I Call It Social Media Overload

I didn't quite realize it at first, but it seems that you can actually have way too much social media on your hands.

I was recently updating my profile on MyBlogLog, a great tool for bloggers like myself, and there was a tab that was, harmlessly enough, asking you to enter all your other profiles on other social media sites, supposedly for the purpose of letting other bloggers know where you are online.

Looking at all the social media services to the left part of the screen, however, you can't help but feel overwhelmed by all the social media services present, or realize how far behind you lag in the social media scene, and therefore feel pressured to sign up for ALL those damned services.

At least, that's how I felt.

Taking a step back, however, it occurred to me that getting myself involved in each and every single social media service is a near-impossibility. Sure you can sign up for all of them, but can you nurture, develop and maintain communities in each and every single one?

The reality is, we probably have a few favorites- like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for example. Two to three might actually be enough for most at any given time, I would imagine.

Then you probably have five to ten others you might visit in a week or a month: Flickr or Photobucket to upload and share new photos, read a few of your favorite blogs on Blogger or Wordpress, and listen to some music on Blip.fm.

And then you also have to consider the fact that more social networks, online communities and other social media services are being created every day (some would turn out to be more popular or useful than others, you might guess).

So don't get overwhelmed. Try out several services, if you like. But ultimately, stick to a few, particularly those you find most useful to your line of work, or your general lifestyle. Spread the word, and tell others all about it- as social media is really more fun with a lot more friends involved.

My Personal Favorites:

• Facebook.
• MyBlogLog.
• FriendFeed.
• Ning.
• Pageflakes.
  

Here is my attempt to keep track of, as well as categorize, the many social media services available online (at least, those that I know of).

Online Photo Services:

• Flickr.
• Picasa Web Albums.
• Photobucket.
• Snapfish.
  
• Shutterfly.
• SmugMug.
• Webshots.
• Zooomr.

Social Bookmarking:

• delicious.
• Digg.
  
• Furl.
• Ma.gnolia.
• StumbleUpon.
• Technorati.
  

Blogging Services:

• Blogger.
• Bloglines.
• Livejournal.
• TravelPod.
• Tumblr.
• Vox.
• Wordpress.
• Xanga.
  

Status Updates and Microblogging:

• Plurk
• Twitter

Music-Oriented Social Networking:

• Last.fm.
• Blip.fm
• Pandora

Video Services (video hosting and sharing):

• Vimeo.
• YouTube.

Reviews:

• Yelp

Other Sites and Communities, many of which I haven't even checked out yet:

• ActiveRain. A good site for those in the business of real estate.
• Bebo.
• Brightkite.
• Disqus
• DOPPLR
• deviantART.
• eBay.
• Evite.
• Friendster. Particularly popular in the Philippines as well as the rest of Asia.
  
• Goodreads.
• Google Reader.
• IntenseDebate.
• Jaiku.
• Jumpcut.
• Kiva.
  
• LinkedIn. A good site to do networking with other professionals.
• Multiply.
  
• MySpace. Very popular in the United States, particularly among younger users.
  
• Netflix.
• OpenID.
• Plaxo.
• reddit.
• Second Life.
• Seesmic.
• Shelfari.
• Slideshare.
• The DJ List.
• 30 Boxes.
• ThisNext.
• Trulia.
• TypeKey.
• Upcoming.
• Wakoopa.
• Wink.
• Yahoo Answers.
• Yahoo Updates.
• Zillow.
• Zorpia.

I'd sure love to hear what your favorite social networks are, or which social networks you find most useful. Do you feel overwhelmed with all the social media services available online?

Cheers, everyone.

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