Most business schools host an etiquette dinner to teach students about mannerism and conduct.  You learn things like using your utensils “outside in” and shaking with your right hand while making eye contact (and catching an à la suave glance at their name tag).  Most students avoid this event under the impression that etiquette should be common sense, and I’m guilty of making such a false assumption.  Eventually, I attended an etiquette dinner at a networking event and learned a thing or two, realizing and deeply regretting the simple mistakes that could have been avoided.  Now, I stand strong behind my embarrassing and educational experience.  You gotta learn somehow, right?

The virtual world is a bit different.  You don’t have to face people in person, nor do you have to worry about body language.  But etiquette is a universal language that stretches into our online interactions.  With the rise of social networks, you have to be extra cognizant of your connections and how you converse with them.  To avoid looking like a fool, learn etiquette and let it take your online presence to a higher level.

Twitter Responses

If you’ve read my initial posts on Twitter in January and September of 2009, you know where I stand with this topic.

When it comes to responding to people on Twitter, there are three key things:

• Send a direct message to thank the people who follow you.  This helps make a straight connection with your audience.  This shouldn’t be too troublesome if you have a few hundred followers, but if you have significant following (1000+ followers), you can opt for an automatic DM using tools like Socialoomph.
• Recognize and appreciate those who retweet (RT) or feature you on follow friday (#FF).  I do admit that you can’t thank every single person here, but use your judgment as needed.
• If someone tweets you publicly (using @YourTwitterHandleHere), try your best to respond.  For big wigs with 10,000+ followers, I can understand not responding to each and every retweet, but for the rest of us, we can and should carve 10 seconds of our day to connect to a follower.

The cardinal rule of influence is:  To be a great leader, one must also know how to follow.

Facebook Stalking

You’re a big fat liar if you publicly declare that you don’t stalk people on Facebook.  But this doesn’t mean you’re entitled to befriend everyone and their mom either.  Facebook is meant for people to connect, keep in touch and/or get to know each other (upon acceptance of virtual friendship).

Another thing about Facebook – it is a social networking site, which means people are there to socialize. If I can’t write on your wall and interact, why add me at all?  If I can’t compliment how fabulous you look in your picture, why are we even friends?

Privacy settings are there to protect you from creepers, not so you can set up a fake connection with someone.  I can understand hiding pictures from your crazy bachelorette party, but connecting for the sake of connecting defeats the purpose of Facebook, IMHO.

I’m not campaigning that everyone should become BFF’s on Facebook, but let’s get a little personal here.  If you want to network, kindly connect on LinkedIn.  I won’t take it personally.

Connecting on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the underdog Facebook wished never existed.  Facebook is where you can brag about the awesome concert you attended or share news of your new baby with family, friends, and colleagues you know and have met.  Not to say my rationale is the right way – there are people who can successfully manage both their personal and professional networks on Facebook.  I’m just not one of them.

LinkedIn is where you keep professional contacts updated with your professional life.  It helps you re-connect with old and new colleagues to share expertise, collaborate, or seek help when finding a new job.  Not to mention, it’s a living document of your resume integrated with endorsements from the people you have worked with.  Say goodbye to the days of searching for an old resume and relying on your memory to update it.

If you don’t have an account, start one today.  Never underestimate the power of LinkedIn.

Blog Post Interactions

Your readers are your bread and butter.  Whether or not you monetize your blog, you are publishing content so that someone will read them, right?  If this isn’t the case, remind me to send you a Moleskine.

When people comment on your blog posts, respond to them.  Interact with your audience.  Welcome constructive feedback because they will likely improve your content.  Take everything with a grain of salt and give people the benefit of doubt.

Be Inclusive.

If you’re a social media superstar, likely someone else is too.  This is the internet we are talking about, the land of free content (for now) with an infinite amount of colleagues you don’t have visibility into.  Share the love and avoid looking like you have a stick up your ass.  We’re not in high school and social media isn’t an exclusive club.  Cut the arrogance.  Just because people can’t see your body and facial expression doesn’t mean you are immortal and sheltered from backlash later (haven’t you people learned anything from Jersey Shore?).  Pretentious attitude slices your opportunity thicker (and deeper) than burning bridges.  Get off the high horse.  Share content.  Be a team player.  Make connections. That’s what social media is all about.

