Technology today has made keeping up with the world and your industry instant. Reporters are constantly tweeting new stories, your colleagues and competitors are blogging, and now, you’re also blogging, tweeting, posting, tumbling…we could go on.

Social media is here to stay. The lives of many members of Gen Y revolve around social media, which is only going to continue to evolve. Social media benefits too many people for it to just slip by the wayside. If you are a member of one or more of the over 50+ social networking websites, you can see the value these networks provide us, such as connecting, collaborating, reuniting, and ability to broadcast your talent to the world. People visit these websites on a daily basis, sometimes spend a few hours a day talking to friends and family. This has opened a huge market for advertisers to target specific niches with age/location specifications.

With so much being put out there continuously, it can be hard, and quite frankly a little intimidating, to keep up. But you can control it. Don’t let social media overload intimidate you. Here are a few tips:

Don’t Be an Early Adopter

You could spend your entire life test-driving new sites and tools. Unless you’re billing yourself as an online strategist, sit back and let others do the hard work for you. Save yourself the trouble: Don’t bother adopting technologies before they’re ready for prime time. Take it easy and focus on things you really want to learn more about.

Filter Your Streams

If you missed checking your streams for even a day, especially Twitter, it’s going to take you a while to catch up. You’re busy–that’s understandable–but if catching up with your networks is taking too much time, then think about editing your followers/friends. Sometimes, people flood networks with unrelated information. People can post anything they’d like, but if it isn’t anything interesting or relatable to you, then maybe you should consider unfollowing them.

Remember Why You’re Part of It

Creating boundaries between social networks allows them to post personal information and photos without worrying that they’ve shared too much with managers or direct reports or even getting into trouble with HR. On the other hand, they can feel more comfortable promoting themselves and their achievements on LinkedIn and don’t have to be as concerned about coming across as a braggart to friends and family.

How do you control social media overload?