In My Words: Social Media = Me + You and You and You and You . . .

The writing world is all a-buzz with talk of social media. Blogs. Twitter. Facebook. Google+. Vlogs. And plenty of things I'm sure I've missed. The one underlying theme I'm hearing is social media is all about relationships.
Think of it this way: Behind every blog, every tweet, every vlog is a person.
Sounds simple, doesn't it?
But with all the information being thrown at us -- that's what it feels like sometimes -- we can easily forget the personal aspect of Internet.
I signed up for Facebook because I knew it was a good thing to do. As a writer, it helped me connect with other writers -- and family and friends too.
I balked at the idea of Twitter for quite a while, but finally caved because I knew I should. Honestly, I probably retweet (RT) other people's tweets more than I post my own tweets.

Another phrase for social media is social networking. My friend and fellow writer, Edie Melson, wrote an informative article about social networking called "Social Networking -- It's All About the Relationship."

Her perspective began to change my attitude about social media, changing my "have to" attitude to a "want to" attitude.
I'm refocusing my efforts when I blog or tweet or comment on someone else's blog or when I add a Facebook friend or LinkedIn colleague. Here's what I ask myself:

1. Blog posts or tweets: What unique perspective or experience can I share that might help someone else? 
2. Comments: Will my comment on this blog add to the conversation? If yes, then I post. If no, then there's no need to just make noise in a comment box. Confession: If I read a blog and see that there are no comments, I will often comment. I've had my "no comment" days on this blog. No fun.
3. Facebook & LinkedIn: Does this person who has asked to be my Facebook friend have any connection to me, i.e. similar friends? If yes, I add them as a friend. No? Then I don't. With LinkedIn, I like to see a connection with other people or at least a similar career field.

In Your Words: How do you handle social networking? Do you feel connected or over-connected? Do you have any tips for managing all the options?

 photo by schlomaster/stockxchng.com