Thanks to @HughL for being my soundboard and support.  If this post keeps you in doubt, here’s some entertainment from last week’s Jersey Shore.  Don’t be an Angelina :)

I remember teaching myself how to use HTML for the first time in high school because I wanted to “soup” up my AsianAvenue page (you heard me right, feel free to chuckle and judge as needed).  When I went off to college, I used Microsoft Frontpage to build my first website.  Grad school introduced me to WordPress and tweaking CSS to change my font color, but nothing more elaborate than that.

I wish I knew how to code.  I can read HTML and make token changes, but I’m no developer.  And these are the extent of my coding abilities.

You might find yourself in my shoes, and I have an amazing resource to share.  Need a website?  No coding needed.

Everyone, meet Flavors.me

I stumbled upon Flavors.me through an article on Mashable.  It is a dynamic platform that allows you to customize a website within minutes, while syndicating content from your social networks such as LinkedIn, flickr, and WordPress.

Better yet, it’s completely free, or you can also customize your own domain URL for $20 a year.  It’s useful for both personal and business use, and provides basic analytics to measure your traffic so you’re not walking in the dark.

After learning about Flavors.me, I created a portfolio website to package my blog (WordPress), photography (flickr), tweets (Twitter), and resume (LinkedIn).  I guess they really liked it, because it is now featured in their directory!  Woot.

It has a few kinks, but it’s a work in progress.  I’ve provided feedback directly and they have been pretty responsive on Twitter (@flavorsme).  It’s simple.  It’s sexy.  It’s free.  What more can you ask for?

So, what’s your flavor?  I’d love to see your creations.

In light of the latest privacy controversy with Facebook, I’d like to re-purpose this post (yes, published in the past but it’s Memorial weekend.  I’ll risk plagiarizing my own work to enjoy some play time as I have been developing another blog for the past few days).

So, let me just get the cat out of the bag:  I can’t emphasize the value of creating your online identity enough .  I totally respect those who want to keep things private, but there is a way to balance privacy and making sure that your identity is kosher.  Especially in this digital age, it is important to develop your identity first, then control what is being shared.  Luckily, we have so many resources to make this possible.

On the other hand, there are way too many sites to manage.  LinkedIn.  Facebook.  Twitter.  MySpace… you name it.  I can’t even keep track anymore.  But I do know that if I don’t take ownership of my identity, chances are someone else will do it for me, whether they do it deliberately or not.  How many times have you found pictures of yourself on social networking sites that others posted?  Or how about information about you that is shared because you were “just part of the story”?  Whether you like it or not, social networks are successful because of their transparency, and there’s no changing the truth behind that reality.  The irony of not being (somewhat) transparent about yourself is that you actually end up losing control of your privacy.

Times are changing.  Our existence is no longer solely based on our human interactions, but also in our online ones too.  The amount of social networking sites have only grown over the years, and it is becoming harder to manage online identity.  Some of my friends are fearful of identify theft or not wanting people to know what they are up to, and tend to set their privacy features to the maximum.  Others prefer to keep their lives private, opting out of all social networkings sites altogether.

The million dollar question is:  Can opting out of social networking sites become detrimental to your online identity?

In my opinion, the answer is yes.  I’m not trying to advocate that everyone should start a personal PR campaign on the Internet, but rather create a presence and regulate the perception that is already being shared.  If others are already influencing your identity through their lives and interactions with you, why not take self authority to validate it?

Here are my thoughts on the most commonly used social networking sites.

LinkedIn
As a professional networking site, this should be the most transparent of everyone’s online identity.  I don’t see the value of keeping anything private on LinkedIn, because the platform is meant to help market yourself.  You want people to find your LinkedIn profile on search results and you want to allow people to network with you.  From a professional perspective, the more to share your experience and the more you connect can only help build your credibility.  You never know if you will lose your job tomorrow, so best that you prepare yourself (and your resume) by networking real-time.

Facebook + Myspace
I think these social networking sites can swing two ways.  It can be used to share yourself with the world, and it can be used to keep in touch with people you know.  Personally, I go with the latter.  I joined Myspace in 2003 (post Friendster, haha), then Facebook in 2004, to update family and friends with my life events.  Eventually, I got sick of managing both sites and ended up cancelling Myspace.  Over time, most friends transferred to Facebook anyway.  Pre-social networking sites, I used to write letters or mass emails to keep my friends updated with my life.  Now, I am doing the same thing without doing it manually.

You can still use social networking sites and maintain your privacy using filters, settings, and managing the people you are connected with (whether this number is 5 or 500).

Twitter
I won’t spend too much here since I have two other posts dedicated to the use and value of Twitter (To Twitter, or Not to Twitter: Part One and Part Deux).  But I do want to say that if you tend to keep things private, Twitter may not be for you.  I also think that content on Twitter is meant to be shared publicly, because it is a combination of updating your status and microblogging about information you want to share with the world.

