It’s Time to Quit Social Media

By Edie Melson
It’s time to quit Social Media. Yep, you read that right.

The Queen of social media is telling you it’s time to QUIT social media.

NOT permanently (thought you were going to get out of it, didn’t you!), but I’m suggesting you take a break periodically, and re-examine your plan.

I used to keep up with social every single day, whether I was home or traveling. But I’ve learned that I can’t sustain a reasonable social media schedule seven days a week, indefinitely. So I’ve given myself permission to have weekends off and to relax when I’m traveling.

I know it sounds scary, but the truth is – it hasn’t hurt my platform at all – as a matter of fact it has helped it. Here’s two reasons why:

• My updates are fresher.
• I have time to expose myself to new blogs and new people.

So how do you know if it’s time to back off on social media?

*You’re spending more than thirty minutes a day on social media updates.
*You find yourself investing more energy in your blog than in your writing.
*You’re updating about the same five or six sites four to five times a week.
*You cringe when you hear the words social media.
*You don’t have time to discover new blogs/followers/friends.

Here’s what to do:

1. STOP. Give yourself permission to quit social media completely for forty-eight hours. Don’t announce it on Facebook, Twitter or even your blog. Just STOP.

2. Rediscover what you enjoy about social media. AFTER the forty-eight hours of rest, spend a day or two just browsing. Take time to really read a couple of blog posts, visit with friends on Facebook, or hang out on Twitter.

3. Determine what you need to accomplish with social media. Then make a plan so you can accomplish it in no more than thirty minutes a day, no more than five days a week.

4. Restart your social media. Do it by sharing what you’ve learned. You can update about quitting social media, new blogs you’ve discovered, even new connections you’ve made.

I recommend a minimum of four Facebook posts per working day and six to ten Twitter updates. This is something anyone can accomplish during a quick thirty minute window.

Quick Tip: If you schedule your social media for the day in the morning, get a jump on the next morning by scheduling some of the next day’s updates in the late afternoon. A lot of blogs go live in the afternoon, so you’ll have a chance to que up some fresh material before you stop work for the day.

Now it’s your turn, what do you do when social media overwhelms you?

Edie Melson is an author, freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. She’s the Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy, the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, and the Senior Editor for http://www.NovelRocket.com. Connect with her on Twitter @EdieMelson and Facebook.