SOCIAL MEDIA EXHAUSTION.

by

uh…no.

 

Back in the dark ages, when I first started blogging, there existed not much social media.

I was hired to write an ‘online journal’ for a now defunct site called MUSCLE JOURNAL (started by this guy). And that’s all I had to do: write.

Seriously. My assignment was to “live and write about it.”

Very simple. Very easy. Very fun. On top of it all, unlike the magazine or newspaper work I was also doing, I was able to garner immediate response from my readers.

I knew in seconds (not the weeks it would take for someone to write and mail a letter to the editor) whether Id hit a nerve, struck a chord or (oops) accidentally offended my readers.

Now this isnt to say social media didnt exist—-it did & the truly early adoptors were already plugged in—just that back in 2000 it was still ok to ‘just write.’

Flash forward almost thirteen years and holycrapballs things have changed.

Now when I get together with my blogger peeps it seems the lamentations of “all I wanna do is write. it’s the social media which is killing me.’ rival the “I love my peeps but how on EARTH can I keep up with all the blog reading?!”

And, unlike the blog reading where I do kinda think Ive got it all figured out and found what works for me, this one is still influx.

Quite frankly because the moment I have my social media I can have fun with this and still sleep! plan of attack they (the royal. who are they?!) add another platform.

Due to this fact these are my Six tips for combating social media exhaustion today until more platforms pop-up tomorrow.

 

  • I ROCK SOCIAL…in a teeny tiny pond. Ive learned which facets of social media are my strengths. Which social platforms Im naturally & organically drawn to. I only do those.

 

  • I am high-tech old school. I frequently joke to friends & brands: Im the biggest LUDDITE you’ll ever meet whose job is social media. I tweet incessantly a bunch from my smart phone, I dont do tweetdeck or hootsuite etc. I pop in to TWITTER.com, skim, chat and leave. I know I miss a lot of tweets. I acknowledge that to people and *encourage* them to let me know. My twitter friends know they can always feel free to email me and Ill happily RT. (If you missed it here’s my overall, misfit approach to Twitter.)

 

  • I dont check KLOUT, KRED or other evaluation sites. This has been a simple choice for me because the bigger challenge YEARS AGO was giving up the scale. To this misfit all of the social media ranking sites are like the scale to me. Im doing my best. I do it all day, go to bed & get back up and do it again the next day (oooh just like FITNESS!). I have nothing else to give—-why would I look at the numbers? Im doing the best I can….I cant give any more.

 

  • I dont do social media for others—I do it for me. I dont strive to be ON ON ON 24/7 so people look at me and think: DAMN. She rocks it!! I dont buy into the notion of working non-stop as a badge of honor. Ive already learned (thank you 43) I can not have it all—life is about WANTING WHAT I HAVE.

 

  • I ask my friends HOW TO ENCOURAGE THEM/support them in social media. This seems obvious but took me years to figure out. Some people want comments on their posts. Others only want tweets of their fave writings. Many would prefer a facebook share. It helped me immensely when I realized *they* were better served when I *asked* how they’d like their work to be supported. OH. And others long to be pinned. Which leads me to….

 

  • I dont pin. Ive been told repeatedly theres no hope for me to Crush! It! if I dont use pinterest. Apparently I shall never crush it. (what is this it? does it want to be crushed? and after it hath been crushed….what happens? a money storm? dolla dolla bills ya’ll flying everywhere?) Pinterest, for me, has become a euphemism of sorts with regards to social media. Im sure it’s great—it isnt for me.  G+ is my Pinterest too. As with my writing (& when I owned my training studio) Im cognizant of the fact I cant be all things to all people. For me it’s as clear as JACK OF ALL SOCIAL MEDIA—master of NONE.

 

There you have it.

What’s working for me now with the caveat (& with studies to back it all up) of it’s a daily conscious choice to get up and meditate FIRST and only after that hit up my channels.

And you?

are you feeling social media fatigue? what are your strategies to combat the tireds?

are you ROCKING the social with nary an exhausted moment? what are YOUR best tips for avoiding the fatigue?

 

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Comments

  1. Miz, I went to a blogging thing here in Oz recently and a few successful bloggers talked about platforms and most specialised. Those who were into photos etc used Pinterest and Instagram as well as Twitter etc, but others just focused on FB or Twitter etc.

    I’m on Pinterest (do not get the allure!!!) and have recently joined Linked In for professional reasons, but have decided I just wanna focus on FB and Twitter.

    And as for the blog reading, I’m starting to be a bit more circumspect. If I don’t have anything to add / say on a topic I don’t comment just for the sake of it. It’s hard though as I feel a sense of obligation to read the work of other bloggers and – on the whole – get a lot from it!