If you have your Twitter status private and/or connect your Tweets to your Facebook, what additional value does this provide?  You’re probably sharing your updates with the same audience, so you’re only duplicating your efforts.  On the other hand, if you want to share information with the world and your personal friends (like, check out this cool website), it might make sense to link your status between Facebook and Twitter.

All in all, don’t complain about your online privacy.  Do something about it.

Last week, Twitter finally announced the news the world had been waiting for: a revenue stream model. People were speculating for months how the social networking phenomenon would monetize itself, with hopes that there would be a profitable plan other than online advertising. Well, fanboys, you can put that dream to rest.

As an advertising professional, I’m not adverse to online ad monetization. The funds keep our favorite websites alive and it gives advertisers the opportunity to promote whatever it is that brings them their return on investment. But as a social media critic and junkie, I had high hopes that Twitter would think out of the box. Maybe they would go the Wikipedia route (relying on donations), or employees would do something mind-blowing like donating their organs for money.

Twitter did think out of the box by avoiding straight-up advertising, but, to my regret, they didn’t invent something that had never been done before.

Twitter’s “sponsored tweets” will be similar to the advertising model of Yelp, where restaurants and businesses pay a premium to show up as sponsored results (and the placement is quite seamless, in my opinion). Twitter will provide account holders the opportunity to do just the same, with sponsored tweets prominently featured at the top of your Twitter feed.

Are sponsored tweets a positive or detrimental move? I’m still scratching my head and forming an opinion. My initial thoughts are that “you gotta start somewhere,” and, perhaps this will plant the seed for future success. I’m trusting that sponsored tweets will fulfill Twitter’s need for revenue and help move the company forward.

But Twitter users are not as keen on the idea. According to Mashable, 42% of users don’t want additional spam in the daily lives. I believe they enjoy using Twitter without advertising screaming in their face, much like on Wikipedia. However, I would encourage the community to give Twitter the benefit of doubt.

Sponsored tweets will likely be less annoying than regular advertising. They will be similiar in form to sponsored Yelp reviews, but the value of their content will be higher, because they may contain an interesting call to action; they might even open doors to information you’d never stumble upon on your own.

I’m looking forward to the results from Twitter campaigns to learn the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of a true social media advertising model; we’ll find out if this will be the Holy Grail we’ve been searching for.

So yes, Twitter is jumping on the advertising bandwagon with the rest of our favorite sites and that’s big news (though not as big as it could have been). But hopefully this is just a first step towards developing revenue models so that more and more Twitter will  reap the fruits of their labor—and so that we may see fewer fail whales during the day.

So here’s a thought when thinking about a blog entry describing a different use of streaming media (not emulating a television or radio show):  Utilizing streaming media as a blog platform, also known as “vlogging”.

With the popularity of reality shows rising, it’s not a surprise that we (society) also flock to user generated sites that contain video content, like YouTube.  But if you try to think about another way of using streaming media, why not a blog entry in video form?  Here are some different ideas for streaming media blogging and reasons why it wouldn’t be so shabby…

Food Journal

Forget the Food Network!  These guys get paid to eat and review restaurants.  Why not put the power to the people?  I’m a huge fan of Yelp and having user generated food journals would be interesting.  People can upload videos of restaurants to capture a holistic experience like sound, idiosyncrasy of waitstaff, etc.  While text reviews and blogs are fun, video blogs might cater a different attraction.

Idiot’s Guide

A classmate of mine recently started a video blog about How to Use a Flip Video.  YouTube is already a semi-mecca for how to:  play the guitar, ride a bike, etc.  Professionals can use streaming media blogging to create buzz.  A yoga instructor can use streaming media blogging to show different yoga positions.  Or a bartender providing different drink recipes and ways to make them.  The possibilities are endless!

Personal Journal

Many people have privacy issues regarding their online identities, but there are also a lot of people who crave to attract attention online.  If there are those who blog about their life (and other interests) online, I’m sure some would be willing to give streaming media blogging a try.  This also might work for families who are juggling long distance relationships, for those who want to create a professional profile and presence online, or for those who just want to keep a journal record of themselves.  Whatever rhyme or reason, streaming media blogging is just another outlet for the human mind.

Check out the latest flip video camera to create your first vlog.

