Flickr photo from Stabilo Boss. Many thanks for compiling these logos.

With so many social media venues to subscribe to or sign up for, how on earth are we supposed to get any work done? There’s Flickr (photos), YouTube (video), Vimeo (video), Twitter (communication), MySpace (communication), Facebook (communication), LinkedIn (communication – professional), Digg (news), StumbleUpon (link sharing/bookmarking), Hubspot (news – marketing), deviantART (art), del.icio.us (link sharing/bookmarking), WordPress (blogging), Hi5 (communication), Last.fm (music), Foxmarks (bookmarking sync), TweetDeck (tweet organizer)… and a crap-ton more (these are just the one’s I’m more familiar with).

How do we know when to stop following, uploading, searching, subscribing, watching, clicking, saving, tagging, bookmarking and commenting? I assume the answer is ‘never’ since these choices allow us to learn, research, organize, share, keep up and even procrastinate. If this is the case – how do we manage? How do we properly distribute our social media time?

I currently use Twitter (via TweetDeck) to keep up with design insights, events and friends, Foxmarks to keep up with RSS feeds of blogs, Flickr to upload and view interesting photos, YouTube to find awesome 80’s songs/videos (and to procrastinate), Facebook to keep better tabs on my friends (and their birthdays, photos, and ‘info’), StumbleUpon to organize, tag and find awesome links I run across, LinkedIn because I figured it was more professional than Facebook or MySpace, and WordPress for this post you’re reading now.

If you’re not a junkie yet, good for you. Or maybe you’re just unaware that you do have a problem. If you’re still in denial, Wikipedia defines ’social media’ as follows:

Social media is information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies that is intended to facilitate communications, influence and interaction with peers and with public audiences, typically via the Internet and mobile communications networks. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

Source: Wikipedia

Social Media is taking up too much of my time. What do I do to cope? How do you manage your social media habits? I thought about having “Twitter Tuesdays and Thursdays”, “WordPress Wednesdays”, “Facebook/Flickr Fridays”, “StumbleUpon Saturdays/Sundays”… and give Monday a break? Oh, I’m sure something will come along…

To fuel the fire:

50 Social News Websites: A List of General and Niche Social Media Communities
Top Social Media Sites
List of Social Media and Social Networking Sites
Social Media Websites
How to Leverage Web 2.0 & Social Media Sites…
Wow, Social Media is a lot like High School!!