Information Overload no more! Starting 2011 off with a refreshed online persona…

January 5 2011, 4:44pm

Last week most of us made our New Year’s resolutions and this week most of us abandoned them like an old Game Boy after having lost the “Tetris” cartridge. TIP- Never take “Tetris” out of the Game Boy. It’s kinda a Game Brick without “Tetris.” It’s easier to be successful if you start off organized. So why not do a little housekeeping to ensure you are managing your online life the best that you can. You might even find yourself a little more breathing room in your social media feeds and email inbox!

Online Profiles-Your online profiles include all your social media accounts. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Gowalla, Foursquare, Quora and more all create this composite image of a certain part of who you are… At least online anyhow.This week is a fantastic time to go through all your online personae and clean house-

Never use that My Space account? Last update circa 2007? Get rid of it. Your friends likely already have.

Always bothered by event invites on Facebook? Change your settings or block the repeat offenders.

Do you have accounts with Gowalla or Foursquare but checked in once? Try it again. (We love it!)

Confused about Quora? Get to know the knowledge depot site and decide for yourself. (We love this site too)

TIP- Now is also a great time to go through your Facebook and Twitter friends and followers and do a little weeding out too. Why deal with noise when all you want is signal? You’ll be glad you did-  Recently, I removed about 200 people I was following on Twitter when it became clear they were either not adding much to the conversation or changed topics or stopped using Twitter or whatever the case might have been. My feed was instantly more relevant and useful since I had trimmed the fat-  so to speak. (Never mind the 5 extra lb’s from the recent holiday smackdown.)That Pesky Inbox-Last week, we covered using Organizer as your very own “personal assistant” in the ongoing battle to maintain your inbox. Using Organizer’s Unsubscribe Folder you can finally get rid of those emails you no longer need to receive. i.e.- Your ferret ran away. Why are you still receiving monthly “Ferrets Rock: A group devoted to Ferrets” updates? The amazing Unsubscribe Folder and the automatic sorting found in Organizer are great tools in reducing information overload. It’s easy to get a handle on the clutter in your inbox with a diligent assistant such as Organizer.  (Hope your ferret slinks his way home!)Online Privacy- Finally, the mother of all online concerns; Privacy. Take a step back and look at what information is out there. Be appalled. Relax! When you think about it, we share a lot of personal info on our social profiles but it’s fine as long you take care in what you share and how you share it. First, prioritize your involvement in all of your social media accounts and make adjustments accordingly. For example, LinkedIn can be more important when you are actively seeking a new gig so you might make sure that your LinkedIn account is more dynamic and constantly updated. Second, adjust your privacy settings in Facebook. If you followed our advice above and weeded out your contacts, you’ll be ahead of the curve. There are many different ways to filter what both your friends and others can see.TIP- Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are not popularity contests! Try to make real and meaningful connections with people and entities you either know personally, are proud to patronize or share interests with. Third, a very simple rule. If you do not want your grandmother (or boss) to see it. Don’t put it on Facebook.
These are just a few tips to help you think about a renewed and refreshed online persona for 2011. What are some of your favorite online persona tips? Chime in below, email us at help@otherinbox.com, ping us at @OtherInbox on twitter or friend up on Facebook.