5 Thoughts on Social Media Burn Out

This week on The Podcast Sisters - due up tomorrow - we were discussing how our usage of social media has changed. It made me think about this idea of how people can easily become bored today and how it is important, that both as an individual and as a company, we fuel our own enthusiasm. Here are some ideas

1. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water! Sometimes over usage leads to boredom. If that is you, then just take a break....don't fall out of love with the technology because you are tired, let absence make the heart grow fonder :)
2. Keep changing your feeds, adding new friends, keep finding new inspiration. I use new social sites to find new people, with new ideas to follow. That way I am joining new and varied conversations each day. I always keep a core, but around that loyal core I try and find new insights, new ideas.
3. Change the format. For instance, experiment with different formats for posts or podcasts. Change the time when you are producing your work. Sometimes it is the routine that tires you, not the specific work.
4. Remember why you are using social media. Go back to the basics of why it was important to you. If that has changed, then change how you work with the technology, of it hasn't then remind yourself of the dream you had when you first started. Then build a new action plan of how to make that dream a reality. Sometimes you have just lost sight of the dream.....
5. Distinguish between how you are moving on as a individual and where you are as a company. Sometimes you are evolving quicker than the company. At that point try to stand back and separate the two......experiment as an individual to keep the passion burning and then use the lessons to see how that can build the brand. See the excitement in the how, not the what....

I think there is often this desire in society for everyone else to sort out the boredom - but we do need to work at it ourselves. It is also important to remember that in that boredom lies a business opportunity! If you can keep help your consumers, if you can stave off that boredom by delivering new, fresh content....then you will be providing a solution to the consumers need :)

Comments

[Steve Nimmons]

Good advice. I try to time box some of my activities and also had to strip down the 30+ social sites I was using to 'a handful'. I still dip in and out of many other communities, but having a sensible daily core of activity keeps things fresh and less onerous. Maintain balance and sustainability follows, the overall result is more enjoyable and less 'exhausting'...

[Charlie Anzman]

Great piece. You MUST keep thinking outside the box and engaging new and interesting people (or you will very quickly be talking to yourself!)

[Anna]

Thanks Steve and Charlie

Anything that you do over and over again without tying it in to a bigger dream becomes repetitive and ....boring. For instance the podcast for me is about keeping my fathers ideas alive as part of his legacy...it is not about editing, or recording. Each time I record I look up and say...see Dad, your legacy lives on. The podcast is a vehicle for a bigger dream...too often the social media tool is seen as the end in itself...then it becomes boring.
Not sure if any of that made sense :) But thanks for stopping by!