    Deb

  2. I don’t feel like a failure… but I do feel exhausted and like a fail some days. I have to fight to keep remembering that my “real” life has to come first and I don’t need to feel guilt for mot responding to a tweet or post immediately.

    P.S. I LOVE that you used the work luddite.

  4. When I first started blogging, I felt I needed to “crush it” (yah, I don’t get that either). I wanted to do everything and anything. Now I’ve learned that real life trumps all. I still can get caught up every once in awhile but I’m getting better. I just dropped caring what my Klout score was. No matter what I did, it never changed anyway! Why stress then?

  5. I don’t blog or anything but I can feel very overwhelmed in the morning just by my FB messages.
    It can bee too much.

  8. Hey you win some you lose some- better to do a few things well then a bunch of things half assed. I’m not good at G+ so I don’t use it. I glance at Pinterest but don’t consider it social media (for me). And I love that you ditched the working-all-the-time as a she of honor thing. It’s not a badge, its just a lot of work. 😉

  9. I like where you say you ask people how to encourage them.
    This weekend I was cheering my sister on in the healthy leaving way and she got really annoyed with me.
    I had no idea what I was doing irked her.
    I should have asked before.
    Great link, Carla.

  10. Thank you for this post! It is so easy to get overwhelmed with social media and all the technology that comes with blogging. I just try to do the best I can!

  11. Very timely post! I just got back from Blissdom & the one thing I learned was to offer value – instead of tweeting for the sake of tweeting, draft tweets, posts, updates etc that provide value to you and your audience. I’ll likely be taking most of this week off of social media to reflect & consider what value I offer & what value *I* get from it so that I can still be involved but not do involved that it consumes my life.

    Have a great week Miz!

  12. I am laughing about the “post pic of coffee to instagram” point on the to-do list! And what is tout?

    Like you, I’ve figured out where I’m effective and where I’m not in SM. I have a pinterest account and I’ve never used it. I just don’t think that’s ever going to be my format. Twitter, on the other hand, was made for me. FB, somewhere in between.

    I like you what you said about asking others where to support them. I’ve learned this through FitFluential and try to follow through for others here.

  13. I definitely think that finding one thing to ‘specialize’ in works best. I’ve signed up for everything from Pinterest to Instagram and I focus mostly on twitter right now. I like it, and it requires much less energy to me than the others. I can definitely struggle with finding time in the day to do it all and most of it’s not even worth it!

  14. Oh my goodness I am so glad you feel this way!! As a semi-new blogger I get so overwhelmed by all the social media. I hear things like, “you only have how many twitter followers? gasp!!!” And it’s just too much. If you feel like you constantly have to be checking your fb, twitter, instagram, blog, the list goes on, it takes all the enjoyment out of it! Thanks for this post- I feel better!!!
    My general strategy is to have 1 set time of the day where I check up on most social media sites, comment, RT, ect. then just do what I have time for the rest of the day- hey, at least I did something right??

  15. Ah, social media. I don’t think I’m doing it right.

    I tweet….oh so sporadically.

    I have an FB fan page that apparently only shows my posts to a few people now.

    I occasionally Pinterest but don’t really get it.

    I don’t Google+ and stopped checking Klout.

    Some days I think I’d like to make a living via social media/writing. Other days, I’m sure I’m not cut out for it.

  16. I love social media. To the point that my kids will ask “aren’t you going to tweet that?” However, with everything I’ve got on my plate right now I’ve had to adjust. I don’t do posterous anymore. I use things like buffer and sprout social to schedule things so that I’m not tweeting 10 links I want to share in a row when I have time to be online. I also do pinterest for me. I pin things I honestly want to remember or go back to or love. People seem to respond well to that. I love instagram and always send those to fb and twitter. It’s fun for me. I enjoy twitter and facebook and you tube is my favorite. I gave up on klout, I just don’t have time, and since it can be so gamed I don’t see it’s relevance. So in a nut shell, I do what I enjoy, streamline where I can, and I’m not ashamed to self promote a little.

  17. oh yes, the social media craze. I refuse to get into google hangouts or some other things because i want to be able to look up from my phone. Gosh darn it, it can be overwhelming. But i thank you for the tips, just makes me realize that we don’t need to focus on SM so much..a big “duh” moment for me.

    p.s.
    would love to meet up when you get a chance. NO rush!

