As we explored last week, time is money and this seems to hold true considering the average recovery rate for a document is ~$120 (study by Gartner Group, Coopers & Lybrand, Ernest & Young). So, THIS week we are going to explore how Social Media can be used to consolidate and simply both our work life as well as personal life.
The biggest issue many people face is time management, and one would inclined to believe that after reading Steven Gedon’s website. As demonstrated above, it is imperative to ensure our time management is kept in check in order to increase our personal productivity as well as minimise waste. Most of us are ‘time poor’ and under constant pressure to fit everything into the day. If we are utilising Enterprise 2.0 principles for our business this includes checking blogs, Twitter feed, Facebook updates, LinkedIn updates and a multitude of other social media platforms. The solution to this is to consolidate what we have into a more manageable and user friendly space.
Mobile You One
advantage we have to overcoming our time constraints is the ability to be online no matter where we are thanks to mobile internet. The latest mobile networks ensure geographical location is no barrier to connecting with the online world, or enhancing the one around us.
To expand on this, over the weekend I downloaded two such Android apps which consolidate various social media platforms into the one application as constantly having to switch between them becomes a chore and thus, a waste of time.
TweetDeck
The first such app was TweetDeck, which enables the integration of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Buzz. There is some initial setting up involved however once your accounts are linked into the app you never need to sign in again and you’re only one or two taps away from multiple sources of content. There has been some grumbling about the lack of updates.
Seesmic
The next was Seesmic, this is based on the same principle as TweetDeck however only supports Facebook and Twitter. It goes a step further with the ability to add shortcuts to your phones desktop, linking directly back to specific pages or areas such as your Facebook wall, favourite photo album or friend on Twitter. I found this app more beneficial as I don’t require Buzz or Foursquare, the shortcuts ensure quick and precise navigation and the app updates appear more frequent. Both applications saved time as well as headaches of managing multiple applications. Consolidating your social media accounts into a single intuitive platform not only makes sense, it’s a must for anyone aiming for a streamlined, uncluttered social experience.
For more social media management applications check out Webtrends Top 10 Social Media Management Applications.
Training Yourself
One of the other things you can do is to keep a checklist of things to do, or install a time management application to see where all your minutes are going. There are a million of these so just go to the Play store (or iTunes) and have a look.
If you’re too rushed (or lazy), Business Pundit has put together a list of the 25 Best Android Apps for Business, and I would highly recommend #7. Astrid, as it incorporates checklists, tagging and priority settings all into one. If you misplace, forget, lose or simply don’t have your phone handy, if you’ve backed your list up you can retrieve from RembertheMilk.com. Hootsuite has been gaining popularity recently and is seen as a direct competitor to Seesmic. Evernote is also a strong alternative to Astrid, check them out and let me know what worked best for you!
A final note
Lots of people seems to be getting married around me and the issue of ‘how to we get all the photos off everyone?’ constantly arrises, which is why Wedpics sparked my interest. This is a fantastic ‘wedding photo aggregator’ that allows all your guests to login to a secure website, upload photos and ensure the Bride and Groom don’t miss out on that one photo that they will remeber their special day by for the rest of their lives. For the token value of $99 it’s a very good investment if you have to capture the day from every angle.
Also, purely for the geek value, Burner is a service that allows you to generate a ‘fake’ number which takes calls for you, forwards them to you and then when / if you feel inclined to cease contact with said person you can ‘burn’ their number. Call forwarding stops, the number you gave them becomes redundant. As only Mr Burns could articulate, my thoughts exactly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUOB8MN4Kc
Have a great week everyone!
http://webtrends.about.com/od/pr6/tp/The-Top-10-Social-Media-Management-Applications.htm
Sawyer's Blog 
Hello Sawyer!
I really liked your post since I didn’t know any of the tools you were talking about! I tried Astrid out and I really liked it: it’s user friendly, has a nice design (loved the little octopus 😀 ) and it really helps getting your ideas clearer about the things you have to do.
One last thing, your link to the “25 Best Android Apps for Business” is not working.
Go on my blog if you feel like answering a short poll about the use of web 2.0 tools.
See you!
I agree with aureliequt, your post is quite good in that it provided information that many other students blogs have not provided, a means to organise all the web 2.0 tools.