Leading a digital life is hard.
Strike that Leading a digital life is easy, but can get hard…
and complicated if you let it…
Who are you digitally is a good question to ask. Are you a social network butterfly? A flickr fanatic, A facebook junkie? What is the one thing that links all of these little pieces of the internet together? That would be you.
You can choose to make it hard, or you could choose to make it easy.
But its not always about what you choose.
Sometimes its about who you know and what they know.
I try to share what i know when i can. I’ve become an on again off again helpdesk on twitter. I try to answer frustrated questions that get screamed to the void
you need tools to manage the networks you are on. Tools that post to multiple networks are only good if you can interact on those networks.
Tools like Ping.fm are great for blast announcements, but they lack the subtlety of some of the other tools.
Twhirl, my favorite twitter app, allows for cross posting, which i do. But you need to make sure you get notification when people respond to you.
The real problem is that you need to evaluate what is worth your time. I can help.
Answer me these questions 3
- Do you get feedback regularly from this network?
- Do you feel that you add anything to the conversation?
- Do you enjoy your time interacting on the network?
If you answered no to number 1 then why are you there? Twitter is a great site for connecting with people. and the more people you folllow the bigger the conversation can get. If you choose to follow only a couple people thats fine as well but you need to realize the level of discourse is usually relevant to the amount of people, and their activity level. I’m an active user. I have had very good friends stop following me because I flood their stream with content, some of it inane, not very much of it profane, but i hope some of it is worthwhile.
If you answered no to question 2 you are lying to yourself. everyone has something to add to any conversation. If you think that your experiance hanging wallpaper for a living doesn’t give you the right to engage then you’ve never met a person trying to wallpaper a baby nursey for the first time. They would LOVE your tips. Any skill set any ability is worthwhile you just need to see it in yourself.
If you answered no to question 3 then why are you still there? Business? Required to for a job? Make it fun, people like to follow others who are having a good time. If you are just goign through the motions then people will see that. Don’t tweet like its your job, even if it is. Start replying to people build up small relationships and you can start to make the conversation fun again.
And you know what?
it should be fun, if it isn’t its time to try something else!
If your digital life gets out of hand scale back. I am involved in a ton of networks, but some much less than others. There is no crime in focusing on what works for you.
Enjoy your time here