  18. Social media for me is fairly new and i am one of the lamenting peeps! I started blogging last year because i thought it might be a way to help people learn how to eat healthier. I had no clue about all the social media that went along with it. At first i became obsessed on joining everything – now, thanks to the more seasoned bloggers that are willing to share great tips such as these, i am finding more balance and that it is ok not to do it all! Thank you!

  19. I’m very overwhelemd by it all.
    I think I was just whelmed at one point (ha ha), but there seems to be as you say a new platform every day.

    I will never crush it either. :/

  20. I don’t pay any attention to Klout or Kred unless I’ve been awarded a perk and need to click over to claim it. I am not a social media manager, I am a blogger, and my social media is just my run-of-the-mill FUN engagement. My readers know that about me!

  21. Great post! When I started blogging I was overwhelmed to find all these social media sources out there! It took me months to figure out what klout was! I finally used it for one day and decided it wasn’t worth it! So that’s kind of my method I guess. I use what I like, and definitely try to use social media as an outlet to connect with friends too! It’s so much more fun that way 🙂

  22. I’m hooked on Twitter. I dabble in Instagram. I avoid Pinterest because I don’t need another social media time suck!

  23. I can out luddite you: I still prefer face to face interaction best, followed by phone conversation. 🙂 (I will Skype, if pressed, so I guess I’m not a total luddite.)

    As a very sporadic social media user, it’s interesting (and a little sad) to watch the pack swarm from the last best thing to the new best thing. I just keep watching and hoping the path isn’t edging ever closer to a cliff.

  24. fatigued yes … and as it stands right now I barely even have time for the writing and am trying to not feel guilty about it … I’m trying to live my priorities and right now that’s school and family

  25. I can’t handle all the social media. Twitter freaks me out–too much. I tried it, and I’ve pretty much let that go. I’m a newbie to Facebook. I’m still working on that one. Personally, I live Pinterest. But more for me. Not in an effort to get others to see me (although I love new readers and want people to visit me!). It helps me organize all the cool things I see online and don’t want to forget! I figure I’m going to use what works for me, and not try forcing myself into medias I’m not as keen on. 🙂

  27. As always, awesome lesson here. I’ve been one who tries to hit every social media platform, but you just freed me from that with this thought “I’ve learned which facets of social media are my strengths. Which social platforms Im naturally & organically drawn to. I only do those.” Hello, KATIE! Why didn’t I think of capitalizing on one’s I’m good at? Lesson learned. 🙂

  29. Oh man! I would have to add that I don’t participate in Twitter chats that fall right during a time that I’d normally be spending with my family. Which is most of them.

  30. I feel a bit amateurish when it comes to SM. It can be wonderful and I’m sure every SM site has its own uses and advantages but being unplugged is really nice too. With my blog I just use twitter and I barely know how! I still haven’t checked out pin interest and after seeing way too many pointless pics of people’s half eaten food and their feet on instagram I’m steering clear. I don’t take good pics anyway. You are good at finding a balance. I’ve actually applied your blog reading approach and i like it!

  33. I’ve found myself avoiding my SM apps on certain days just to take a break. I need to take moments just to LIVE and enjoy my family, not worrying about Twitter, FB, or whatever. These moments with my daughter are fleeting and I refuse to waste them on my phone all day long.

  34. I visit the people that comment on my site and a few others, that’s it! Most of my computer time is spent learning stuff so I can keep up with medicine.

  36. You are so right Miz.

    It’s a LOT. I have a blog post sitting in my drafts somewhere and you have motivated me to complete it.

    I love twitter the most and I would probably be there all day if it weren’t for spending time with my family and helping to earn a living for them as well 🙂

    Facebook can be quite annoying, instagram is great for times when you are bored and want something to look at, pinterest…I love but could live without…and I think Klout is a bit silly but that is just my opinion.

    I say no to more new platforms, just thinking about following more people on a new site makes my brain want to cry a little.

    Great post.

  37. I like social media to an extent. My favorite thing is reading blogs. I hate Twitter. Hate it – so I don’t go there anymore. I like FB, but I don’t play games on it or anything like that. Just connect with people.

    Now Pinterest I love. Of course, I am not trying to monetize anything or whatever, so my social media is different in that it is just for fun. However, any social media can be a time suck. I bargain with myself that I have to work X amount before I can take a break and check in with the different platforms.

  39. I am on Pinterest, but don’t check it out all the time (I like to use it more for my personal use than for promoting / sharing blogs). I stick mostly to twitter and FB. And, I was obsessed with klout for about 2 months and then realized that (for me) it was a waste of time. I don’t go on the site anymore.
    But even just twitter and FB can be exhausting to me. I have found that i allow myself windows during the day to get on twitter / respond to tweets. Otherwise, I find myself constantly responding and spending too much time connected to my phone when my priority are the two little ones in front of me. It can easily get exhausting !!! I love your viewpoint on this =)

  40. LOVE!!!!!!!!!! You know I have the burnout as I told you so! 😉 I long for the days at times when I was young & nobody could get a hold of me except via regular ole land line phone. YES, I am old! I do recall pagers for work but that is long gone for the most part.

