I'm the first one to admit that I try to do too much. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, website, blog, Tumblr, Pinterest, Goodreads, and countless other online communities—I'm on them all. Sometimes I wonder how I find the time to visit all these sites. I also wonder if it's really important for me to be on all of them.
For me, the answer is yes. I have different people I talk to on each of these online platforms, and honestly, I don't want to lose touch with anyone. I like talking to readers and writers. I like escaping from my jobs to just chat. Does it take a lot of time for me to be all over the internet? Not really because I have a system.
When I wake up in the morning, I check out a few of these sites briefly. I'm talking 10 minutes top. Then I'll check them for another 10 minutes while I'm eating lunch. And then I'll check them again after my daughter goes to sleep. So in all, I spend about 30 minutes a day online. Not too bad.
How much time do you spend online and what sites are you on? Is it worth it to you?
Twitter is the worst. It sucks me in way too much.
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me sometimes, too. ;)
DeleteI'm stunned you manage to read and write comments on so many peoples' blogs in just 30 minutes a day. I spend about 2 hours just commenting on blogs, and I'm sure I don't get to as many as you do. You must read and type at the speed of light! lol
ReplyDeleteI do type quickly. That helps.
DeleteI'll echo Lexa. I'm amazed by your speed and efficiency, Kelly! I'm only on FB, Twitter, Blueboards, WR, Book Blogs, She Writes and Goodreads, and I'm swamped. Worth it, of course. But I must be more effective, like you.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot, Claudine! LOL
DeleteHow much time do I spend online? Too much! I'm not much of a tweeter (I only tend to use it to promote new posts on my blog), but I check Facebook, my book forums and Goodreads a lot! I do like to keep in touch with people, particularly friends in England and Canada, but I should try and cut the time down a bit.
ReplyDeleteI think breaking up my time really helped me to keep it down. I feel like I'm online a lot because that time is broken up here and there.
DeleteI've backed way too of the time I spend on social networking, but like you, I don't want to let any of them go. I usually spend 30 minutes in the am browsing FB, blogs and twitter and then I only go back if I get an e-mail about something throughout the day that peaks my interest. (Except FB, I do go back there for my personal connections as opposed to author ones.)
ReplyDeleteI think I spend most of my online time on emails. I get a lot in the course of a day.
DeleteI've tried using Online Stopwatch to keep me from turning a half an hour into hours, plural. It's hard, though. I follow one thread, then something else catches my eye, and so on until who know how long I've been online. :) Your system sounds excellent. To accomplish all that you do, you must be the most organized person on the Net.
ReplyDeleteI don't I am, but I'm very strict with myself. I schedule everything.
DeleteI think I need to try your system :) I am far from efficient on way too many networks!
ReplyDeleteMulti-tasking helps. I'm eating lunch and responding to comments right now. ;)
DeleteI work in IT, so I'm online all day and then all weekend. I'm not sure I spend much time during the week on Facebook (it's blocked at my work, so is Youtube), but I spend some time checking Blogger and commenting on other blog articles.
ReplyDeleteI have accounts at other sites like writing forums, but I only check sparingly.
I love that employers block sites to promote efficiency at work. People get around it all the time. LOL
DeleteI agree with you, a published author should spend as much time as they can in social media. It's all about balance. Right now I spend by far the most time in the blogosphere, with FB running a distant second and Twitter on life support. But then again, I'm not published yet and that will all change when that happens.
ReplyDeleteI definitely spend more time on blogs than on FB and Twitter too. But blogs take longer to read, so it's to be expected.
DeleteI've made myself cut back. I'm on FB and have a blog, but I don't get on Twitter too much anymore. I haven't latched on to Pinterest or Google+.
ReplyDeleteI spend too much time online, anyway :D!
I think it's good not to do them all. I just wish I could take my own advice. LOL
DeleteI find the online community to be valuable. The key is to boundary your time. Easier said than done!
ReplyDeleteYour good. The days I blog I'm probably looking at two hours using social media.
