1. I am no longer looking to subscribe to individual blogs via RSS.If I admire a blogger, such as Mike Fruchter, I look whether he has a Google Shared Items page to which he bookmarks his top posts by other bloggers. I then subscribe to his Google Shared Items RSS feed, relying on his editing to have done the work of screening for me.
2. I am no longer ignoring people after accepting them as “friends” on Facebook.
As soon as I accept a “friend request”, I write a comment on their wall. Why did I imagine that accepting a “friend request”, and not saying hello, was anything but rude?
3. I am no longer forgetting to tag my pictures on Flickr.
Flickr’s Creative Commons allows you to search a word and provides several tagged pictures for reproduction in your blog. The web is all about reciprocity – the more you tag, the more choices you will get back in the future.
4. I am no longer using del.icio.us for bookmarking.
My own Google Shared Items has replaced del.icio.us. Some bloggers are beginning to use Google Shared Items for their reading and del.icio.us as a bookmark for coverage of themselves.
5. I am no longer failing to monitor my name on Twitter Search.
How can you tell whether you are are really involved in the conversation unless you monitor your Tweets. Use Twitter Search to assess your interactivity – see @paulbradshaw‘s feed for example.
6. I am no longer sending pictures from my phone using Twitpic unless absolutely necessary.
It is difficult to gauge 140 characters when you send a picture on Twitpic. If you can wait, return to your computer, upload>post only>share this photo>Twitter update bar. You can write your Twitter in relative comfort.
7. I am no longer making recommendations on LinkedIn.
One person for whom I wrote a recommendation did not use it. I had got in to the habit of responding to any “LinkedIn request” with a recommendation. Bad etiquette. I am still so embarrassed. New rule, only recommend when asked.
8. I am no longer writing this blog all by myself.
Ask other people to guest post. I’ve had Julius Solaris, Endaf Kerfoot and Ruth Galpine - different voices. And remember reciprocity. You will only be invited to guest post or feature on another blog if you do the same, as George Hopkin has done with me.
9. I am no longer running my FriendFeed as my status through my Facebook profile.
My community on Facebook are family and friends who are certainly not interested in my Tweets or pictures about social media (doh!). Remember different content for different communities.
10. I am no longer going to ignore my FriendFeed.
But I am going to give up on any further pretence that I have a life offline.
Do you have any social media habits that you are giving up?
If you think your followers/community on Twitter would be interested in this post, show them your value by reTweeting it to them!
Picture credit: walknboston
