Curb Social Media Overload with a Social Media Diet!

Okay, this may sound more dramatic than I had intended, but I got your attention right? And no, I’m not going to say social media is a waste of time (if that’s what you were hoping!).

Let me backtrack a bit.

Social Media Overload. It happens. There is just so much information everywhere-blogs, tweets, Foursquare checkins, Facebook wall posts and so on. You find yourself inundated with information, a need to be everywhere (and anywhere) but ultimately struggling to create value and consequently see any return. And then frustrated thinking that nothing works. So you push it all away and give it up.

A few months ago, my first case of social media overload was with Foursquare-which I still use off and on and then it was EmpireAve which I removed myself from and now the latest is coming from Quora, which I joined back in July. I joined all these sites because I was curious but eventually grew tired of the constant updates and ‘noise’ coming from everywhere.

So why go on a social media diet now?

Perhaps, it was the 3 weeks that I spent away during the holidays that gave me renewed perspective or maybe it seeing hundreds of notifications from Quora (the latest social media darling) that made me crack and start thinking about my social media activity for 2011.

There was also a post that I read awhile back from Chris Brogan that really resonated-Is it moving you forward?

He makes some really good points about how it’s not necessary to be on every site and participate everywhere. But rather to ask yourself what value are you getting out of being on those sites and if they are helping you achieve your business goals. It’s about finding what works for your business and getting the most value out of those techniques.

Choose what works

What are your goals? Get more people to find you on the Internet locally? Then maybe your blog and Twitter will do. You may not need to add Quora to the mix just yet.

Stay Focused

There will always be the next shiny new thing and it’s so easy to get sucked in hoping that that latest tool will be the tool to drive your business up. The problem with that though is that you end up spreading yourself too thin and can’t effectively participate in them all. It takes time to build up a network on each site, which is why it’s important to be selective and work hard at maintaining the ones you do choose to be active on.

Measure and Adjust

Based on your goals  you can then adjust and see what is or isn’t working. But again, be patient because results won’t happen overnight!

What does my Social Media Diet involve? I’m aiming to be more lean this year and putting my focus on the following areas:  Blog, Twitter and then Facebook.  My goal is to focus on a select few sites and cutting back on fat which in  my case would be Quora, Foursquare and the next shiny new thing!

So who’s in? Let me know in the comments below how you plan on using social media this year!