There are things that merit your time and things that don’t.  The companies behind social networks need your attention for advertising dollars, but you use social networks to maintain relationships.

With a few tweaks to a website’s settings, you can make Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Twitter keep you in touch without flooding your inboxes with unnecessary notifications.  Here’s how, with a few super quick screencasts…

Continue reading…

We could all learn from Twitter’s 140 character limit.  If we were more concise and respectful of people’s time elsewhere, the world would be a happier, more productive place.

Consider this the next time someone chews your ear off.  And don’t do the same.  Here’s the why and how.

Continue reading…

Many blogs have commented on FriendFeed’s beta feature that allows you to restrict which connections’ updates appear in your feed.

I look forward to other social networks following suit—as it will be huge progress in solving the problem of social network information overload.

Continue reading…

Who do you want in your life?  I want to answer that question and discuss what to do about it.

I hoped to write a blog post explaining timezones and technology, but there are moments when computer tips just aren’t that important.

Continue reading…

The history, architecture and even cuisine come second when I’m traveling.  I want to meet people and learn through interaction.  But meeting people (especially locals) in distant cities had always been a matter of chance.

Today, social networks can stack the odds.  They made all the difference in my recent trip—and in this post I’ll describe how (with some specific tips).

Continue reading…

I’m frequently asked if I prefer Gmail or Outlook Exchange, but I happily use both. Today I posted a thorough comparison on Lifehacker, but the following is how and why I use both.

Not only will this explain how I use Gmail and Outlook, but it’ll describe a fair amount of my workflow with email and social media.

Continue reading…

Above you’ll find a video from Jonny’s Partay, where I was interviewed on Wednesday, July 9 at 9pm.

There’s a bit of talk about AwayFind, some news about DC, and of course much of what I’ve been up to. From lifehacks to batching email to mobility and travel, hopefully this’ll keep you entertained.

Continue reading…

It’s a waste of your time and mine to post notes after every talk I give on social media.  So I’ve created a comprehensive guide that I’ll try to keep updated.  It’s called Getting Started with Social Media – A Guide and Resource List.

Continue reading…

Blogging, Twitter, social networks, RSS, videos… at a certain point this stuff is no longer just fun—it takes real time and can feel like real work.

So when your hobby morphs into a job, do you work harder or take a step back?

Continue reading…

Two events this past week highlight both the size and maturity of the burgeoning web and social media community in Washington DC.

While the biggest roadblock to getting involved remains knowing where to start, Graphing Social Patterns and BlogPotomac show just how much we’ve regained our position on the map. Read on for highlights and a discussion of these events.

Continue reading…