    I love your way of looking at this & deciding what works for you…

    I have been trying to do less & at times I feel guilty for not being on to respond since I do very little from my phone.

    I am guessing I may get to it less as time goes on & I find work,,,, I wish I could work from home but not happening as of right now.

    Like you, I don’t look at stats. They bring me down – kinda like a NO to me & I work hard at this so I stay away from that as much as possible…

    GREAT POST Carla!

  41. Yes! Pick the things you can do, and stick with them.

    Branch out only if it is in your best interest, and fits with what you can cope with sans burnout.

  43. Carla, you know how much I love your stuff!

    Uh, social media. Its a love/no-so love relationship.
    But one thing is for sure.

    Its NOT a trend.

    Keep up the good work! xo

  44. I work all day as a social media strategist at an agency, so I know exactly what I *should* be doing with my blog…and I don’t. Because that would take the fun out of it, and taking the fun out of it takes the authenticity out of it.

  45. I think these are practical tips, the most important being that you stick to what is comfortable to you.

  46. I used to be a SM early adopter.

    Was on Twitter within the first few months (when nobody knew what it was for except for sharing impressions of things together. -Acadamy awards and World Series- or for helping out people in a disaster. It was all community and conversation. Now? For too many it’s broadcasting and boring).

    I was a the book of face the day it opened to the world.

    I was multiple other sites, too. I once went through and eliminated about 40 bookmarked sites that I didn’t play on.

    Now I keep it simple: Facebook and some twitter. A couple forums. (yes, I’m still on forums…). This past year I’ve noticed myself stretching out more in the real world, and pulling back in the virtual one.

    Wonder where that will lead…

  47. I love the idea of high-tech old school. And that makes so much sense. I have different uses for different platforms and remind myself frequently that I do what works for me.

    I’ve never heard of a Spreecast.

    My favorite is Instagram right now. Me and my daughter’s pre-teen friends are all obsessed with Instagram.

  48. I think it’s sooo important not to get sucked into the “should” world in any respect and that includes social media. I am just not that into Pinterest and don’t use it much. About once a week I’ll go pin some things. I’m not gonna make myself do it! I didn’t join IG for forever because I wasn’t interested. Then I tried it on the fly a couple of times and became addicted. But when I tried Pinterest…it still didn’t catch on. And that’s OK!

  49. Social Media… seems to change with the tides. I remember some of the OLD stuff, back even before MySpace became big. My favorite was the Yahoo!360 platform, which combined blogs, something akin to tweets, and a “guestbook” It was more flexible than FB, had all sorts of ways to connect and learn about other members, but no games (a thorn in my side with FB). Maybe I long for a simpler time. Maybe I long for some sort of combination with that kind of flexibility: a one stop to update and read all my friends, etc.

    As for Pinterest, I’ve finally found a use for it. I’m making a recipe pinboard with some of the recipes I read in blogs and other sites. It’s purely for my own use, but I find some of my friends and relatives following it. For a while, I had a pinboard linked with Amazon products (I’m an associate) but I’ve generated ZERO revenue with that, so I’m pretty much ignoring it at this point.

    KLOUT and the others of that ilk? I stopped when Technorati started fading, years ago.

    for other tech? Well, I just got a Skype. I have one contact: My daughter in Las Cruces so we can talk “face to face”.

    I guess I’m just not big into social media either.

  50. Social media exhausts me. I blog to write, and it fits into a back corner. I read what interests me. On the flip side, my art business is almost solely supported online. I have a FB page for my business, twitter for that (where I cheat, and it just updates from the FB feed) an art blog, I’m supposed to be doing massive social media outreach and all I want to do is hide under the desk (and I HAVE a DEGREE in business with an emphasis in marketing! How’s that for ironic?) I didn’t even know half those other names you mentioned, either. *sigh*

  51. I read this and all I can think is thank goodness I don’t do much social media – I have my blog, and I have a personal Facebook page, but that’s it. Oh and Pinterest, but that’s my fun place where I’m planning my wedding to Will, and I pin things that make me laugh.

    • LOVE this…yea, let’s see who is ADDICTED to putting themselves and their photos all over the net. hahaha!

