Happy New Year!
Last year was filled with more social media advances than ever before! We went from Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare, blah, blah, blah and blah. We’ve already uncovered how social media affects your brain and daily activity. (Read: Is Your Mind Being Ruined By Social Media Use?) It seems that keeping up with social media has become more of an obsessive chore, than an easy way to keep tabs with friends & family online. Add that on top of mobile versions of these platforms and now with emails, texts, Tweets and Facebook requests, many are starting to feel that their handheld devices and lap tops have bombarded their lives.
What if I told you that there are five simple steps that I’ll be using to take control of my online life (while keeping up with my productivity)? Check out these simple steps to gaining your social media freedom and I hope you join me on this ride for an easier and simpler online user experience in 2012.
5. Choose Your Tools Wisely.
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Instagram….With so many platforms out there, you have more than enough to choose from. Pick and choose where you want to exist. You don’t have to be on every social media site, choosing one or two might be the right choice. Don’t forget that basic email, text messaging & a good ole fashion phonecall is still a great way to connect. You can communicate just as well with mostly everyone via these personal mediums versus the next great social platform just waiting to be created.
4. Stick With A Time Limit.
Create a time limit that will keep your online use productive and to a minimum. You can be extremely more productive when you have a specific purpose online versus checking your status updates every 5 mins. Next time you log onto your favorite social site, set up 45 minutes or some predetermined amount of time, then close it. Then get back to work, (see how easy it could be?)
3. Don’t Just Be Online…Be Proactive.
Don’t assume the world is going to tell you where to go or what to do. Search out information for yourself, be aware that websites – such as Google – might be noticing where you search if you are logged in to a Gmail account, for example. Logging out of Google before you search and clearing your cache keeps them from sending you more unwanted information.
2. Have A Plan, Purpose & Just Do It.
Quite often when you immerse yourself with these technologies, you can get into a very passive use of them – you look at Facebook and Twitter or RSS feeds and we let that information flow over us. You should know what it is you want to find before you start surfing can help you manage your time spent online. Don’t let the rest of the world tell you what you want.
1. Find Your Spot And Get It All In One Spot.
Many online tools allow a user to display several sites as widgets, all on one screen. Have you ever heard of NetVibes? It has an easy to read interface and it allows you to log onto all your secured sites at once. In a single browser, you can bring in a widget for your Facebook stream, one for Twitter and you can bring in your email and more. It gives you a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in your social circles without you falling lost within the rabbit hole.
I’m on my way to a simpler way of socializing online. What about you? What would you add to this list of making social media more manageable?
