I’ve started to do some very serious thinking about how I personally engage in the social media space, and much of it has to do with the hundreds of social networking websites which I currently am a registered member.
The simple fact is that its humanly impossible to manage all of them at the same time. As a obvious result, it’s impossible to become an “expert” at any of them.
I know that Chris Brogan has suggested more than once (both on his blog and live talks) that businesses should choose to engage deeply with up to 3 social networking websites (and he almost always mentions that 3 might even be too many).
I think there’s wisdom in that and I’m beginning to really consider where I spend my time on the interwebs.
For starters I’ve decided that my blogs and Twitter will be definite areas of concentration for this 2009. That’s 2 “social networks” right there (or 3, depending on how you look at it).
There are definitely some days where I feel “maxed” out and then there are a some days where I know I can invest a bit more in a few others.
But I need to be careful not to get sucked in and spread myself too thin. I think a lot of us have the tendency to do so, or feel “pressured” to be a part of every single social network out there. It’s just unwise really.
Practically speaking, I think organizations need to go through the same process and decision making: Choose 2 to 3 social networking sites that you will engage deeply in and go become awesome at it. This number may increase due to large staffing, but perhaps not.
What are your 2 or 3 Social Networks? Have you spread yourself too thin?