Social Media...Incoming!

I read way more than I post. I am always looking to get rid of lower value blogs and for posts that are more in line with my interests.

I customarily set up a half dozen new blogs for a new project and over a week whittle out the less valuable ones. I use Google Reader as my blog aggregator and today I am subscribed to 103 blogs. (Just checked)

What do I do with all that wealth?

First of all, I don’t read every day. Mondays and Tuesdays my hair is usually on fire, so I don’t get to it. Wednesday afternoon I get maybe an hour, Thursday a little more, and Friday afternoons I can usually finish the week’s reading. If there is more than I can get to, I flush them without guilt. If it’s good, it’ll come again.

Using Reader, I can group my reads by subject, and then move quickly from an abbreviated view to the actual blog post if I choose. Robert Scoble is reported to read 600 blogs an hour.

Some authors, like Kevin Kelly, work to just leave a teaser. If you’re going to do that, provide as much value as Kevin. Otherwise, I’ll drop you.

My model for great blog posts is Seth Godin’s blog. A short post, point made, move on. If I want more, I’ll search the Google box.

When I read, I scan the majority. If I need to recall the subject, my brain does that.

Other posts I follow related links, may spend 20 minutes immersed in a subject.

If there is something that will take longer than I want to invest, I go to the original post and drag the URL to my desktop for further followup. I eventually go back to about half of those.

Finally, since most of these these posts are arranged around ongoing projects, I often send pertinent information to my posse. Lovely word, posse. Comes from this Carol Covin post. Many people get those emails.

Bill Van Dyke sends southern rock videos, only the good ones. We have both gotten better at knowing what to send through practice.

What is your most constructive use of social media, incoming?