Lacey Haines

Information Overload: How much is too much?

by Lacey Email

I consider myself fairly social media savvy. I'm a member of multiple social networks, I'm active on collaborative and location-apps on my iPhone, and I love Farmville. As a PR person in the tech world, my life is online. Recently, however, I've noticed it's become more of a chore than a treat to keep up with it all. But how much is too much? And where can I draw the line to make it fun again?
I've compiled an inventory of my social media activities to help get to the bottom of this:


TWITTER

* A member since May, 2008
* 2,462 tweets
* Average of 10 tweets per day
* Total saved search terms/hashtags: 10
* Sites/Tools used to tweet: twitter.com, HootSuite, TweetDeck and Flock
* Recently removed the Twitter app for Facebook due to the sheer volume of tweets overloading my friends' pages
* I have never gone longer then 48 hours without tweeting
* A tweet has gotten me in trouble :-/


FACEBOOK

* A member since January, 2004
* Separate Facebook updates from Twitter
* Average of two status updates a week
* Push about half of my Farmville alerts to my friends
* Upload photos via phone and desktop
* Pick and choose which photos go up on Facebook vs. uploading everything
* Update my profile image every month or so
* Other than my honeymoon, I have never gone longer than 24 hours without checking it


MEDIA


* I document everything
* Sites/Tools Used: TwitPic, TwitVid, and YouTube
* I have a Shutterfly account that contains every photo I have ever taken with my husband (from our first dates to today). Shutterfly sucks. Unfortunately, I've been using it so long, I don't know when I'd have the time to switch to a better showcase website
* I have a WebShots account (don't laugh) that contains college photos pre Mr. Haines that I will neither delete, nor share with anyone
* I have a harddrive full of photos and videos
* I maintain colorful 24-page photo books/scrapbooks of the major activities to keep on a shelf
* Total places one photograph may be cataloged: 5
* I dream of having a video blog, but I'm too shy to go on camera :oops:


iPHONE

* 56 apps
* Apps I use multiple times a day: TweetDeck, Foursquare, Facebook, Yelp, Sudoku, The New York Times
* Favorite app: Cor.kz - scan the UPC label of any wine and get immediate ratings, background, and comparative pricing
* Separate status updates/check-ins I send via my phone for one activity: 5
* I have been reprimanded by a waiter for being on my iPhone at the dinner table... little did he know I was about to promote his restaurant on Foursquare and Twitter...:crazy:


Writing this has made me exhausted, but has given me a lot to think about. Have you taken an inventory of your social media activities lately?