Time to do some tweaking

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Melissa Worden

I needed a break from “real” blogging while I adjusted to a new home and job, but I didn’t want to abandon my blog entirely, so I posted some del.icio.us links.

But I don’t like it — it’s boring and definitely not engaging. Time to go return to the old format. Back to writing about issues. I’ll look into what it means to market in and to the social networking world. And I’m still very interested in newspapers and what’s going on in the journalism industry, so I’ll share my perspective looking from the outside in.

One of the things I struggle with, though, is that all of this connectedness can get overwhelming. I finally added a data plan to my cellphone, so I’m mobile now. I’ve started using Twitter, am fully addicted to Facebook and keep finding new, fun tools to use for networking.

It’s like I’m experiencing a new version of information overload — social overload? Just when I adjusted to using the Web to consume news and was comfortable finding my sources and branching out to blogs, feed readers, etc., I feel swamped with information once again with social sites and micro-blogging. All these updates and keeping track of all of our communities, how do we find time to actually live life?

In the end, I think all this will make life easier: Instant contact with your network and access to information. A peek into what your real and virtual friends are up to. A steady stream of consciousness that makes you feel a part of something huge.

Last night, while watching the debates, I received several “tweets” from friends commenting on how the moderators and candidates were doing.

Watching TV makes you feel like you’re engaged with society. You’re sharing in an experience. But when you get a note from a friend during that experience, it makes it an even more interactive, intimate (and multimedia!) experience. There’s a lot of power here that individuals, companies and news organizations should embrace and take advantage of.

So I’ll do my best not to get overwhelmed. Blogging is an excellent learning tool for me, and it’s quite exciting when it generates conversation. I hope to continue to do more of that now. (I also hope to redesign/update the site, but I have to block off at least a weekend for that.)

Thanks for reading.

Comments

3 Responses to “Time to do some tweaking”

Ron Sylvester on April 18th, 2008 9:33 am

Welcome back, Melissa. Although through Twitter, I can keep up with you daily, I missed your insights here.
Melissa Worden on April 20th, 2008 11:58 am

Thanks Ron!
Tched (twitter) on April 26th, 2008 6:07 pm

I just made the switch from news media to marketing myself a few months ago. It’s been quite interesting .

Great post by the way. Really enjoyed it.