  53. Sites like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck help a ton! It’s also about balance…sometimes you could have time to do it all and others not..life is about being lived, not always about being sucked into the computer/phone

  55. You DO rock social media! The thing that struck me about it was that you really have to invest time in it to get a “return,” IMO. Take twitter – gotta tweet. And I enjoyed it when I did it but sometimes never thought to even log on. Since I’ve basically not blogged in, oh, many months now, I have also hardly tweeted a peep or visited my blog’s facebook page. It has been kind of freeing, actually.

  56. “Post photo of coffee to instagram”…guilty. How else will “@sbux” know how much I love them and offer me the dolla-dolla-bills-y’all??

    Ahem. I stopped worrying about Klout when it wiped my account to 0 about 6 months ago and I’ve never even heard of Kred. I like Pinterest for the simple sake of surfing specific pictures/sites depending on my mood: hairstyle inspiration, makeup tips I’ll never use, humourous little jokes, etc…But it is good for a little sharing as well.

    I started blogging because I thought it would be fun. It is, but sometimes it’s hard to not feel competitive.

  57. I believe at some point you need to draw the line somewhere. For instance, I do not have a tumblr, google plus, or four square. It’s overwhelming just reading blogs! I do what I can and try to BREATHE a lot. 🙂

  59. Oh life without pinterest sounds glorious! Don’t drink that kool-aid.. you can’t un-drink it 😉 haha! I have a love/hate relationship with the site and I think we have the same twitter approach! High-five lady!

    Now I’m off to fight the urge to check all my social media sites and instead work on my posts for the week. Haha wish me luck!

    MWAH!

  60. What a great post!

    Haven’t been here in a while.

    Social media has been a direct culprit in my lack of blogging and writing.

    I guess I’m still learning the live life to want what you have. Rather than always looking for the shiny new and am I keeping up

  61. Hi Carla… WOW! It is almost like you interviewed me and wrote a post with my answers because your approach to social media and the 6 points you made are SPOT ON the same as what applies to me. I really enjoy blogging and social media but “holycrapballs” there are a LOT of platforms to keep up with. I am also a jack of all social media but master of none. You can only do so much and please so many and in the end, you and your family are all that really matters. SO, my view is I need to “crush it” at home and social media can wait for me 😉

  62. working 30 hours and week and working out/family/house/yard-stuff takes up the rest of the hours. I “allow” myself about a half hour a day (if that) on blogs/FB/Twitter. I have no idea about all the other stuff you mentioned and certainly have no need to. It’s mostly living vicariously through others and isn’t real. I am still truly amazed at all the women who seem to have so much time on their hands to blog or read blogs. They are either doing it at work, or don’t work. Time waster! (my opinion)

  63. I tweet when I feel like it or when a friend asks me to support their work. I’m happy to do it. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, so I use it less. Mostly I still like to read blogs in my free time and on the weekends I disconnect and actually go have a life 🙂

  64. If I didn’t have a twin working with me, I have no idea how I’d get everything done. Writing for ourselves, writing for others, social media for ourselves, social media for others, going to conferences to present or learn so we can further write……
    On the days where I can’t take it anymore, I bake. That always relaxes me. But of course, then I’m behind on my work. My guilt hormone is strong. Gotta find a way to change that.

  65. LOVE this post! I definitely can’t keep up with all the social media stuff going on out there! I don’t pin, don’t even have an account. I am horrible at Twitter, but I do come clean about that. I will show up, read a little, comment a little and then I’m done. I do like Facebook because I can go back and read what I want, when I want. Blogging is my favorite, but my schedule does creep up on me and I read when I can and comment when I can.

  66. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not but I haven’t heard of most of the platforms you mentioned :/

    Maybe I’m being niave, but I can’t see the benefit of not using anything but the biggest. They’re where everyone is anyway.

  67. I feel like I’m in the dark ages when it comes to social media. It’s enough to keep up with my favorite blogs and my own blog. I have facebook, rarely look, I have a twitter account, rarely tweet and that’s about it for my “reach”. I just don’t feel the need to tell the world I just ate a salad, had a shower or farted – which seems like many people feel the need to do. BTW…I just..oh, never mind! 🙂 Have a great day Miz!!! hugs

  68. This morning, I walked my fourth-grader to school, then walked laps with him at the Morning Mile. Then I drove my sixth-grader to school, walked 2 miles with my mom, ran 2 miles with myself, raked my front yard, washed my car inside and out, and now, JUST NOW at almost 1:00 p.m. EST, I am out of the shower and getting ready to retrive my children from school. Social media is not my priority — although I do admit I love it when I have time for it (and by “it,” I mean Facebook; it’s pretty much my only plug-in).

