Most people agree using social media requires a fair amount of our undivided attention to stay up-to-date, especially on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, the three most popular applications. If 500 million users are on Facebook, there is a reason for it–mostly to keep in touch with family and friends as well as business and community contacts.  Now we can either complain social media takes up too much of our time, often times of worthless activity (watching comedy videos are always good for a laugh), or we can strike a balance to keep pace with daily interaction with our much needed social networks.

Do you ever think about creating the shortest distance between two points? My pet peeve is in fact navigating the social media applications more efficiently to do just that.  So let me share with you some streamlining tips I’ve found through these simple shortcuts.

Keeping Up with Facebook News Feeds

My brother John happened to mention that he misses family and friends News feeds on Facebook. Because John is an occasional user and pressed for time, he will miss most news posted on a daily basis by his contacts. On the flip side, for daily Facebook users, especially hard core users with a gazillion Facebook friends, you could easily scroll the News feed for hours.  How do you keep up with the daunting stream of posts without missing a marketing blurb, goodnight blessing, hip-hop expression, or even a party invitation?

Here’s a solution: Set up Facebook Lists

Take a look at this quick video demonstrating why and how to set up Lists (Account>Edit Friends).  A social networking friend, Kare Anderson recently passed along Synapse3Di’s tips by Gina Schreck and where I found this Gettin’ Geeky tip.

How to Filter your News Feed

You can filter most News feeds, especially political rants, X-rated photos, and hiccups.  Family, Friends, Business Contacts, and Community Contacts is a good starting point. You may get more granular as you observe frequency of messaging and posting of your particular interests; for example, consider lists like Basketball Team, Book Club, or High School Chums–I’m sure you get the picture.

You may also realize that Facebook makes changes often (how dare they?) to where links and lists are located.  On the Home Page, select the “Most Recent” link located at the top of the center column (for now) to drop down a menu to select one of your lists (Facebook Help). Now you’re filtering the news only by list. You can track and follow up with contacts a whole lot easier this way.

Working smarter in a technological world makes sense, especially saving time. As I find more shortcuts, I’ll be glad to pass them along.