How social media ru(i)ns my life

Honestly, social media does not run nor ruin my life and I should stop using these kind of ‘extra, extra’ headlines. But what has worked (still partly does) for newspapers for ages should not be blamed on the blogosphere. The way social media should work is, in my opinion, complementary to your real life. You should be able to determine your social media presence and not the other way around. And it should enrich you, not ruin.

For some reason I frequently find myself discussing social media. Admittedly, I steer myself into these kind of conversations as well. I guess we are all somehow living a life divided by strong and weaker ties and that can be reflected in the way we use social media. So how does one reflect one’s life in social media?

I do not believe in a one-platform-takes-all social media framework, where Facebook is heading and Goodle+ wants you to go. Social networks are of different natures and I prefer keeping the tools (and networks) separate as they are and mash-them-up when it makes sense. For instance:

Facebook: for far-away and close-by friends and family. Friends in the Dutch sense, so not everybody I have met at a conference or once was in school with. Share pictures, just update what we are up to, respond to others, etc.

LinkedIn: professionals I have met (or will meet shortly). Post into groups sometimes, react to others, share what I can. Working professional related stuff.

Twitter: I aim to share a thought a day, but I am mostly in the -listening, when I have time- mode. I follow few and follow a few keywords (e.g. #openinnovation). I do reply when ‘mentioned’ but don’t use twitter as chat service to the world.

Flickr: sharing pictures for the common good. I did not want to just be borrowing images from others all the time (for my blogs or presentations). Apart from that, it is easy to mash up my images in my blog.

Foursquare: so far one big experiment. Can you claim to be geographic thinker and not use hyperlocal media? There appear the be different rules for connecting to Foursquare friends, but I will get back to that later.

The interesting part of social media (the extra enriching) is the mashing-up-as-you-go part, for instance:

• I will check-in at a hotel to let my Foursquare friends know and check through to Facebook to let my friends & family know my whereabouts.
• I might send this post into my LinkedIn account (as all connections there arguably are interested in social media). Might send it into Facebook as well, as friends and family might also be interested. And I will tweet it, just as a “thought for today”.
• I might respond to a LinkedIn discussion and tweet that as well, as I think it matters to all. Etc.

Always interesting to see how the reactions differ per social network. The closer and denser the network is, the more likely a real response (not just viewing a post) appears to be. And by the way, I am good at switching off most of these networks when I feel like it. Being connected all the time is a serious waste of good and precious time.