Yesterday was Wednesday, which means normally I would have participated in Road Trip Wednesday with the wonderful folks over at YA Highway, but instead I didn’t post at all. It’s ’cause yesterdays RTW question was If literary characters had twitter accounts, whose tweets would you follow? and I just couldn’t bring myself to answer that question.
I love blogging and reading others’ blogs. I even enjoy Twitter, even though I read the Tweets more than I actually Tweet myself. I have no doubt that social networking is valuable, but I am getting a little inundated with it these days. So I am cutting back.
Blogs
I will still be blogging regularly. Probably five days a week (most weeks) like I have been doing from the start. I just love blogging so much and I find it a great way to keep my head in the game and keep me focused on my writing and goals. So nothing will really be changing when it comes to this blog.
It is the blog reading that will have to change. I just follow way too many blogs! And that needs to change. As soon as I post this, I am heading over to my Google Reader and weeding things out.
I follow a lot of editor and agent blogs, and while they are very helpful, I don’t think they are all necessary to read every day. I have learned a lot from these blogs, but a person can only answer the same questions so many different ways, and it seems like a lot of these blogs are running in circles. I am thankful that agents and editors take the time out of their busy schedules to run blogs, because they are full of valuable information, but I am getting overwhelmed. Some of these blogs will go.
Other writers’ blogs are fun to follow as well. I add one here, follow another there, and before I know it I am up to my eyeballs in writer blogs. I won’t be following as many in the future. Don’t worry-all of my regulars are safe! I love y’all (and your blogs) way too much to stop reading. It is all the extraneous ones that I will take out of Google Reader.
Twitter is not a big problem for me. I don’t Tweet a lot (and often I only Tweet in reply to someone else), and am not on Twitter all day every day like some are. I check in every so often and read my feed, and sometimes I won’t log in for days at a time. So, while I am not using Twitter to full capability or getting the most out of it (I am sure to find a plethora of blog posts on how to make Twitter work harder for me), I am happy with that. I don’t want to become completely consumed by Twitter. I have seen it happen to a lot of people, and folks: it ain’t pretty.
That being said, I do follow too many people, so I am going to weed out my Twitter feed so I can streamline that even more than it is now.
Other
hmmmm….looks like blogging is my only real problem. 
I do have a Facebook page, but it is only for friends and family – I don’t use it to network, but rather to keep in touch. And I don’t do any of the games or applications, so I don’t get sucked in that way (I actually think most of the games and applications are totally lame, but perhaps that is because I have never used them).
I am a member of Goodreads, but I really just read their monthly newsletter and don’t do anything else with it, so it is not a time-suck at all.
I think I am doing pretty okay in the other category.
And now I am off to detox my social networking.
3 Comments
I can relate! Earlier this week I was stressing because I can’t keep up with all the blogs I follow; something has to give. I hope that you’re able to refocus by taking a step back from the blogging game.
)
I know what you mean, Rachel. I was looking the other day at how many blogs I read, and somehow, Twitter has sucked me back in. I think I have some social media detoxing to do of my own.
I feel SO much better after having done it!