10 Tips for Managing Social Media Burnout « Nonprofit Tech 2.0

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Six months ago I came pretty close to complete social media burnout. I was running over 20 social networking profiles, logging in seven days a week, and at minimum pulling 60-hour work weeks. My brain was completely fried and those around me were getting pretty fed up with the fact that I was never present, only connected… online, all the time. Even when I wasn’t at home at my desk, I was on my iPhone updating Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. I have spent the last few months making some significant changes. I am now down to 7 profiles, 5 days a week, and a 45-50 hour work week.

My chosen profession requires complete dedication to social media and not everyone is as extreme as I was/am, but as social media continues to penetrate the nonprofit sector, more and more nonprofit staff and interns will experience social media burnout. Here’s a few tips on how to deal with it:

1. Don’t update your organization’s profiles on the weekend.

If you are managing numerous social networking profiles Monday-Friday, then you need some down time on Saturday and Sunday. Social media can be addictive and for some it’s hard to turn it off on Friday afternoons, but for long-term sustainability, it’s necessary to draw the line in the sand and shut it down on the weekends.

The good news is that I have found using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. on the weekends is actually counterproductive. I tend to lose more followers, fans and friends on weekends than during the week, and my stats show that there is very little ROI [Return on Investment] in terms of traffic, e-mail newsletter and mobile subscribers, event sign ups, etc. from working on the weekends.

2. Pick a time to quit in the evening and stick ...

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http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/10-tips-for-managing-social-media-burnout/

http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/10-tips-for-managing-social-media-burnout/