If you get easily overwhelmed by the Internet, then check out these top 10 tips for managing social networking. With a little advice, you will be navigating the social networking world with ease.
Top 10 Tips for Managing Social Networking
Social networking is a lot of fun, but it can get out of hand pretty easily. Before you know it, you have signed up for 20 different sites and are spending all day long managing your memberships or communicating with your online friends. How can you keep your social networking life under control so that it doesn't take over every waking moment? Follow these top 10 tips for managing social networking so that you can balance your Internet time with all of the other things you need to take care of in life!
1: Be Choosy with Sites
While there are countless social networking sites on the Internet, including some services that let you create your own social network, it doesn't mean that you have to join every single one of them. It makes sense to join the larger networks where your real, in-person friends might hang out, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. When it comes to extraneous social networking sites, it makes sense to avoid those that you might not be compelled to visit often.
2: Use One Email Address
If you're signing up for multiple accounts, use a single email address for all of them. This will save you time as you won't have to be checking multiple sites, as well as multiple email addresses for updates.
3: Keep Bookmarks
If you've signed up for multiple social networks, try keeping a bookmark folder with a link to each. This will make it easier to remember where you've signed up, and you'll easily be able to access the sites at the click of a button.
4: Organize Your Comments
Using tools like BackType can help you organize comments from multiple social networking sites by running them through a single site. This can save you a load of time!
5: Use Automation Tools
With the deluge of social networking came the tools to make using them easier. If you want help posting to a handful of services at once, then you should check out OnlyWire, a service that allows you to post to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Delicious, LinkedIn, and more - all with the push of a button. This tool is especially handy when you're using social networking for business, because you can post product information in multiple outlets at once. OnlyWire is not free, but it is reliable and easy to use, and will save you valuable time.
6: Get a Timer
One of the biggest problems people have with social networking is time wasting, so consider getting a kitchen timer for your desk. When you start playing around on social networking sites, set the timer for 20 minutes to make sure you control how much time you're spending online.
7: Be Consistent
Social networking isn't a short-term project - it is a long-term journey that needs to be maintained if you want to get anything out of it, especially for business. Map out your goals and stay consistent with your efforts to achieve maximum success.
8: Define Personal and Business Sites
When using social networking sites, it's a good idea to make a decision about which you'll be using for business and which you'll be using for personal activities. You'll want to make sure to keep them separate, so that your business contacts don't end up seeing photos of your personal life.
9: Try Flock
Flock is a web browser that allows you to log into all of your social networking sites through an integrated system. This is handy since you're already using your browser, and Flock makes it easier to keep track on what's going on in your networks.
10: Do Your Research
Before jumping into social networking, do a little research to figure out what sites are right for you. A little information can make a big difference between time wasted and time well-spent achieving your goals.
