Making Social Media a Habit. Or Not.

One of the most challenging things about Social Media is that it’s a new way of doing business. Not something we necessarily planned for in our day, and something well, we’re not quite used to. We’re not in the habit of doing it every day, but we’re gettin’ there, right?

Now, as the successful social media practitioner or evangelist of  your company, you are trying to make it your habit. You’ve got a handle on Facebook, you totally get Linkedin, and are slowly getting the hang of Twitter. You’re listening, building a community, engaging, learning, measuring, reporting back to whomever you need to report to.

You’re now in your social media habit. You’ve got your routine down. Facebook? Check. Twitter? Check. Google Reader for RSS Feeds? Check.

But not so fast.

Are you sure you want to get in the “habit” of doing the same thing every day? Some of you have probably been using Tweetdeck for the past year or so? Habit? Probably. Open your eyes and check out the world of Seesmic Desktop, or just head back to Twitter.com.

• Instead of heading directly to wordpress to blog every day, why not go to tumblr.com, posterous.com, or back to Friendfeed?
• Are you STILL using Snapfish or Kodak to share photos? Seriously?  Why not try Flickr? or Picasa or SmugMug?
• Looking to get a Flip HD Camera for Christmas? Avoid the hype, the Kodak zi8 is much better…

Bottom Line. If you’re going to live and work in the social media world, I’d get used to mixing things up, because, well for now, things are still being mixed up. Change is good. Change makes you think with new perspective about the value and relevance of each social media application.

Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are today’s sparkly social media platforms, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be just as relevant a year from now. Take some time to explore one new application or “thing” a week. You’ll think a bit differently about social media, and how you and your company use it.