Are Your Bookmarks Working for You?
Are you reading more and enjoying it less? Are you voting up links that you haven’t read as a favor to a friend? Has the social part of social networking overtaken the information exchange that once was there? Do you race to read headlines and never finish the post that they name?
How many thousands of links do you suppose are recommended on SU, Digg, Reddit, and Delicious? After you put one there how often do you go back?
Chris Miller brought up a great point . . . Social Bookmarking: The Race to Be Famous or a Useful Tool?
Did you / will you go read Chris’ post or just take my word?
We don’t try to see every movie. We don’t try to read every book. We know that life isn’t long enough for that. But for some reason, many of us seem to think that we need 700 feeds and to bookmark them all for thousands of friends.
I’m learning that the best use of bookmarking sites — to manage my reputation and focus my efforts — is to capture information I want to keep.
I’m only capturing to a specific list of criteria.
- I capture information that I know will be useful for a project or a proposal that I’m working on or about to write.
- I capture blog posts that I hear myself quote in conversation, because I know I’ll want to find them again.
- I capture well-written articles that change the way I think about my work or my life.
- I capture anything that makes me think, “I wish I (wrote / thought of) that.”
You might note, I didn’t say that I capture things because they were written by a friend.
This change in my bookmarking behavior has made a significant difference in two critical aspects of my online presence.
Reputation Online reputation is made of everything we put under our name. Now what I bookmark naturally reflects me. When potential friends and clients visit my page they see something that is consistent with who I am, what I do, and what I’m working on.
But even more . . .
Focus I’m more focused on my business goals. I don’t spend time on information I don’t need. I find that I read more carefully what I choose to read. I also stop to think about why I bookmark what I capture and keep. Sometimes I only clip a quote. Sometimes I keep an entire piece. I even think about where I put things based on the people who use that list.
I’ll still vote up your work, if you call to my attention things that match my goals, values, and who I am.
What do your bookmarks say about you? How might you use them to manage your online presence more successfully?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
i think honing in on your goals and focus online makes a huge difference when it comes to interacting with the sea of information and people you find there. when i started dropping blogfeeds that i coldly admitted to myself were simply not interesting or useful to me, i more enjoyed opening up my reader! i’ve tried to use delicious just to keep a list of sites i know i’ll use on a project down the road.
trim the fat. raise your threshold. it’s lifechanging.
To me, it breaks down to the idea of whether you value your social network or not. If you do, you’ll be slightly selective about what you bookmark. If you don’t, you’ll bookmark everything and anything.
I mean what you review on StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. says volumes about who you are. If you’re not taking the time to read something, what does that say about you? (I think I’ m making sense… I’ll revisit to see where this conversation goes)…
That is one of the most common sense posts about social networking I have seen in a long time. I am guilty of it all, and I need to change my ways. Thanks for giving me the nudge!
So far, I have survived by just bookmarking things that I found interesting as well as things that I might find interesting.
But of course, it’s a plus if any of those articles were written by my friends 😀
Hey Liz – great post, you must have been reading my mind. That was one thing on my “to do” list today. I REALLY need to clean out my bookmarks. I am so afraid I’ll never find the site or article that interests me (for good reason) that I have too many bookmarks. But I’d rather delete “stuff” that I’ve changed my mind about using then wish I had bookmarked it…
Hi d!
When I admitted to myself that I had to choose where I was interested I had the same experience. Don’t regret it for a second. 🙂
Hi Carol!
We’re all guilty of all it! It’s so easy to get sucked into the vortex. 🙂
Great way to go about things, Pelf! I applaud your approach!
Hi Blogger Newbie,
I’ve started using the “Closet Cleaning” Method . . . If I haven’t needed it in the last X months, I don’t need it. 🙂
Liz – thanks for the reminder that it’s almost time for ‘late Summer’ cleaning. I was going to ask you your secret for purging and then saw your comment to Blogger Newbie.
I don’t participate in social bookmarking, but I did create a bit of a stir in an art forum when I said that I wouldn’t add the rest of the group’s blogs to my blogroll when I update my site (which badly needs it). It was essentially for the same reason. I only wanted to link to artist and reference sites that I thought my readers would enjoy or reflected work that I personally would want to have or view. I appreciated and complimented the other forum members on their art, but it was often different in style and didn’t fit.
It truly is daunting the amount of social networking required today.
If one doesnt get a grip, one can spend an inordinate amount of time voting, stumbling, digging, tweeting, etc.
And not writing and providing value. It’s also a fine line between being a blogging buddy, and procrastinating.
I somtimes have to close all social networking windows down, and just focus on my work.
It’s the only way to get prolific.
Oh MizLiz!
Late Summer Cleaning! No, no, not that!!
I read your comment earlier, Beth,
I like how you didn’t let “peer pressure” change the way you define the use and purpose of the blogroll on your blog. Yeah!
Just discovered something. When answering a person you also listen to their feelings as well. You let people be individuals. Interesting Liz
Hi Missy,
I read your comment days ago. I don’t know it got by me without a response. I’ve been doing the very same thing . . . turning the lights out to focus. It’s quiet and calming.
Hi Roberta,
I’m smiling to hear you say that. Not everyone notices how important that simple act can be.
You’re not a stranger. 🙂
why thanks Lady Liz, Just happened by chance
No, Roberta,
Don’t discount yourself. You saw.
Liz
yes Liz, I will turn that around to a more positive stance and say that I am quite aware of peoples thoughts and feelings. Thanks
I havent social bookmaked yet. I am afraid to do it and I have no clue why.Perhaps this week,I will get up enough courage. To me it is like going to Mars
Roberta,
Just join StumbleUpon and start watching what other folks do. You’ll get in the swing of things in no time at all. 🙂
hi Liz, I am back and ready to learn more about blogging, I am going to go on Stumble upon and watch for awhile