ReplyDeleteEek! I just talled how many words I can type in two hours. See, I'm very strict. I'll reprimand myself for losing writing time. I'd feel sorry for anyone who worked under me. LOL Luckily, no one does.
DeleteI've restricted myself to half an hour a day, and on an occasional "first draft writing day" it's only ten minutes. Real work before chat, always.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, it is worth it. We don't work in offices (or at least I don't) and social isolation is a hazard. Many of us are shy, but few are J.D. Salinger-shy.
And you know I come to you, Kelly, in hope of catching some of your unparalleled positive energy...
Aw, thank you! :) Yes, I do love the interaction with others that I get online. I need that in my day.
DeleteI agree about the Twitter suck. Good job staying online in such a limited amount of time. Smart. I've started having to disable my internet just to avoid it. Some of us have self-control, I guess. I am not one of those people.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. Scrivener has that feature that takes up your full screen so you aren't tempted to go online.
DeleteLet's see... facebook, blog (both mine and my alter ego), Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Book Blogs. Some of those I'm not in every day. I was on Pinterest, but it'll be too much of a time drain.
ReplyDeleteWilliam, you have an alter ego?
DeleteYes, James Morgan. It's the name I co-write erotica under.
DeleteDidn't know that.
DeleteKelly, you're one of the best authors out there, in my opinion, for keeping in touch. You keeps things personal and efficient, you have it down to a science :-)
ReplyDeleteAw, Faith! You're so sweet. :)
DeleteKelly, everyday you amaze me with how much you do. I need a better system and be more organized. I've just started doing social media stuff and I get hooked on reading everything. Then, ooops I find the day has gone by. I need a software that shuts down the internet until I reach my writing goal for the day. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you make yourself stick to only set times a day that you can go online, it will help.
DeleteI'm with EW here. I do a little, but I guess by choosing where you go you can organize it better. I seem to surf randomly which is where the time goes, if I let it. I'm cultivating the hermit approach. Not so hard to unplug if the plug is only half way in to begin with.
DeleteI admit to days where I have extra time and I surf randomly and get sucked in too. It happens to all of us.
DeleteRhys, I just tried to get on your site and it says your server is down. Are you working on the site or something?
Way too much time online with most of it being in the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteMost of my time goes to the blogosphere, too.
DeleteI spend too much time, but I'm slow. :)
ReplyDeleteBeing able to type fast definitely helps.
DeleteI spend the most time on Twitter, usually in 10-15 minute chunks every few hours during the day. I run my employer's feed so it feels like a natural extension of myself. Besides that, I spend probably 1-2 hours each day catching up on blogs.
ReplyDeleteBlogs definitely take more time. A lot more to read.
DeleteI spend the most time on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. I spend a small amount of time on the other sites.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I spend a large chunk of time online is when I'm catching up on comments. I might spend anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on how many comments a recent post received.
I try to respond to mine in small chunks so they don't take too long at any given time.
DeleteI read on a blog I follow about unplugging, and maybe Kelly and others would find courage and solace from a writer who dared to cut more than the cable cord!
ReplyDeleteI hope my comments weren't overly extremist, but in my own life I know full well this problem from both the child and adult sides, and I hope no parents and teachers are offended in what I felt I had to say.
As I don't meet many serious writers who aren't parents or teachers, and what us non-parents have to navigate isn't as straightforward or "instantly gratifying" as media, SOME (Not all) parents and teachers, and persistent stereotypes wish it to be.
For the same reasons we continue to have disputes among gender, race, and sexual orientation, ages and stages (i.e. Generation Gaps) have their beefs, too.
I think it's good to unplug sometimes. We all need that every once in a while.
DeleteOh, I'm not disagreeing at all, Kelly. I just know it's harder for some versus given where they are in life and where they live.
DeleteThere can just be not-so-fine lines between necessity and obsession in online use. I sometimes feel those who lived in a naturally "Unplugged" time don't always understand how lucky they really were, even though they had their issues to face, too.