New Year’s Resolutions aside, there are exciting trends to look forward to in 2010.
…totally late, but better late than never

1. Mobile
   Advanced hardware coupled with the increase of applications, the mobile space is expected to grow exponentially in 2010. Gone are the days of Palm, because smartphones are taking over our daily lives.
2. On Demand
   Netflix and XBOX Live paved the way for on demand entertainment in a progressing way. Nintendo Wii has recently jumped on the bandwagon, and other digital consoles and formats will soon follow. Cable better look out, because 2010 will be the breakthrough year for streaming media.
3. Collaboration Tools
   If you haven’t checked out Office Online, you might want to take it for a spin. It is an easy way to collaborate on documents with your partners when working on a project. Other collaboration tools are making segue into the way we work together, making our work lives efficient and scalable.
4. Video and Rich Media
   Thanks to YouTube, watching a video has become our favorite past time, and it has made its way into advertising.  As technology is normalized, advertisers are getting comfortable in their digital skin and trying out new creative tactics.
5. Real Time Social Media
   Social networking is so last year. We love ‘em, we hate ‘em, and can’t live without ‘em. Why? Because they are one of our primary sources for real time content. This year, the amount of content sharing will only rise, and we will rely on them for the latest news and information sharing.

Image from Seattle Times

When it comes to social media marketing, you have to be willing to take a risk or two.  You have to anticipate rolling with the punches, because not every grand idea may drive it to critical mass.

As a long time Seattle resident, I consider myself a coffee snob.  So I find it a bit ironic that I’m sitting at a (decent) coffee shop, writing about the latest social media campaign by Starbucks.  I’ll do my best to stay impartial and keep my tastebuds separate from my marketing judgment.

Since last year, Starbucks has taken their marketing tactics to a new level.  They took the plunge by integrating offline and online tactics to create a conversation with the public.  The first marketing campaign I remember was held during election week, when Starbucks handed out a free cup o’ Joe for voters on November 4th.  This publicity stunt turned heads back to the former coffee mogul, an ammo move that was well-timed against the McDonalds’ anti-Starbucks campaign.  Then, Starbucks seamlessly began ‘spreading cheer‘ into the 2008 holiday season with a social experiment that became a viral sensation.  With an offline campaign that jolted the attention of coffee consumers and an online social experiment that drove engagement, Starbucks is now ready to start having conversations through their new social media campaign.

My Starbucks Idea is tearing down corporate walls and inviting consumers to help tell their story.  This website is a platform dedicated to enabling online conversations and inviting the public to easily provide content to share their stories and suggestions–a strategy aimed to help drive positive perception that could potentially translate into reality.

Additionally, they are leveraging existing social sites, such as Twitter, to re-tweet pictures and comments from the public.  They are not only generating presence, but also interacting with both devil’s advocates and fans of Starbucks.

The best of social media campaigns result from an innovative edge that is ignited by the convergence between grass roots content and conversations.  I have yet to validate the success of their new marketing strategy, but I am intrigued that Starbucks decided to wake up and smell the coffee (no pun intended).  It’s not easy for big corporations to start a new movement, and I accredit Starbucks for taking a creative leap into an unknown territory.

I’m not trying to say that social media should always be driven by trial and error strategies.  As I mentioned in my April posting, Reality (Social Media Marketing) Bites, it is imperative to consider metrics into any marketing campaign.  Without data to support your grand ideas, all marketing campaigns are pretty much fluff.

You’ll never really know if your social media marketing campaign will be naughty or nice, so you might as well begin taking risks (and just make sure to check it twice).

How do you even begin blogging about a tech-savvy priest?  Like this.

Catholics get a bad rep for being old school in their ways.  The traditional and conservative rituals of Catholicism, Mormonism, and other old religions are perceived to be too broken down for the modern lifestyle.  But there’s nothing old school about this priest.

Meet Fr. Mike, a Jesuit priest and co-director of Magis Alumni Relations at Seattle University.  For many years, I have admired Fr. Mike’s homilies during mass at the Chapel of St. Ignatius (for you non-Catholics, a homily is a summary of the gospel during mass that priests use to translate the scripture in ways we can spiritually apply them to our daily lives).  I’ve always wondered how I would be able to share his thoughts with the world without making the message sound too religious or cult-like, because that’s exactly how it would be perceived.

Thanks to the most tech-savviest priest I know, I won’t have to wonder anymore.  For the past year, Fr. Mike has been posting his homilies on Facebook, the social networking platform he uses to connect with the SU community.  I’ve been impressed with his ability to build a spiritual community online, especially among college students who often spend time on social networking sites to share their latest pictures and innuendos from last weekend’s rager.  Not only is he sharing his human and discerning reflections about spirituality and life, he is facing the stigma that has loomed over the priest community for many years with a simple commodity:  Transparency.