    Cheers,
    Jacki

  69. I’m not the best with keeping up but I’m grateful for every comment I get from you. You seem to know when I need them most and it always makes me feel special to see one from you. I feel we’ve been in this pond together for a long time and though I don’t say it enough YOU ROCK!!! *big hugs*

  71. Jacki, I think that you need to find what platform works best for you. I started using Pinterest because my daughter is planning a wedding. Facebook to connect with friends. Twitter and G+ more for business. At least in my case. But I don’t connect constantly nor do I want to be tethered like that. You just have find your sweet spot.

  72. Oh man, your checklist sounds so familiar. There are rare days I’m on top of things and feel like I did a good job, but there is SO much to keep up with and most of us also have a different full-time job, workouts, family, life, etc. So I am okay with what I can do and it’s okay if I don’t keep up. 😉

  73. There is one time of day I don’t have my iphone with me (and I’ve made it a habit not to bring it)…that is when I’m out inline skating with my dog. It’s such an amazing feeling of freedom without it. However, when I get home, it’s the first thing i check…doah! working on it though 😉

  74. I am selfish in this way. I ONLY will do SM for me. I do what I enjoy and engage in those that “speak” back.

    I refuse to buy any smartphone because I will not be tethered to it.

    I have a laptop and iPod. That is all and I will keep it that way.

    I blog for me.
    I tweet for me.
    I FB for me
    I Pin for me.
    Klout is a way I like to let others I do notice them and think it is a way to tell the job well done.
    I love sharing new products and if the company will do a giveaway the better.

    This is me and I LOVE who I am.

  76. The best any of us can do is just find our niche. For me, thats twitter and instagram (and of course blogging/writing) but the rest is just exhausting and a bit tedious in my opinion. I, too, have been told my blog won’t truly take off unless I use pinterest more often, but I’m calling bullhonky on that.

    isn’t it funny how many of us are just EXHAUSTED by the millions of ways we’re expected to share information?

  77. I love how everything in your world (at least the glimpse we see through here) is about what works for you. encouraging others to find their own zen. you are a rockstar Mizfit…

  78. hahahah laughed when you mentioned pintrest. I FEEL THE SAME WAY. everyone is like OMG you would love it (!!) I’m sure I would…but that doesn’t mean I have time for it. Anyways, I have a theory that eventually most of the platforms will die. Facebook and twitter seem to be the ones that stick, and thankfully they are the ones I like! And my blog of course 🙂

  80. Again, I like the page you and I are on. I don’t even touch my phone/computer until I have my prayer/meditation time. And instead of thinking all the time now, “Oooh I should post that to ____________,” I save the majority of those moments and snapshots to myself, and somehow living them seems a bit sweeter. Thanks for sharing your piece (and your peace) on this.

  81. Love your advice — it is so easy to be overwhelmed by all of it and it seems like there’s a new SM platform appearing every moment! I’m definitely finding what works for me – blog, twitter…to a lesser degree FB. I may never get the hang of Instagram…jury’s still out on Pinterest!

  82. Love this… i truly don’t invest 100% into a single thing. I don’t know if this is good or bad. There are days when I ONLY blog or days when I only tweet. I’m spread, but don’t feel spread “thin” if that makes any sense. I’d say I play to my strong parts. I’m funny in short bits and that seems to work on twitter and FB.

  83. I still struggle with this. I do Facebook and Twitter pretty equally. I’ve told people that Facebook is for my family and Twitter is for my girlfriends. I try really hard to not have a lot of guilt when I can’t keep up with everything and everyone. I send out a tweet when a thought hits me, then when I have more time I first check to see if I have any replies, then I just kind of scroll through and see if anything piques my interest.

    I am on Pinterest, but only as a resource for inforamtion. I never add my own stuff, I just repin other peoples stuff: recipes, workouts, funny quotes, things like that. It’s like an online reference shelf.

    I don’t do Instagram because that’s where I drew the SM line. I also don’t comment on people workouts on DailyMile. It’s technically a SM site where you post workouts, but I use it as my workout log, not as SM.

    I try to keep up, but sometimes I can’t, and I’m trying to be O.K. with that.

  85. I’m still learning to set my limits. I seem to go go go for a while and then I go through a few weeks where I barely write on my blog, comment nowhere, and ignore social media. I need to figure out a better balance…

  89. Yes – thank you for writing this post. It is too hard to keep up with the Jones’ of social media. I have never been able to do it and will never be able to do it. I just do what I want, read what I want, and let go of the rest. Not worth stressing about it.