I get what you're saying, Taurean.
DeleteThis is incredbily short amount of time. Does that include commenting on others? I try to just fit theat in whenever. i leave the window open and open windows as I get notificiations of blogs and through the day, when I have a sec between clients I bang some out.
ReplyDeleteMost of that time is spent on blogs, Jodi. I spend very little time on FB and Twitter. I get in and get out. LOL
DeleteI'm with you Kelly, in and out, although blog commenting it spread out over the drop ins. If I am spending too much time on FB or surfing I know that I am procrastinating, which funny enough always happens at the start of a new chapter. It took me a while to figure this out. It was an ah-ha moment. Now at the end of chapter I don't worry about the opening line, I write over it and then come back to it later, if that makes sense. I work outside the home so I my time is often not my open, so social networking is limited. I wish I had more time to read other blogs, etc., but right now, I can only give it so much time.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny that you have that new chapter need to surf the net. ;)
DeleteI am on many of the same sites that you mentioned. I am impressed that you are able to comment and do so much in such short period of time. I can type pretty fast- but it takes me at least an hour a day to do my comments on blogs. It is definitely worth it- but I am going to try to think about a faster way! :) Maybe the fact that you break it up helps? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI think breaking it up definitely helps. No idea why though. LOL
DeleteI think nowadays writers need some kind of online presence, maybe just a Facebook page or a Twitter account, but something.
ReplyDeleteI have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a writing blog, a website for my playwriting business, a Pheed account, a Google+ account, an about.me account, a Tumblr blog and I visit She Writes plus I manage one of their group Facebook pages. It's a lot - I'd be the first to admit that - but I'm doing my best to become known before I publish my novel. Plus talking to other writers (and readers too) can be incredibly informative. I have my FB page and blogs set up to automatically post to Twitter. I probably spend on average, about an hour a day on all of those put together, sometimes more, sometimes less. Ooh, almost forgot, I also have a Pinterest account where I've put together a group of pins relating to my novel.
I'm also on Buttonific but for the time being, that's just a personal account.
Great topic.
I neglect my Pinterest page. I don't post much at all. I think that's a good thing though. That has the potential to be extremely time consuming.
DeleteI try to break up my time as well, but managing two Twitter accounts makes it harder.
ReplyDeleteI can see how that would.
DeleteKelly, you are setting the bar high! I would be embarrassed to admit how much time I spend each day reading blogs, commenting, and attending to my commitments on s/m. F/B and Twitter are my immediate go-to sites (after I do a quick check to ensure there are no emergency e-mails from anyone). After I finish tweeting for the writer groups to which I belong, I hit the blogosphere and earmark some to read later in the day. Then it's time to write. I don't know how you accomplish all you do! *standing in awe*
ReplyDeleteI guess I just learned to read quickly and I type quickly so that definitely helps.
DeleteI'm not exactly sure how much time I spend on social networks, since I keep them open and check in on them every now and then.
ReplyDeleteI focus on blogging, twitter and g+ most of all.
I focus on blogging, Twitter, and FB most.
DeleteI'm on blogger, Pinterest, Goodreads, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It was easy to keep track of them before I got this job. Now I'm working 10 hrs a day and have little time to do it. My iPhone helps out a lot.
ReplyDeleteEek to 10 hour days!
DeleteI'm on all of them too plus the writing sites which are terrific resources for us writers. I enjoy Pinterest personally as well as for my site but twitter I find impersonal. I love GoodReads b/c of my passion for books. All in all, I'm not sure what kind of bearing they have on my book sales but it seems to be a slow build. All this on line social stuff sucks my time and I'm spending less time writing as a result so I have to go out to write away from my computer LOL. Ironic, I think. Now I want to read the other comments (more time) but I enjoy that as much as the blog itself.
ReplyDeleteSee and I get into full conversations on Twitter. Interesting how the same site can be a different experience for different people.
DeleteYes, reading other comments is definitely fun. I love when my readers comment on each other's comments.