social media

I’m still trying to figure out the best ways to use Facebook and Twitter without letting them be total time-drains, but here’s my current methodology for using them right now:

1. Only check them once a day

That is easily the quickest way to reduce the time you spend on the two sites. The past week or two I’ve been pretty good about it and have only checked them once around 5 PM each day.

If your self-control is lacking, here are a couple things you can do to help prevent yourself from visiting the site the ungodly number of times per day you do right now:

1. Remove Facebook and Twitter from your bookmarks (this makes you have to type in the link)

2. Disable autosave of links in your browser (so you have to type in the full link if you want to visit the site)

I actually don’t do number 2, but number 1 was huge for me. Having to spell out the link makes you more aware of what you are doing, and thus you have a chance to stop yourself.

2. Limit who shows up on your news feeds

I’ve gone to an extreme and removed everybody from my Facebook news stream (sorry guys!). Now I only see if people have commented on my updates.

I was planning to allow news from only my closest friends, but Facebook kept showing dumb updates like who they just became friends with or if they changed their profile, which I could care less about.

Twitter is nice because you don’t have to see any of that. I wish Facebook just let you see status updates.

Yes, this means that I see less of what is going on in the cyberworld. I think I’ll be able to deal with it…

If I want to know what’s going on with someone, I’ll just visit their page and see their status updates, usually a lot later than they actually happened, but I don’t think that’s a big deal.

Better yet, you can always call or meet up with people…texting is probably even better than FBing or tweeting.

In any case, limiting your news feed means less chance of getting sucked into the social media vortex.

3. Use an all-in-one Facebook/Twitter client

Right now I use Hootsuite for posting updates, as I can update both my Facebook and Twitter in one fell swoop.

You can also see your news feeds with it, but it doesn’t show Facebook notifications which is somewhat of a downfall of the product. This forces me to actually go on Facebook.com to see if anyone commented on my stuff.

(If anyone knows of a web-based client that lets you see Facebook notifications, let me know.)

I don’t even go on Twitter.com anymore as I have multiple Twitter accounts, and Hootsuite lets me look at all of them with a couple clicks.

Otherwise I’d have to log-in and out a couple times which I’d rather not do.

4. Delete Your Facebook and Twitter

This is obviously the most extreme way to spend less time on the two sites… I actually went about 6 or 7 months without either until I started SixPrizes.

I wanted to make a Fan Page for the site… you need to have an account to make one… damn you Zuckerberg.

I would probably get rid of my Facebook and Twitter if I wasn’t running a website, but it’s sort of a necessity now. Too many people are using social media right now and I can’t really ignore it.

Doing what I do may not be for you though… I just prefer to limit my time in front of a screen as much as I can.

The power of peer pressure should never be understated.

Why do you dress the way you do (and not some other outlandish way)?

Why do your projects and homework assignments always seem to get completed in time… even if you tactfully delay them until the very last minute?

How come minorities do worse on exams when they are reminded of their race or gender?

It’s all about expectations.

You try to self-verify by presenting a consistent “you” to other people, which in turns gives them an expectation of how you typically behave and act.

You then feed this cycle by presenting yourself consistently day to day, only varying when evaluated over long periods of time.

It goes on and on… it’s a vicious cycle (as one “Fat Bastard” would say).

But… you can use it to your advantage.

How To Keep Your Word… Every Time.

When you need to get something done, simply tell the world.

Update your Facebook, send a tweet, text everyone on your phone, give your friends a call, tell your family… you will put pressure on yourself to act consistently with your intentions.

When you don’t tell anyone, you have no one to live up to except yourself. And the self is a lot more willing to change its notions about what “it” is if nobody knows about those plans.

What I do is keep a hand-written “To Do” list. I usually don’t tell people about what I need to do that day, but at least you will physical and visual evidence of what needs to be done (and your ideas are not just floating around in your head).

If I write it down, I need to get it done. If it’s really important, I’ll also tell people about it.

That’s the only reason I’m writing this post.

Quote Rich Francesco on Facebook about my status update to write more often: “do it. woman.”

Done.

I’m going to be straight up here and make a startling confession: I am not a social media expert. I know, I know, all credibility of this post is swirling down the drain. You might as well hit the back button on your browser while you still can.

(I probably should have started off saying that I have something like 154,927 followers that keep messaging me about their free webcams…now THAT would certainly have qualified me a Twitter authority.)

For anyone that is still reading, I am going to talk about one of the topics I’ve noticed on Twitter and Facebook that seem to spark by far more conversation than than any others. That topic is food.

Even my wittiest tweets are no match for a simple update notifying my friends and followers that I am eating a boring bowl of lentil soup for lunch that day. People seem to love weighing in on their opinions about food.

Why is this so?

Food is a common ground for all people. No matter what background you come from, what interests you have, or what beliefs you stand for, you eat food.

This makes it the perfect subject to tweet about, as all of your friends can easily join the discussion. They don’t need to be in the loop per say, to be an aficionado about their tastes in food. You involve everyone in the conversation by bringing food to the table.

What other topics are good to tweet about? I think it’s as simple as looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The topics toward the base are things that just might make for decent conversation.

Of course I would not recommend updating everyone that you are on the toilet or undergoing homeostasis, but anyone is going to be able to relate if you bring up conversation about sleep or health.

The most basic aspects of your life are the areas that a majority of people are going to be the most interested in, as we all have an urgent need to fulfill these basic areas. So next time you tweet, remember to keep it simple and think of Maslow.