how to manage twitter usage

(Twitter is almost as distracting as Vegas...)

A few days ago I reentered the Twittersphere.  I had taken about a month (or two) off – I just found it too distracting.  It’s such an important component of social media, and can be an incredibly valuable tool for obtaining great marketing advice, opinions from your potential customer base, and even for generating leads.  However, it can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.  There’s a lot of noise.

When I tweeted the other day that I was “back” and would try to find a better work/life/Twitter balance, I immediately got a reply from @shannonpaul (one of the bigger names in social media in the Twittersphere and beyond).  She hooked me up with advice from several people on how to manage Twitter more effectively.

Some of my favorite responses:

• From @BrandonWJ – “Use tweetdeck to put together a list of people you always want. Limit ‘all following’ reading to under 1 hr/day. Skip picture links”
• From @chrisjlee – “work in 48/12 increments. Work for 48 minutes take a 12 minute break: http://bit.ly/4FUUL”
• From @jsant – “I catch up on twitter every 3 hours or so. If I leave it on all day, its too distracting.”

Then today I stumble across this great article (as shared by @problogger): “How to Use Twitter Without Twitter Owning You – 5 Tips”.  I feel a lot better equipped to handle Twitter now, and don’t plan on taking another hiatus anytime soon.