Being transparent about things can help bring down walls in many situations.  The less you share, the less people will know, and the more you share, the more people will know.  It’s as simple as that.  But I’m not trying to condone that being fully and always transparent is good.  There are benefits to keeping profiles private (as I do with Facebook) to a closed network of people you personally know, but that discussion can be saved for another time.

What I do want to share is Fr. Mike’s willingness to embrace technology to invite people to have a modern conversation within a community that is commonly perceived as being too structured and traditional.  I know there are contemporary religious groups that have already embraced new technologies, but I think it is easier to incorporate them with a congregation based upon 20th century roots.  It is commendable to see a religious leader going against the reputational grain within a religious community that is perceived to have high adversity to change.

In addition to enlightening homilies on Facebook, Fr. Mike has joined the latest social phenomenon of Twitter and he plans on launching a blog this summer.  If I could make a personal request, I’d love to subscribe to a podcast of all homilies from the Chapel of St. Ignatius. Imagine the possibility of a cultural and religious movement if priests around the world invited people to listen through new communication mediums!

Because religious or not, I’m pretty confident someone is willing to listen.

If you have heard about #AmazonFail, #Oprah, #HudsonRiverCrash in the past few months, you probably fall into one of these categories:

• Taking the leap onto the Twitter bandwagon
• On the cusp of joining Twitter but don’t want to manage another social networking site
• Maybe considering it, but still too much effort to tell if I’ll be onboard
• Twitter still sucks

Haters, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But thanks for keep me motivated.

I’ve gotten a lot of responses, comments, and feedback from my January entry “To Twitter, or not to Twitter”. Since then, Twitter has vomited all over the world. Even the latest Miss USA pageant (yes, I watched this and you can judge me) had incorporated Twitter animations like “Look at me, I’m Twittering” edited above people in the audience typing away on their cell phones. I am also seeing postings like:

“Follow me on Twitter!”

“I’m finally on Twitter but I don’t get it.”

Twitter had already reached critical mass, but it has really taken off within the past few months. Since 2007, there are 700% more Twitterites worldwide and 1000% in the US (comScore, March 2009). Given the related events in the past few weeks, such as Ashton’s million followers challenge and the Oprah Effect, I am twiddling my thumbs for the next comScore release of Twitter data.

I had a hunch that this so called “spike” was coming, though I didn’t know when it would happen or what would cause it to spike. One thing I do know is that Twitter is not a steroid version of a Facebook update. No one cares if you are brushing your teeth or if you are feeding your dog.

So why should you care? Let me count the ways.

Niche Content

It’s the relatable content that is going to drive Twitter to the next level, whether that the content is national breaking news or content that is niche focused. I think Twitter is diverse enough to be utilized by different industries, but it will take some time to create a “niche critical mass”.

Some niche focused Twitter examples that I know exist today are:

• Amber Alerts (@Amber_Alert)
• Job Listings (@journalism_jobs, @jobsmedical, @freelance_jobs)
• PR announcements (@TaxDayTeaParty, @coachella)

Some other niche focused Twitter examples that I think could benefit from micro-blogging (they may already exist):

• Car sales
• Real Estate listings
• Stock quotes

Imagine if I were to follow my stock quote, Seattle Times, Craigslist posting for cars, local marketing events, etc. – I could log into my Twitter each morning to get my latest feed of (desired) information. But, the pseudo RSS capability isn’t the only added value of Twitter.

Virtual Think Tank

If you really want to use Twitter to tell the world that you are having a Big Mac or going for a walk, go right ahead. But in my opinion, that’s what Facebook is for.  Most people (not businesses) use Facebook as a true social network. It is a modern way of keeping in touch with your family and friends. You update your pictures and status to let a closed group of social networks know what you’re up to.

I think Twitter is a bit different. They provide the audience for you to share niche content with. It is a way to let the world know your brain provoking thoughts and to share links to interesting sites or breaking news—and Twitter serves as your dumping station. This is why most people who end up linking Twitter with Facebook updates decide to disconnect the two platforms later on. Content on Twitter is meant to be public, otherwise, what’s the point of using it? You have Facebook if you want to keep things private to people you know. If you’re not comfortable with communicating and brainstorming with the public, then maybe you should just stick with Facebook updates.

