It's an All-You-Can-Eat Digital World

One of my family's favorite restaurants is the Golden Corral; a restaurant chain famous for bringing new meaning to the traditional "All-You Can-Eat" concept.  From salads to sushi, there is nothing one would want for. We enter with hunger, excitement, and anticipation to sample all the new tastes and flavors. Unfortunately, we leave the experience miserable, overstuffed, and frustrated that we did not make wiser choices. So...what does my family's eating habits have to do with digital citizenship?

Every time I enter cyberspace, I feel like I am at the Golden Corral. As I log onto my computer, the same hunger and excitement enters my gut.  In this digital smorgasbord, there are endless
tools, applications, and resources to choose from. It is easy to get overstuffed, but digital natives know this: No matter how great (or FREE) the eats, you gotta know when to say enough is enough!

So, here is my lesson for the day (The teacher in me, never goes away). I present my rules for staying happy and healthy as you enjoy the smorgasbord of the Digital World:

1. Grab a small plate: It is important to start VERY small. I know it is tempting with so many scrumptious choices of tools and tricks, but less is better.
2. Select your Entree: What tool or application is your staple for staying connected. Is Blogs, Twitter, Linkedin? This should be your primary nutrient.
3. Choose one or two side dishes: These tools are important additions to the main entree. They should enhance but not overtake the meal.
4. Let's not forget dessert!: It's okay to treat yourself. There are so many free tools that may not extend your business or enhance your personal networking capabilities, but man they are sure fun! Indulge, enjoy, and explore, but do so in moderation. Too much of a good thing, is still too much!
   

Here's what my digital plate consists of:

My main entree: Of course, my blog and blog networks
My two favorite sides: Twitter and StumbleUpon
For Dessert: This tool is a researcher's dream!  I LOVE SearchMe; an incredible visual searching tool. It makes searching and researching as sweet as a piece of chocolate!

Like any good meal, everyone can chose what to put on their plates. Think carefully about what will most satisfy and sustain you. For me, I think I have found a perfect balance. Are you ready to dig in?  Bon Apetite, my friends! 

Comments

[Rosa Say]

What a great analogy Angela! Perfect, really.

And very good advice. In my saner moments I understand that optimizing a few tools instead of dabbling in the many is so much wiser, but then the new cooking aromas waft my way and all resolve goes up in the smoke...

[David Zinger]

I appreciate the idea of a small plate. I could lose a few digital pounds of information that weight me down rather than enlighten me. I spent some time at search me and quite liked it and will make use of it. My plate is primary my blogs and social network on employee engagement.

[Angela Maiers]

Rosa and David- Thank you for the sweet words. It is so true, the aroma of new learning can be so intoxicating at times, it is easy to get swept up. As David said, we need to put ourselves on "digital diets" to keep the balance!