Toluu

Social Media Mom

A work at home mom discusses social media and networking.

Macros, Bots and Scripts…Oh My!September 18

Photo by i33

If it isn’t bad enough that the economy is in disaray, or that gas prices are skyrocketing, or that natural disasters are constantly knocking at our back door, now I HAVE BEEN BANNED ON DIGG!

I have been a member of the Digg community for over a year and just in the last few months have really tried to boost my presence and utilize Digg as the great social media tool that it is. A good friend suggested I use the Greasemonkey Script to help in Digging my “friends” submissions. Sure, it made for faster and more convenient digging; but then, Digg changed their minds about allowing their users to use this kind of tool……

“A few folks have been discussing the use of scripts on Digg recently, so I wanted to jump into the conversations that happened this weekend. Scripts/bots place additional load on Digg servers (slowing things down for everyone), so using them is a Terms of Use violation that will result in losing access to your Digg account. We are current

Guest Post by Social Media Dad, Brian Wallace from NowSourcingSeptember 10

Today’s guest post comes from Brian Wallace, founder of social media consulting group NowSourcing and the social media rockstar blog, Collective-Thoughts.

Social Media Time Vs. Family Time

Social media sites, for those that already consume them, take up a great deal of our day. I don’t mean this in any negative light: it’s just a matter of fact.

So, once you really become a strong member of a community, it’s your duty to keep up that commitment. Then, the next new new thing comes along. Take Plurk for instance - you can actually lose karma by not participating! Microblogging brings the social media time management conundrum to a whole other leve, as it is something that you feel compelled to keep pace with not just from day to day but minute to minute! Whether social media is your work, play, or both, they really can take up a huge amount of work, family, and sleep time. This raises a powerful question…

Where does family time fit in?

Thankfully, I have a large family. It’s important to keep balance in your life, or you can really burn out quickly. I’ve seen far too many driven people that have driven straight up the wrong tree.

Here are 5 tips to help you come back to earth:

1. Be a ninja, social media style.

Tools like ping.fm will allow you to quickly make your mark and let you say what you have to say, when you need more time for your kid’s baseball game than to sit there watching the Twitter public timeline.

2. Get your family involved.

Kids can wear Mixx hats, can’t they?

And no, that doesn’t mean that you need to make them wear social news site hats It means that since you’re at the cutting room floor of world news all day long, you can relate some amazing, breaking, shocking, or just plain odd news that happened to your family at dinnertime. Just don’t overdo it.

3. Avoid burnout at all costs.

Social media burnout ain’t pretty. I’ve seen some take a break and recover, while still others just never come back. And not coming back is just such a shame, considering the time and effort that some people put into the game. Exercise, take walks, sit by a river, knit a sweater, hug your kids - remember what is important in life. We aren’t here to live to work; we should be working to live! I’m a social media dad, and my family is counting on me. Burnout is not an option.

4. Let go of some control, get time back.

So let’s say you are a blogger. Guess what? Lots of people are as well! If you are a solo blogger and you are always feeling the pressure to produce, this may burn you out just like any other social network. Learn to relinquish some of the “perfection” in your own blogging and allow some guest bloggers in. It’s a real win-win: the guest blogger gets a new audience to get their name out, and your family gets you back! Once you have this abundance mentality, you’ll be in much better shape for the future.

5. Learn time management.

Train For HumanitySeptember 9

Darfur, a country just about the size of France, is currently the scene of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the biggest U.N. aid operation, and the 21st century’s first genocide.

As of July 3, 2008 the Genocide Intervention Network estimates that more than 200,000 civilians have died due to violence, malnutrition, and disease and a further 2.2 million people have been displaced within Sudan and an additional 250,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad.

What does this have to do with social media? Bloggers from all over the United States have realized that this horrifying situation has gone on for too long and are now taking action. My dear blogging friend Mark Hayward made a committment not too long ago and is spearheading the Train For Humanity project………

While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Mark Hayward spent hi

Guest Post by Social Media Dad, Jeff Tippett, from Calvert Holdings, Inc.August 11

This guest post comes from Jeff Tippett. Jeff is an Outreach Strategist for Calvert Holdings and one of the authors of the Calvert Creative blog. He is the thirteenth in my series featuring social media dads.

“How do you have time to be involved in social media?”

I don’t think that I’ve ever conducted a social media and business seminar without being asked that question. Perhaps the question arises because our lives are so busy that adding another task seems overwhelming. But to me, it’s like being asked, “How do you have time to eat?” I take time to eat because it’s important to me. I value food! Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I feel the constant pressure of time constraints: I’m a single dad of 3 active kids, and I have an advancing career that demands a lot of my time. Spare time just isn’t part of my life’s equation.

Then why do I remain so active in social media? I pursue the social media realm because it adds value to my life. With the schedule I keep I have to constantly examine the ROI.

Guest Post by Social Media Dad, Jonathan Fields, from Awake At The WheelJuly 29

This guest post comes from Jonathan Fields. Jonathan is the author of Awake At The Wheel and the twelfth in my series featuring social media dads.

Kids Connecting

I’ve always had this deep desire to show my 7-year old daughter, Jesse, just how interconnected we are to others around the world. Living in NYC has made the task quite a bit easier. It seems at some point, someone from nearly every culture ends up here. And we get to meet them.

But, the power of social media to demonstrate this point and fuel her exploration really hit home the other day as she strolled in from camp. I was sitting at the dining room table, finishing off a few quick thoughts for a blog post, she came running over for her post-camp hug and kiss. Then she turned to my screen and saw twitter open with all the photos of the folks in my timeline and began to ask questions about each.

“That one lives in Australia,” I shared, “a