Is anyone else feeling a vague sense of unease? Are you worried that you only see a small fraction of your tweets on any given day, or that you haven’t checked your Google Reader in awhile? Does the thought of having to make the switch to Facebook Timeline fill you with dread?
To put it bluntly: Is social media becoming a burdensome presence in your life?
We’ve all heard about the rapidly increasing volume of online information produced every minute. Between 2010 and 2011, the number of tweets per day rose from 27 to 95 million, pieces of content shared weekly on Facebook grew from 3.5 to 7 billion, and the number of companies using blogs for marketing increased to 39 percent (with 43 percent predicted for 2012), according to Search Engine Journal.
A group of thought-leaders are gathering this month in San Francisco to discuss the issue. The Information Overload Research Group is hosting Overloaded 2012, “a private one-day gathering amongst those who are leading the battle against information overload from a diversity of domains such as business, academia, technology, journalism, psychology, and research.”
- However, most of us can’t just unplug: we need these valuable tools to conduct business every day. Rather than just retreating (not “retweeting”) to the wilderness, here are s
ome suggestions for handling the onslaught of content creation we are faced with every hour: - Choose quality. Just because there’s a lot of content out there doesn’t mean it’s all good. Limit yourself to following your three or four favorite bloggers – those who offer high quality writing, good analysis and originality. Also, find sites that aggregate good blog copy from thought leaders in your industry. Be just as selective with your Twitter feed – follow only those people who have valuable information to contribute (or who make you laugh).
- Limit your time on social networks. If you have a big project to complete, turn off TweetDeck for awhile; close out your Facebook and Pinterest pages. You don’t really need minute-by-minute access to this information. Choose a downtime to check-in so your concentration isn’t fragmented during highly productive portions of the day.
- Do something “real.” Don’t forget to get up from your desk once in awhile and have a conversation. Instead of writing one more email, discuss something with a coworker face to face for a change. At Brandpoint, we make a point of gathering for regular brainstorming meetings to hash out strategies via conversation and lively debate.
Here’s one more radical suggestion: maybe even send a handwritten note once in awhile.
What strategies have worked for you? I’ll be watching the mail.
Great column, Ann. I think we need to be self-aware enough to realize how social media fits into our lives. Simple rule: Keep it more like “social” and less like “media”. The former is leaning forward, like in an engaged conversation, and the latter is leaning backward, like a couch potato.
There is a professional dimension to this discussion, too: Should we keep up with our blogging, micro-blogging and commenting? My thoughts at http://admajoremblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/5-reasons-not-to-fear-social-media.html
Thanks!
Thanks Steve. I like your analogy. I think we will all need to continue to consider how we can integrate social media in our lives, without it taking over our lives.
Best,
Ann