How Do You Use the Social Web?

So how do you use the Social Web? Or maybe the better question is - do you really care? Meaning you don't worry about the details, you just use it.

There are lot of articles out there that are intent on telling us how to use Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. But to me the beauty of all this is, that we can use these platforms in any way we choose. Sure there are the intended purposes, but to me the purpose is like a recipe, and I never follow a recipe exactly. I love experimenting.

Here's the breakdown of sites I use and how I use them:

• Facebook - Real life friends only.
• LinkedIn - Work and friends.
• Twitter - I follow anyone that has something interesting (in my opinion) to say.
  
• Flickr - All photos.
• deviantART - Select photography and artwork.
• Posterous - Whims, those things that I want to capture quickly.
• FriendFeed - Overall aggregator.
  

There are other sites as well that I use: Digg and Delicious for bookmarks, YouTube and Vimeo for video, and Pandora for music. Recently I've started using Blip.fm, We Heart It, and Zimbio. Twine is something I've been meaning to spend some time exploring. I'm still looking for places for my poetry, and more in depth reviews of songs and musical artists.

So the great thing about the Social Web is that you have plenty of choices. The bad thing is that its tough to keep track and difficult to weave them all together in a usable, meaningful experience. But hopefully that will be coming soon.

The greatest thing about the Social Web is that these tools allow you to express yourself however you want. From the silly to the serious, from the passionate to the trivial. Don't worry about doing it "right", or about anyone's approval or about being popular. Just show the world what's on your mind and in your heart.