct message, discover new people, and then get back to what you were doing. Currently using: Tweetdeck
Time management. Tell me that you know what that is. If not, you need to take some lessons. Procrastination is not the answer, folks. However, judging by all the Facebook Status messages I’ve seen, it seems to be a problem. Just remember: if you have a deadline, make sure you manage that time wisely. No joke. I’m sure you know because you’ve cut it close. How can we make this work? Scheduling. Plan 10-15 minutes for every hour of work to browse your social networks or make a schedule where you can set aside time to browse.
Status updates – You don’t have to update every second of the day. Your statuses should be effective, enlightening, and definitely high-impact. It should be something that people would be interested in or would want to share. This way, you’ll spend less time communicating what you have to say. Less = better.
It doesn’t hurt to try new things, but focus on a couple of social networks that you can spend a majority of your time on. People usually gravitate toward the more popular networks. I’m currently most updated on Twitter and Facebook, as are most others. Try to focus on a solid 3-4 networks, more if you are running a business, but don’t spend too much time on scattered networks or trying to update every single one every day. There are way too many as evident by this image:
Last key tip: be personal! Just because you’re not interacting with your friends on the same level online doesn’t mean you can’t be personal. You might have tons of friends, but you can be really close with a couple of them. Build relationships with those who either make you laugh, inspire you, make you smile, or just can’t live without. Connect: isn’t that the point? Click the delicious drink to find me on Facebook