It happened. I had an Exorcist moment social media-style. Over the last weekend, I decided to sit down and spend some more time on Google+. As I toyed around, I could feel my head starting to spin and when I started to think about all the social media platforms I was on and how I was going to keep up with yet another network, my head started to spin more and pea soup was spewing out of my mouth. Well, not exactly about the pea soup part, but my head did spin.
I had trouble counting how many ones I’m on… Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Foodspotting, Google+, GetGlue, tumblr, Quora, and others which I can’t remember. Yup, I’m pretty sure I’m on other ones that I just can’t remember I signed up for. I think I’m suffering from either social media fatigue syndrome or social media shiny object disorder.
I did a quick poll on Facebook of friends, family, and peers about how many social media platforms they are actively on. Most were on three or more. And folks were feeling similar to me regarding being overloaded. We’re not alone, in a recent survey from Gartner, a global IT research firm, it was found while there is continued enthusiasm for social media, respondents said that they are using their main social media sites “a little less” or “a lot less.” Now I don’t know exactly what that means; however, I can factor a guess that folks are running out of time, energy and attention span with the explosion of social networking platforms.
I can’t disconnect from social media totally; because, this is a part of what I do as a professional and I actually enjoy the interactions that it gives me. So what is the solution?
Disconnect. Before you panic, take a deep breathe and read on. I’m not contradicting myself here. We could take the route my friend, Andy Headworth, did and totally disconnect. He talked about it on his blog, Sirona Says. He went sans social media for over a week when he was on holiday and found it gave him a fresh perspective and outlook on the world of social media. Sometimes it is good to walk away from all the noise and clutter even if it is just for a morning, afternoon, or evening. I know that often refreshes me. And I think Andy is right, it does allow you to reconnect with folks on a different level.
Selective. It is OK to be selective. You don’t need to be on every social media platform under the sun. The key is to find the platform that works for you and then use it. And it is OK, to delete your accounts on social media networks if you aren’t using them or getting any value. I went through a few months ago and deleted a few accounts such as FriendFeed and MySpace since I never used them. That was hard to do for me, but glad I did it.
Engage. Remember the word “social” is in the term “social media.” Don’t be a broadcaster having it be only one-sided and “me me me” focused. Be a connector and have conversations with people. I covered my thoughts on that on an earlier post.
What are your thoughts? Do you have social media fatigue? And how you dealing with it?
My neck is still a little sore, but I’ll be OK. I just need to take my own advice about social media, but in the meantime, let me get back to levitating over my chair and talk in gibberish as I check in on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+…