  90. Seeing as I work managing social media for people, I can totally appreciate this perspective. I think the biggest mistake people make with social media is trying to do ALL THE THINGS! no matter if it makes sense for them or not. Focusing on where you make the best connections and where you can give and receive support means you might only focus on one or two channels. And that’s totally okay! Just do you 🙂

  91. I am so, SO new the social media world! I don’t know 3/4 of the things/apps/whathaveus people use in getting the word/picture out! I find it hard to keep up at times because the moment I get the hang of something, what I’m using is now so ‘passé’. Ah well lol

    tweetdeck or hootsuite <— what is that?

  92. I totally agree you just cant do it all or you would never sleep. I am sure I miss things and if being on social media constantly is the key to Internet domination, well then I guess i’ll always, happily stay, a newbie.
    Also I have no clue what Spreecast or Tout are. For all I know you could have just made up funny words to add (which would be amusing). I don’t care enough to Google them because if there is more social media out there I don’t have enough time for it. (blog, Twitter, Instagram, FB, I am done!)

  93. What a terrific article. I love that you started it with the Coffee post. I enjoy all the various photos of cups of coffee on G+ and share those. However, I thought that I was the only one that was tired regarding all these “social sites”. I think you have to be on G+ or your website rankings suffer – but not sure about the others. I blog, tweet and Facebook, but still not sure of the value. We were selected as one the 10 best dentist sites using social media in a social media review – however, I think that just shows that dentists don’t have much time for social media because they are too busy fixing teeth and creating beautiful smiles. My best time with social media recently was last April when we spent two weeks in Spain (yes I speak Spanish) and I didn’t look at Twitter, Facebook or any other social during those two weeks. It was great. Anyway thanks for the very informative article which makes my feel good to know that I am not the only one who gets exhausted by social media.

  94. Love this post. I don’t want to be plugged in all the time. I don’t do some of the social media platforms other bloggers do. I like to have a life outside my blog and don’t want to spend my entire day interacting with people online (not that I don’t appreciate interactions when they happen). Anyway, great post, and it is good to know that others feel the way I do. 🙂

  95. love your words of wisdom!

    there are moments when I love everything about social media, and then there are days when I feel like I have nothing to say or share. but feel like I will miss something, or people will forget me. but then life goes on.

  97. I took a step back from the whole internet a while ago (think I’ve told you that before but I don’t “do” internet at the weekend).

    Most of my time online is spend on reading blogs, that’s what I love doing most. Second is Facebook but I only check that twice a day and only update if I have something to say.

    I have a Twitter account but don’t use it, same goes for Pinterest.

    I used to spend a lot of time on the internet but these days I’m happy with how much time I spend on it: not too much.

  99. Carla, I read and loved this post. I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to how effective we can really be when trying to engage across too many social media channels. Your post came at just the right time and kick-started a post of my own on the subject (http://bit.ly/PnZRV2). Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing your thoughts on the subject post.
    Best,
    Victoria

  100. This made me laugh because we are SO the same person. I blog from an old school laptop because I have zero interest in getting a new one…and gasp, I still use blogger AND I don’t even get what Live Writer is. I’ve been on twitter for less than a year and can’t even imagine using Hootsuite or something. Basically, I use social media when I want and how I want and if it’s less effective…eh. I’m not that bothered 🙂

  101. Great topic. There are times when I get burned out on it. Thankfully I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve been gone from a lot of social media–which has been a nice break.

    For me, I had to limit who I follow and what I read. When I first discovered the healthy blogging universe, I added EVERY blog I even sort of liked to my Google Reader and tried to keep up. But after a while, I realized that I wasn’t making a real connection with 100’s of people and reduced it by more than half. Now when I read and comment on blogs it’s because I have something to say, and it’s a blog I read every day.

    Same with Twitter. I’d love to follow more people but I just can’t keep it straight. And twitter should be fun, not a chore!

  102. Social Media is exhausting! I had to take a step down and I’m happy I did. I’d gotten to the point where I would never let go of my cellphone. I’d tweet,Instagram non-stop and my son got mad.I was putting him aside and that was a big no-no! You don’t realize how sucked in you can get, I was afraid of losing followers or letting my tweet peeps and instagram peeps down! But I’m happy to say that after taking a step down I was able to refocus on tweeting for me and doing the social media that I love for me! 🙂

    xo

  103. I’m a huge fan of social media, as long as you don’t overdo it. Pinterest is actually one of my favorite platforms right now, along with Instagram. It could just be I’m more of a visual person anyways 😉

  105. I am so not into all the social media. It’s all I can do to keep up with my blog and read some blogs that I enjoy. My facebook blog page is connected to Twitter and my son has it set up so my facebook postings are also tweeted otherwise I wouldn’t do twitter at all. I don’t choose to spend my time on twitter or facebook.

