Social Media

Social Media Saturation?!

I am absolutely fascinated with the capability of social media. Facebook, myspace, linkedin, twitter, and so many others allow you to build a brand, start a business, connect, network, share thoughts and ideas, pictures, messages, and other means of interaction. I am finding myself with 10 emails, 20 social networking sites, and a bombardment of requests & other information sharing, that I could spend all day online. I make coffee houses and cars my office, research via google, gain insights from online relationship building, and perform so many more efforts to gain intel & insights via these social mediums it's beautiful. How do you balance and manage your efforts to efficiently apply your knowledge economy to a specific agenda and goal vs. 'surfing the internet' if that's even a term anymore? I used to laugh at twitter, but now it's the trend, all over the news, and you can see what a celebrity or guru is thinking about while in an elevator or eating breakfast across the world! When is it too much? I love technology due to my passion for community, branding, and marketing, and no matter what your expertise, you can utilize it for so much. But, when do you stop joining groups and focus on the ones that have the most benefit? It's great to manage your life with your emails, texting, pictures, blogging, etc. but are we present in 'reality' or is this our 'new reality'?! How saturated and diluted is it? I have 1200+ friends on facebook, if I like myspace or got my act together with my music beyond the love I would utilize it for hocking my 'muzak', 1000+ linked in friends, following folks like Malcolm Gladwell to friends on twitter, and learning + having fun from all these resources, but is it too much?! Our minds now work like 'twitter', these hiccups and thoughts throughout the day, now companies are materializing on, as well as people can via their personal efforts. You hear about the power of people and connecting, but what is essential is learning to "Go beyond the basics" and how you utilize the power of our Information Age. Social media networks are "communities within communities, within communities".

You can create, shape, and mold so much now. I could facebook, linkined, twitter, and yahoo email all day... But when do you decide to go from online to offline, closing the gap between virtual to 'real life'?! Are these companies really worth BILLIONS?! Companies are now hiring for jobs such as "Social Media Relations", "Social Media Marketing or Expert"... so you get paid to do what you do at home or for fun, only with a company focus, awesome?! How do you manage your 'brand', 'social media', and connecting?! How do you decide which social media channels to join, leave, or ignore? Who are your 'real' friends (not that I advocate finding your tier one friends online), how do you decide how to utilize certain networks, and what are your insights from your experience with the Web 2.0 Information Age? I recently left several facebook groups, and had a 'undefining' loyalty and almost sense of guilt or loss when leaving, but it felt great to 'clean up' my life so to speak... Fun stuff, thoughts/perspectives/insights?! I am off to refine some facebook groups, tweet, and network via linkedin, peace!