Finding the right Social Networking Rhythm

I am now officially a self-proclaimed social networking junkie. I’m on FaceBook (managing both my own personal page as well as a non-profit group for which I volunteer). I’m on Twitter, Linkedin, Plaxo, Classmates.com and more. I’m following more people on Twitter than I could ever truly keep up with, am a member of numerous “groups” on all of the above mentioned networks and could spend 24/7 just reading and chatting. I could go on but I’ll stop there since I’ve decided it’s time to pare down and only manage what I truly have time for and is fruitful in any way.

So, the challenge becomes, how do you “separate the wheat from the chaf?” Fruitful can mean different things to different people. Sometimes little intriguing nuggets lead to bigger nuggets and you’re following link after link and spiralling down a dark tunnel of information overload with no end in sight.

The first step is to define what “being fruitful” means to you. What is most important to you in life? After pondering for a long time, I came up with a short list: family, friends, travelling, building my business and volunteering (which I’ve pared down as well and focus mostly on an organization called Room to Read…but I digress. More on that in another post). For each of the life priorities I come up with, I looked at which Social Networking platforms bring me the most enjoyment or advice/resources. For family and friends, I chose to keep my FaceBook page but I only invite people to be my friend or accept friends who I really do know and wish to be in contact with. For this, I look for quality, not quantity. Some people get shear enjoyment by having thousands of “friends.” I believe that’s when you get yourself in trouble with things like identity theft, cyber stalking, etc. (yet another topic to explore at a later date).

Continuing to pare down, I looked more closely at Classmates.com and I realized it was just duplicating what I could do with FaceBook and was charging for it too. I eliminated it!

I thought this philosophy would be smart to apply to all my online networking endeavours. I then compared Linkedin with Plaxo. It seemed to me that LinkedIn has a more professional look and feel and has more resources and some great industry specific groups. I plan to discontinue Plaxo and will focus my time and energy (from a business networking perspective) on Linkedin. Groups I have joined through Linkedin to help me grow my business and develop professionally as a writer include the Freelance Writer’s Connection and Writer’s Showcase, both of which are incredible resources for new and established writers.

Another decision I made was to totally separate personal and professional. I do not send business associates to my FaceBook page. I have a website (www.globalwritingsolutionsonline.com ) which is a more appropriate and professional avenue to share information on my experience and the services I provide as a freelance writer. My clients don’t need to see the photos of my trip to Canada!

I love my Twitter and will be keeping it! I use my Twitter account (@annethewriter) for more professional purposes. I don’t “tweet” what I had for breakfast. I don’t care how well you know me…I can’t imagine why anyone would be interested in that tidbit of information. I use Twitter to send out information on business seminars or leads, networking opportunities, advice to writers, business questions, updates on any of the charities I follow, helpful hints, motivational or inspirational thoughts, etc. I also use it to follow other writers who provide thought-provoking insight and sometimes a little comic relief.

So basically, my personal “Social Networking Rhythm” has become: only that which is enjoyable and fruitful, don’t mix personal with professional and keep it to a manageable volume. What’s yours?