I am a child of a new-media generation so naturally I have embraced all that social media has to offer; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and Linkedin are all on my social radar, plus a few others.

Until recently I hadn’t realised how much of my time these social services where taking or even how many I was using; not to mention the pressure I was putting on myself trying to maintain them. This made me ponder about all the recent talk of social fatigue and the various cases of depression and addiction reported by the media.

So let’s break it down and look at each problem in isolation:

Social fatigue

This is the feeling of being totally overwhelmed with the amount of information you are receiving through your accounts, combined with the commitment you have made to update your own.

Social addiction & depression

This is a little harder to pin down as a problem, but I think most social network users would admit a certain level of addictive behaviour when using social media (I know I do). Recent studies have also shown links between Internet addiction and depression, although which comes first is uncertain. The main cause of social depression though seems to be the following of other peoples lives and the inevitable comparisons that we make between ourselves and of those that we follow.

I can see how these two conditions have entered our lives in this social revolution and why some are suffering more than others; now I am no medical professional, but from my own social media experiences I know there are things that we need to be aware of and things that we can do. Here are my suggestion of how to get the most out of social networks without reaching your natural limits:

Limit your social platforms

I have had to do some cutting back myself, I am a registered user for all the networks mentioned in the opening of this article; but I now only use three regularly, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are now my chosen networks. By all means try out all social networks but only focus on a few, this will naturally lighten the load.

Remember, everything is not what it seems

I follow a lot of people on my Twitter network, and they all seem to be having an amazing time, articulate and happy, living in sunny places with perfect families! Now, this is great and I am happy for anyone who is living life to the full; but I know how easy it is to compare your life to theirs, just remember one thing, the people you follow are only showing you one side of their life! ?Most people don’t air their dirty laundry online so we get a skewed perspective, remember, everyone has bad days and negative things happen to everyone, some just choose not to broadcast it.

Have a day off

This is easy, just have a break, whether it is the weekend or a random day in the week! This will allow you to refocus on the important things in life and to be social in the real world.

This is a new world and the full impact of our digitally connected lives is still yet to unfold. Just keep it all in perspective and make sure the balance between the digital and real world is equal.

Firstly, what is a privacy policy? In simple terms it tells you how a website is using the data they collect about you and who has access to it.

Most large websites will have a link to a privacy policy but as global law on this improves we should start seeing more of these as standard.

So now you know what a privacy policy is, but did you know that all the online giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google are in the big business of collecting and monetising their user’s data. Even in the last few days Google has announced that it is changing and more importantly simplifying its privacy policy so that it can share data across it’s giant network more easily.

If this is news to you then you need to know that Google and many other website vendors have been collecting data on their users for years and using it to better their services, sell and target those same people with advertising. For instance when you create a Google search you are presented with a number of premium search results tailored to your criteria; and this is just one way Google is using that data.
But what does that mean to us, the users?

The short answer here is that Google is unifying the data collection and usage between its many free services, so in theory it won’t be collecting any more data than before, it will just use it to be more efficient between those services, which should mean better more effective services from Google that benefit us all.

The problem here though is that if you really don’t like having your data stored then the only 100% guaranteed safe option you have is to stop using Google’s array of services completely (Extreme I know!). Having said this the EU has ruled in the last week that Google’s new policy contravenes recent European legislation to protect users; so maybe things will change for the benefit of the us; either way though Google will still get some of your data.

So, Google will be collecting your data no matter how careful you are; and where there is user data there is usually advertising! I personally don’t like behavioral adverts, they are those clever little ads that know you have just been looking at holidays; and then send holiday advert to the other websites you visit, annoying yes but definitely appropriate; so I would certainly expect that with the shared data this will only become more accurate and hopefully more useful; if, a little intrusive.

I know it sounds like Google are the big bad monster trying to use your data for evil; but in my opinion we need to remember that Google allows you to search the internet with ease, receive email, store documents, socialise and navigate online for free, they are giving something to us that improves our lives and they still need to pay the bills, is it too much to ask for a little data driven advertising for totally free services? I think not, but I can certainly understand those who do!

If you still want to limit what Google do know about you then you can try and limit how much data you give, so run searches without signing into your Google account, or in your Google account preferences check the privacy settings for each service that you use until it suits you. If this still isn’t good enough then you’ll need to look for alternative that isn’t as aggressive with your data.

I recently read Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook written by Dan Yoder, and as with all articles I read it thoroughly before passing judgement, though it did feel paranoid and biased even with the little disclaimer at the beginning.  So after taking some time to absorb his opinion I realised mine hadn’t changed, I didn’t disagree with all the points but did feel it certainly wasn’t a balanced view.

In this post I am not going to analyse each of the ten reasons individually or too closely, this will just be my opinion as a user, consumer and social being.  Just in case you haven’t read Dan’s full article (link above) I have listed the ten reasons here for easy reference.

1. The Facebook application itself sucks
2. Facebook doesn’t (really) support the Open Web
3. Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to truly delete your account
4. Facebook is not technically competent enough to be trusted
5. Even your private data is shared with applications
6. Facebook is a bully
7. Facebook is pulling a classic bait-and-switch
8. Facebook has flat out declared war on privacy
9. Facebook’s CEO has a documented history of unethical behavior
10. Facebook’s Terms Of Service are completely one-sided

Firstly, I am going to cover the repetition of reasons five, seven, eight, nine and ten.  Basically these five reasons are at the centre of the ‘paranoia’ I spoke of earlier; they state between them that Facebook is changing its terms of service so that it can share your data, making it publically available while at the hands of some unscrupulous overlord (when you say it like that you can see why I use the word ‘paranoid’!).  My issue with this perception is that Facebook is a business that offers a service for free, obviously they need to monitise this and as user data is a growing market I think they would be foolish not to focus on its potential.

So let’s take the supermarket Tesco for example, they have been collating shopper buying habits now with their ‘Clubcard’ points system for some years and I suspect they aren’t just collecting this data for the fun of it; surely it stands to reason that if they know what you are buying  they can target you more effectively and increase their profits.  My point is that either Tesco get our data and hit us or another company collects the same data and sells it to someone else, one way or another they will find the information they want.  In addition, if this data is being used for the hard sell of products then doesn’t the user simply need to become more aware and less gullible.  In addition to this, who is to say that collection of user data is a bad thing, companies selling you things you need so you don’t need to shop around may not sound that bad to some shoppers, or am I missing something?

We should also bear-in-mind that Facebook is a huge brand, like Microsoft if it steps out of line or tries to monopolise the market it is big enough to be noticed by all the authorities that matter, and they are not stupid.

Can Facebook be trusted technically and does it really support the open web?  These two views seem to me to be biased as I am pretty sure there are many other big brand names whose websites are like Swiss Cheese technically, and i don’t think it is alone in its fear of the open web, just look at the newspaper industry, the fear of not making enough money will always win unfortunately.

For balance, I do think the interface could be more intuative and stable, and if account deletion is as difficult as Dan states then this is a negative.  However, I do have a number of friends who have decided to leave Facebook for different reasons than Dan states but they didn’t seem to have any problems leaving at all!

In conclusion, Facebook has been a revolution for people in all walks of life.  It has helped millions communicate with family and friends from all around the globe, it has broken down barriers and given those who can’t get out a window into a social world; if it wasn’t Facebook offering this service and sharing the data it would be some other organisation and many already are.  Even in the last few days Facebook has announced a new simpler way of checking the privacy settings on all accounts, that certainly sounds like a company trying to do the right thing to me!