Photo by sidewalk_story

It took a while, but Spring has finally come to Minnesota. So, squinting in the sunlight and gasping the fresh air pouring through newly opened widows, my thoughts turned to cleaning, de-cluttering and purging all the stuff that has piled up around here. Then I started to think about the state of my social networks (of course). After all, the potential audience exposed to my garage is fairly small compared to my varied online nooks and crannies. It’s also more fun to blog about this than organize my closets.

Perhaps your own social networks could use a bit of tidying up? Here are some ideas:

• Blogs - Just like that scary kitchen drawer that accumulates all the stuff that doesn’t have a home, blogs can become cluttered as well. Does your sidebar need sweeping? Too many badges and widgets can really distract users and slow down your page’s load time. How about under the hood? Are you using the most current version of your blogging software? If you’re a WordPress user, this is a snap (one click after installing the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin) Speaking of plugins, are yours up to date? Again, Wordpress makes this simple with the plugin auto upgrade feature built into version 2.5. Finally, give your blogroll a once over. Links working? Still want to include everyone? Any new additions you’ve been putting off?
• Other Social Networks - If you’re like me, and join every new social site that catches your eye, you may have a collection of seldom (or never) used accounts on your hands. Now’s the perfect time to let some of these go. Why leave unused profile pages lying around waiting to be indexed by search engines? Also consider the impression users of that network will have of you if your page looks abandoned. More and more sites are making the cancellation or deletion of accounts a simple process. Take advantage of this and weed your social garden. You should also tend to those networks you do participate in. Is all your information current on your various profiles? How recent is your buddy icon or photo? Do you really need all those Facebook apps? Is your profile page an accurate reflection of how you want to be portrayed?
• Feed Readers - How many RSS feeds do you subscribe to? 20? 100? 500? Its easy for your reader of choice to get out of control (although Garrick Van Buren is doing some interesting things to combat this with Cullect.com). Take a few minutes to revisit the sites in yours and do some pruning. Chances are, there are more than a few that no longer have value to you. A little breathing room will also help the feeds you do care about rise to the top (and blossom, if you will)

Devoting just a few hours to eliminating your online clutter will yield long-lasting results. Your social network presence will sparkle. You’ll feel better and so will your subscribers, fans, friends and contacts.

Now if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my attic.

Tags: blogs, cullect, facebook, feedreaders, socialnetworks, springcleaning, wordpress