Keeping up With Social Noise

We had a great panel discussion about social media tips for consultants at a recent general meeting.  Overall, we learned that the key is to avoid being overwhelmed.  Easier said than done!

There are many aspects of social media that are difficult to manage.  There is the ‘content generation’ challenge: what/when/how to Tweet, managing one’s own blog, etc.  But there is also the challenge of how to keep up with the web content that you want to read that is generated by others, specifically via blogs.

One trick I have learned to help keep track of the increasing number of blogs that I follow is to use an RSS (Rich Site Summary) Feeder.  This is a tool that allows you to enter the URLs of any blog sites you want to follow so you only need to go to ONE site (your RSS feeder site) to read posts from those blogs.

I use Google Reader, but there are a lot to choose from.  It’s a good idea to check out a few RSS feeder options to see which one is best for you.  But that’s just half the battle…you need to establish a practice to regularly check your reader if you really want to keep up with it.

Some blogs offer the option of subscribing to their ‘feed’ so you can receive notification of new posts automatically via email.  I like this option when it’s available since it ensures that I get the updates regardless of whether I’ve visited my reader.

Let’s hear from you about which RSS readers you may already be using and any tips you have for use them most effectively.  And please share some of your favorite blogs to follow!