The Digital Detox: Day two

So, here’s how the detox is going so far…

Google Reader

Yesterday I halved the feeds in my Google Reader, and it felt so good. When i started blogging i kept all my favourite blogs as bookmarks in my internet browser — that got old very fast. Then I discovered feed readers and tried Bloglines — a feed reader that’s now coming off-line, probably because everyone now uses Google Reader… including me. I finally switched over and am loving how easy it is to subscribe to blogs and keep everything organised.

I group similarly-themed blogs into folders, so after yesterday’s delete-and-reshuffle, I now have 12 folders holding all my blog feeds. Rather than have all feeds visible, i simply click on a folder and read what’s new in that topic (I’m guessing the folder titles are pretty self explanatory). I never try to read everything every day – and I usually skim most posts, anyway – but if I find myself at a loose end I know I’ll find some unread posts in my reader – the ‘Design bloggers’ folder is always full of unread posts as those lovely ladies post several times each day.

Yesterday I unsubscribed to all the blogs i never read, the ones i don’t find useful anymore (lots of biz blogs were culled) and the blogs I no longer feel a connection to; I’m happy to report that my ‘Friends’ folder remains unchanged :)

Twitter

I really love Twitter. It’s my online office where I chat around the virtual water cooler and share stuff I find interesting. Working from home can get lonely and Twitter has remedied that completely. Love it.

At first it was thought to be good manners to follow back everyone who follows you; now the big names say they auto follow back so their followers can send them Direct Messages; clearly if they are following thousands of people they’ll be using a third party Twitter client  — like HootSuite or TweetDeck — to filter their stream. As I tend to post tweets via the actual website I keep my Twitter feed manageable by following less than 200 people; creating Twitter lists has also helped — I recently discovered you can add people to lists even if you don’t follow them — and I occasionally tweet from my HootSuite account, which is also the iPhone app I use.

Today’s Twitter detox took about ten minutes in total thanks to me already keeping my Twitter temple in good order. I unfollowed a handful of biz people and writerly types already featured in lists and no longer needed in my main stream. I also deleted a few lists. Nothing major but it still makes a big difference.

If you find Twitter baffling, check out Marianne’s Guide to Twitter – she’s much more Twitter savvy than I am. Derek Powazek’s Twitter for Adults is also worth a read.

Facebook

Facebook doesn’t have as much of an emotional sting for me because I deleted my original account a year ago. The new version of my account feels much friendlier and it’s become another cosy outpost to connect with peeps on the internet. I approve everyone who sends a friendship request (except strange men looking ‘for a relationship’) and really enjoying chatting on my wall.

I haven’t had to unfriend (or hide – see below) anyone today, which is great, so I’m just going to share two tips instead: 1) if juggling Twitter and Facebook feels too much but you want to maintain a presence on each (perhaps to help grow your biz or Etsy store) you can link the two accounts so that your tweets also appear on your Facebook wall. That’s what I do, making sure to stop by FB twice a day to join in any conversation on my wall and see what friends are up to.

b) I discovered today that you can ‘hide’ people’s updates on your newsfeed – if there’s someone who pushes your buttons but unfriending them is too fraught, simply hide them! Scroll to the bottom of  the ‘most recent’ newsfeed, click ‘edit options’ and type in the names of your trigger people. Easy peasy.

How’s your detox coming along? xo