Interacting with your Fans

On that “going public” note, you should also consider interacting with your audience. Twitter is not only a platform where you can share information, but also to network with your followers. Check out Twitter’s help section, and discover the different techniques such as hashtags, re-tweets, and direct replies.

I do want to share a pretty cool use of Twitter I had never come across before.  During a lecture on social media by Adam Metz, there was a live Twitter feed on a big screen of all the tweets being posted in the room. The audience would tweet during the presentation and use an event-unique hashtag to show up on the aggregated feed, which ignited real time discussion even before he started taking questions. Talk about prematurely engaging your audience and creating a transparent environment for knowledge sharing. I can totally see this practice being implemented in conferences and the classroom (maybe it already is).

So, there. Thanks to your feedback, I managed to deliver a resource focused Twitter kool-aid post for your consumption. Perhaps the next comScore data will lead to part trois.

[posted on Flip the Media]

Image by Brad Fitzpatrick

As a digital media nerd, I have no problem managing a billion different accounts on the Internet.  From social networking sites to bank accounts, I’ve accumulated about 30-40 different logins from the past 5 years.  I’m definitely not a pack rat by any means, but I’m starting to feel like I have too much junk in my (digital) trunk.

Just like my spring cleaning thought process, I tried to justify the need for my online “memberships”.  I tried to comprehend my new pack rat status by slicing and dicing the facts.  Why is it that I am able to throw away material items that I don’t need, but I don’t mind hoarding digital goods?

There’s the obvious tangible factor:  We cannot physically hold digital items such as photos, videos, documents, spreadsheets, and logins.  It is easy for these items to accumulate quickly and massively because they don’t take up any physical space.  Yet, they still take up digital space, and eventually we find ourselves upgrading our USBs, memory cards, and hard drives faster than are dogs age.  The rate at which we build up digital baggage is becoming faster by day, and soon enough terabytes will no longer be cool for school.

This leads me to entertain the idea that maybe we are all pack rats deep down inside, and that the digital revolution has forced us to become self aware about the importance of prioritizing and organizing the things we own.  Or maybe I’m just alone and wallowing in self pity that my digital noise is growing into a bigger beast than I thought I could handle.

The truth is I’m not a slob, but I’m not obsessively compulsive about a little chaos either.  I do appreciate order with my digital items, though.  I like to keep my digital photos organized in an external hard drive, sorted by folders, by year, by month, and by occasion.  I keep a neat playlist for all my mp3 files, so that I can easily access music depending on my mood or the company I am with.

If I am neither a slob nor freakishly neat, why is all this digital noise getting to the best of me?  Either way, I’m starting my spring cleaning a bit early this year, and I’m going to focus on all my intangible digital things first.

Do my skinny jeans still fit? (Do I really need a login to all those brain sucking entertainment sites that I relied on during my procrastinating college days?)

Is it necessary that I own my own a Hallmark membership card? (How many different online accounts do I need to manage my air and hotel mileage points?)

Why is it that I own five different colors of the same shirt? (Why do I need three different sites to access music?)

As I am thinking about different ways to organize, I start reverting back to my old habit of rationalizing the need to doing things.  I convince myself that as long as the digital junk in my trunk are full of good things, then it really can’t be all that bad.

But when is enough… enough?  Isn’t there a saying that says too much of a good thing is a bad thing?

Our mothers always told us to keep everything in moderation.  So I took a stab at my laundry list of digital membership accounts and started prioritizing.

1. Organize by work, personal, and academic (if applicable) websites using favorite folders in your Internet browser.  Each folder shouldn’t contain more than 10 different websites, unless they absolutely do not have other folders to belong to.
2. Combine memberships that accumulate points.  Most online travel websites have a list of partners they share miles and points with.  Choose one or two memberships you would like to stay loyal with based on frequency of use and diversity of partnerships.  If you can’t trim, then use Points.com to transfer your earnings.
3. Browse all the entertainment sites you want, but keep loyalty to a minimum.  Don’t limit yourself from the freedom of Internet browsing, but keeping frequently visited sites to a minimum (about 3-10) will take digital baggage off your shoulders.

It’s a start.  I don’t know if my Martha Stewart approach will help reduce the digital noise in my life, but organizing never hurt nobody.  If you find a better solution, by all means, share the wealth.  I think that one day, there will be a break through digital phenomenon that could help us face this more easily, similar to how RSS feeds made syndication almost effortless to use.  Until then, I suppose I’ll rely on the old school trial and error approach.

I know I’m not alone.  Bring on the noise, but personally I need to start keeping my digital noise from growing exponentially before I start seeking permanent digital asylum.