23 and Counting – Social Media Burnout

Today I counted the number of social media/communication tools that I use or manage. Here are the totals for the main ones:

3 Blogs
6 E-mail addresses
2 Youtube Accounts
2 Flickr Accounts
4 Twitter accounts
3 “all-in-one” social media management tools
3 Computers

That’s 23+ tools that I work with almost daily. And with a new tool coming out all the time, one can’t help but ask “when is it too much?” And with my role at MATRIX Resources I am constantly researching tools and helping my teammates learn how to use them. Many of them come up to me and say things like “I don’t have time to use all of these things.” And I would agree. They don’t.

So, how can you use these tools but not become overwhelmed by the information or just plain noise that comes from them?

Matthew Cornell, a productivity expert, recently empathized with social media burnout in an article on SFGate.com:

When you sign up for something like Facebook or Twitter, implicitly or explicitly you’re making a commitment to it, and that can be a lot of pressure . . . [and] . . . losing track of time when browsing social media sites can happen easily if you’re not disciplined.”

There’s a word that most people hate. . . discipline. But I have to agree. So to help summarize that article and a few others on social media burn out, here are a few tips:

1. Don’t try and keep up with every update, tweet, or wall post.
2. Learn to skim – the same way you would skim a newspaper or your e-mail inbox for the most important matters.
3. Limit your time of social media sites – build it into your calendar if need be.
4. Automate Automate! Schedule tweets in advance.
5. Use the parts of the tools that make life/work easier.

A few weeks ago I helped an Account Manager in our office set up a Twitter account. We setup her account and started following people that she knew and other industry experts. As I was talking to her I realized she wasn’t paying attention to me. When she noticed my pause, she said “Sorry, I was trying to read all of these tweets.” I laughed because I knew how overwhelming it can be at first. But, I stressed the importance of “skimming.” Now she is well on her way to building followers and leveraging Twitter (and other tools) to build better relationships.

So discipline yourself, and the time you spend on social media. The last thing we need is another burnout.

My question to you is, how many tools are you using?

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E-mail still #1 Choice for Gen X and Y

A recent poll put out by eMarketer.com shows that even though there is a ton of buzz right now with social media sites, Gen Y still sees e-mail as the most critical medium for messages.

According to the results, 26% of the responders (all between the ages of 18-24) could NOT give up e-mail or texting for one week.

Sparked by curiosity as to what my group of Gen X* connections thought, I put out my own poll asking a similar question. Hands down e-mail was the clear choice of necessity. Interestingly TV was a close second “need to have” while text messaging 4th of the list.

I think a statement by Michael Della Penna, PMN Co-founder and Executive chairman, sums it up nicely:

“As long as email remains the collection point for social networking updates, including alerts around new followers, discussion updates and friend requests, it will remain a powerful force in marketing and our lives.”

What are your thoughts?

*Generation X was defined by birth years according to amazon.com

 

LinkedIn Status is NOT the same as Facebook

It’s no secret that LinkedIn is a great way to connect with the business community. Also, it’s a great way to network when you are looking for a job. One way to continually keep your name in front of your connections is to update your LinkedIn status. However, all to often I see updates like “Going to a concert tonight,” or “Looking forward to the weekend.” Though it’s good to let people know that you are not just “all business,” is that really what you want your business connections to constantly see about you?

From his blog “Andy Robinson’s Career Success! Career Tip of the Day,” Andy gives 10 tips for updating your LinkedIn status with content that is professional and will show your connections that you are not just “looking forward to the weekend,” but a hardworking, expert in your field.

Here are a few of my favorite:

1. Insert the title and a “shortened” URL link to one of your recent blog articles (bit.ly is a great resource for shortening URL’s) 
2. A link a newsworthy web posting or news item (include the title and a shortened URL). Alignment with your brand “voice” or area of specialty makes it more powerful. I like to focus on POSITIVE news as opposed to negative news
3. A brief piece of advice relevant to your brand or area of specialty.
4. A link to an article in which YOU were quoted (I give the title of the article and a shortened URL link to the article). This is a powerful PR and branding activity.
5. Recent results and key activities at work. Something like “Just landed three new Executive Career Coaching clients this week; excited about launching those engagements!”

To read the full list, check out Andy’s blog here.

Most of your connections on LinkedIn are probably on Facebook too. Why not connect with them in both places? Though, you might want to limit what they can see on your Facebook account. That way you can keep your “personal” updates on Facebook and update your LinkedIn status with meaningful business information.