    To me (maybe I’m too old)it seems that if I was spending all the time using the varied social media outlets I wouldn’t have enough time to enjoy my “real” life. I hate it when I am in the company of a group of adults – all 40 plus in age and a few of them have their heads down engaged in something on their smart phones. If I can’t be all present with the people I have gathered with for a meal then what’s the point?

    I don’t have my smart phone set to announce to me everytime I get a new email either. If its a matter of life or death people better call me otherwise I might not see their email until the end of the day or the next day.

    I take media breaks from the computer, blog, tv and the phone to just connect with nature and sit with myself or my hubby. I have discovered that I’m good company on my own or that after 33 years my hubby and I still have plenty to talk about. Life is good when you live it.

  106. I’ve come to appreciate social media so much more, but I’ll admit, sometimes I feel like I’m drowning! I appreciate each and every person that follow me anywhere, but sometimes I wonder how the heck I could keep up if I get more followers! I loved this post…thanks for writing!

  107. This is fantastic!

    I think all of us immersed in the social media life have to find what works for us in order to keep the ball rolling. Just the other day I read a piece I found on Twitter about how my Facebook fan page could increase its viewership by signing up with Networked Blogs (something about SEO?). I signed up and jumped the hoops and then realized it isn’t really for me. I’m glad I looked into it though, because somehow it led me back to Tumblr, which I hadn’t given much consideration to before, and I found that it was just what I’ve been missing (in terms of rounding out a picture of my online personality).

    I do wish I had time to just sit and read all of my favorite blogs. Scheduling it in has helped!

  110. my blog is a hobby so all I do is write and sometimes tweet my personal interests. However, I can say that as a blog reader, I just read. I don’t twitter stalk or join facebook groups for blogs. It’s just not my style, I don’t have the time for that. I add them to my reader and I comment when I have comments. I’m there to read, not to stalk. I still don’t understand the purpose of klout.

  112. Thank you for this great post!!! 😀 I actually really enjoy the social media aspect of blogging (it’s the photography and techy parts I hate). However, it is quite the time suck. I’m still learning/figuring out how to balance the social media thing with the writing thing. I don’t have it all (or even a little) figured out yet, but I’ll get there. I really really really LOVE and appreciate your point about KLOUT and other social media evaluation sites. I haven’t joined those yet and would actually prefer not to for the reasons you mentioned. However, I am concerned that in order to put together a media kit and be attractive to sponsors and brands, they may want this information. I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. I think how you likened these eval sites and their stats to the scale really makes the point for me. I’m going to start applying this philosophy to my blog stats as well. I’ve always been an anti-scale person, so why would I allow myself, work, or worth to be judged by a different scale (blog / social media stats). I’m doing the best I can and I can’t do more than that. Thanks again! 😀

  113. Just when I needed it! I’ve been feeling SO overwhelmed trying to be a social media maven… literally Tweeting on my way to see patients in the hospital and Instagramming during a run. Then there’s blog reading and commenting which I definitely don’t do as much of as I should… there’s never enough! Good for you for putting a cap on things and realizing what works and what doesn’t for you. I love the idea of asking friends how they want you to support them. Comments for me are the biggest thing I’d like to work on!

  114. I’m still new to the fitness blogging world, and I decided pretty early on that I was only going to focus on a couple of social media outlets, mostly because I don’t have time to do all of them. I’ve never even been on Pinterest, and I only use Twitter to promote a new post on my blog and an occasional tip or motivational quote. it’s linked to my Facebook page, but I also don’t update that much. I do use my personal FB page regularly, and some of the social media contacts have blended over on to that. I have several blogs I read regularly, and others I read occasionally. I comment when I feel I have something to add, and I also try to visit and comment to bloggers that have visited my blog. I don’t use G+ or Klout, although for my social media kit I did look up my Alexa score. I joined some fb groups and other online groups for support, info, and to share my own blog.
    Thanks for an informative and interesting article. At least now I don’t feel like I’m doing something wrong by only focusing on certain outlets.

  115. You’re awesome. It’s so true. You can only be so awesome at so many things. Do what you love and the rest will flow like a waterfall. I’ve done this that and the other thing (every social media outlet.. forreal) and there are only so many I can manage. I do what I can, and I do it for me. And I LOVE to support others. There has to be a point of balance, so doing it in one “small pond” is good and FINE. Props to you for always having such a great attitude about life, friend.

    xo!

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