One of the panels at DragonCon this year was all about social media. Most of the authors agreed that it was a “necessary evil.” What you have to remember is that the more time you spend on any social media, the less time you’re actually spending writing.

Here are some tips I’ve developed for maximizing your time on different social media sites:

• Facebook – I follow a lot of other writing pages, and every day I cycle through the list and share anything interesting. I usually post a link to this blog, and also may add a very short blurb about what’s going on with my author self. I also have a file of writing quotes that I spent a few hours making on one of those “create-a-sign” sites – I can upload one of those if there’s nothing else interesting going on. Facebook usually takes me 15-20 minutes a day.
• Twitter – I post one writing prompt every day, and I post a link to this blog. About once a week or so, I cycle through my Twitter contacts and “retweet” interesting tweets. Twitter takes me less than 5 minutes a day.
• Instagram – Again, I have a file of interesting photos that I draw from. I try to post 2-3 images a day, and I usually do that while waiting in line for my coffee. Instagram takes me less than 5 minutes a day.
• Pinterest – It took me several hours to create a good Pinterest board for Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid, plus I also have one for general history (Back in My Time). Now, I only post to the board when I find an interesting photograph during my research – pinning a photo to your board takes less than a minute.
• LinkedIn and Google+– I’ll admit that I don’t do much at all with these sites. I have a presence, and I do link to other authors and editors, but I don’t actively post anything because I just don’t hear the “buzz” about these compared with the first four sites.

As you can see, I’ve pared my social media time down to around 30 minutes a day, which isn’t a horrible slice cut out of my writing time.

Other time-wasters I admit to:

• This blog – I try to post once a week with a “real” article, but I’ve started putting in those “short-shorts” giving my readers links to fun and interesting things I find during my research. Short-shorts take about 5 minutes a day, but the big articles can take up to 30 minutes to compose and post. I think it’s worth the effort because of the connection with the readers.
• Western Fictioneers – I have a monthly column (every second Friday), and usually spend 30-60 minutes writing the post. This is more involved than my personal blog because I have to research historical data and locate old photos to include, but I enjoy sharing my research and networking with other Western writers.
• WikiAnswers.com – I’ve been a supervisor with Answers.com for nearly 10 years, so it’s a habit I’m not willing to break myself of. I usually spend less than 15 minutes a day, however, with occasional bouts where I take an hour or so and try to answer some of the older questions that are languishing, or greeting new members.

How much time do you spend on social media? Do you think you spend too much time or not enough?

HERE’S a link to the WikiAnswers.com Creative Writing category … supervised by Yours Truly, of course. Browse through the questions and you might learn something interesting!

As some of you know, I’m also an Answers.com supervisor, over at WikiAnswers.com. My categories include “Learning Tips and Study Habits,” “Idioms and Slang,” and — of course! — “Creative Writing.” The latter also includes sub-categories such as Fiction Writing; Fan Fiction; Characters and Dialogue; Plot and Setting, Style, Mood, and Tone; and Narrative Viewpoint.

Here’s my profile – you can check out my qualifications, read some of my previous answers, and see a few of the awards I’ve accumulated over the years as a supervisor. I’m particularly proud of my “WAmmy” awards – WikiAnswers that have been voted particularly helpful. You can probably tell that I like the Answerthons, too, though I haven’t had the time to compete since I started writing professionally.

WikiAnswers is a fun site. Not only can you find the answer to whatever you want to know, but you can just browse the site for fun questions, additional information, or just see what pops up that strikes your interest. I like to scroll through my categories periodically to see what sorts of questions have been asked and answered. Sometimes, I add my own remarks. I also like to try to personally answer anything that’s been sitting there for a few months, because I know how frustrating it is to have a question and not be able to find an answer anywhere.

You can get started on the site here – it’s a walk-through guideline – or you can just pop in and start asking and answering.

Do you have a favorite information website? Tell us all about it!