Social Media - How much is too much?

When I was a teenager, I was afraid of being old.  Now that I'm closer to being old :), I am doing more things to try to stay young and current.  Keeping up with social media is a great example.  

Recently I started thinking about Twitter.  Each night during the Olympics, Ryan Seacrest gave a social media update.  I wondered if Twitter was really that big or if NBC was just looking for something to add to their coverage.  So I dusted off my Twitter account and enabled notifications so I could see tweets on my phone.  Yes, Twitter really is that big.

Now that I'm tweeting, I'm wondering how much social media is too much.  I recently took stock of my social media connections:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Ravelry
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Typepad blog and Google Reader
• Google+ (just joined)
• Yelp (although I don't routinely use it)
• LinkedIn (again, I don't use it much)
• MySpace (haven't signed on in months)
• YouTube (haven't signed on in months)
• Skype (Does this count as social media?)
• Grooveshark (Haven't used in a long time.)
• Flickr
• goodreads
• SeamedUP (like Ravelry for quilters)
• Yahoo groups (don't use any more)
• Texting
• Good ole email

Whew!  A person could spend all day connecting with other people.

What do you think?  Is it better to pick a few social media outlets and use those a lot?  Or is it better to have a presence in many of them and use them each a little?

Please excuse me while I check my Twitter feed...

Comments

[Robin]

I deactivated my twitter and facebook accounts a year ago and don't miss them at all. (Now, that is. It was a little dicey at first.)

I've concluded that it all really depends upon (1) who you are keeping in touch with, (2) how important that two-way communication is and, (3) how best to reach them in such a way that they'll truly "interact." Our older son and his family prefer skype. Our younger son and his wife prefer texting.

Conclusion: the more relational, the better. Less relational feels like lurking. And too often it also feels like being on the receiving end of gossip.

A struggle for us all in this day of too much information under the guise of entertainment and not enough relationship.

[Ruth]

Facebook and Skype are important for me as they allow me to keep up with friends and family in other countries easily. Likewise Ravelry introduced me to a wonderful group of knitters who really helped make my time living in South Africa much more enjoyable.
And blogging has given me some wonderful online friends, so only 4 social media sites for me.

One thing I do struggle with is often I'll sit and read about what other people are doing rather than actually doing something myself...

[Mary]

I'm all for a few channels with the people I care about. my blog, instagram and twitter are the ones I'd choose. I do use flickr and goodreads, but more for my personal libraries of photos and books - haven't "connected with" anyone over those channels in a while. I feel the same way about pinterest - it's fun to look at, but I don't feel like it's "social".

[Carole]

I have the blog, of course, and that's a big deal for me. I also use Facebook a lot. I have a twitter account but I don't use it. And I do use Flickr and Pinterest but I don't interact with people on them. Ravelry is great for my knitting projects but again, I don't really interact with people there. There's just only so much time for this and my blog and Facebook are the winners for me.

[Sheri]

Oh my, I could fill a book! Facebook for me, definitely, because I'm far, far away, 986 miles, from family. I love hearing about my cousins, my kids (they're not that far, but far enough), in-laws. Ravelry because it's so wonderful to meet nice people LIKE YOU in GA and beyond. I have Twitter but not sure how to use it so I just read the news every night before going to bed. I have an old MySpace account but it's been years. Flickr because I keep saying I'm going to upload pictures but never do, Skype for when the youngest was traveling all the time to Africa. Yes, I have them all, but I like each of them for a different purpose.

[lydia]

i see pros and cons to it all, and now that my iphone has DIED, i realize how much i actually had at my finger tips. facebook is great for my overseas family and keeping up with the boys. i love skype so you can see the person, great when you have little birds living away from home. haven't done twitter, but may be tempted. linkin etc i don't bother with. i like pinterest for the ideas, but not really a social out let, same thing with good reads. i totally love ravelry, but more for keeping myself organized rather than a social outlet. an interesting question to pose-

[Patty]

I'm pretty connected on FB, read my twitter feed but say very little, Ravelry check out the forums but say very little, pinterest - haven't been on in ages but love the ideas! My thought is to stay engaged enough to understand the media. I see my parents and they never even did email - I don't ever want to fall behind in a way that would limit my ability to stay connected with my family!

[Kristin]

I adore the conversations & relationships I've built on G+. I have FB mostly for my family and SCA (medieval reenactment group) contacts.