Monday, June 13, 2011

Social media madness.

I barely have time to blog anymore. It isn't because it's summer and my children demand my attention. Oh no, my little guy is off at camp and my darling princess is happy to sleep until 10 am each morning. 

No, the demand on my time is not currently originating with my duo, but with the social media. It is pulling and tugging at me and I feel as if I am giving in and sinking deeper into the abyss.  

This is how it started. 

I decided one day to blog. Yea me! It felt a little narcissistic to start putting my thoughts out there for all to see, but I enjoy it so I continue {narcissism notwithstanding}. 

Next, it was time to join some blogging communities. I needed to find and connect with other bloggers. So I joined BlogFrog. I created a community there and joined hundreds of other. A million of my blogging questions were answered by the friendly bloggers who participate in those forums. The time I spent there in my early blogging months were priceless. That too is were I found the SITS Girls -- an invaluable resource and community.  

I blogged along for months with no further progress. I was comfortable in my little bloggy corner of the world. I didn't long for thousands of followers for heaven's sake. I just wanted to write. And receive a little feedback from time to time. 

It was about this time that darling Liz from a Belle, a Bean & a Chicago Dog insisted {it was not a subtle suggestion} that I get on Twitter. I resisted. I procrastinated. And then, I took the leap and started tweeting. Twitter is indeed an entire universe all to itself. It can be a great resource when you need a quick answer to a question. It can provide an amazing group of loyal and devoted friends or readers. It is quite clearly the epicenter of all social media. 

While on Twitter I've learned a great deal more about bloggy business and all I an NOT doing to promote my blog. I am not guest posting. Nor have I asked anyone to guest post {can you say "control issues?"}. I do not join most linky-posts {I am simply not good at preparing a post in advance - I'm a fly by the seat of my pants type blogger}. I have never written {and have no plans to write} an ebook. I no longer actively participate in blogging communities {lazy blogger}. Quite simply, I find the task of writing my own blog posts, reading and commenting on others  enough to fill the free time I have in my days.

But more is required. It is no longer sufficient to just comment on a few {or a few hundred} blog posts each day. Additional obligations are mounting. The world of social media is expanding. And the time has come: sink or swim.  

And swimming inevitably means I partake in a litany of social media outlets: 
I need to start retweeting posts {I think I've done that - once}. 
I really need to Stumble and be Stumbled. 
Clearly, I must "Share" it {or is it "Like" it} on Facebook.
 I need to give it a K+ on Klout.  
Somehow Google +1 it.   
Share it on Linkedin
Submit it or somehow make it Delicious?!  
Recommend it to Mashable
And possibly Digg it?!
In addition, I need to engage bloggers in my BlogFrog Community. Of course, in order to do so I need to meaningfully participate in others. I should submit posts for syndication on BlogHer. I must comment daily at the SITS Girls in order to obtain the ultimate prize: Featured Blogger!!  I should probably create a QR code and embed cool features on my blog. And don't even get me started on my need to Vlog!

Truly. 

It's getting out of hand.

And the list seems to grow every day. 

Can't I just blog and occasionally tweet?!?

I now long for the good old days when blogging and tweeting were enough. Were there such good old days or was my ignorance just bliss? 

What social media outlets do you use most consistently? And where do you draw the line?  

4 comments:

themodernparent said...

Love this! Was just contemplating this recently. After only blogging for 5 months I am still learning new stuff everyday and it seems you could never have enough time to absorb and promote all you would like. ( even without 4 kids, another on the way & working 2 days a week!)

Leigh Powell Hines said...

Same thoughts. It is overwhelming. I don't have time for it all any longer. Great timing on this.
Leigh

Shell said...

Ack! It can get totally overwhelming. I think it's best to pick a few and really focus on those, rather than try to do them all. It's impossible to do them all anyway!

Jessica said...

Just do what you want with social media. Your blog will grow according to the effort you put into it so you decide.

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