By: Jane Evans

Jane Evans is a content creator extraordinaire from Australia who is on Twitter and runs a Website called Giant Leap.

My name is Jane and I’m a Facebookaholic, and an all around Social Media Enthusiast.

You know you are verging on it when your tween daughters open Twitter accounts so they can tweet things like “what’s for dinner?” and “Can I have a new Club Penguin account” Which is code for “Mum you’re spending too much time in your office – come home.”

Fortunately home is only a few yards away, and they’re only Twittering because it’s more fun than Skype, which we usually use as the home video intercom.
Yes, we’re a family of girl geeks.

Recently we had a choice, laptops or pay tv – we chose laptops, I’m glad we did.

The girls love Mushi Monsters, Club Penguin and Rune Scape just as much as they loved Family Guy, and they can see the best bits of that (and more) on Youtube.
As for me, I can do business, chat with friends and discover the world with Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter with a little bit of Skype and Blip.fm on the side.

A lot of my friends can’t quite get to grips with all this social media, they’re just starting to understand Facebook and are using it in interesting ways, but Twitter is a mystery to them and nothing is further from their minds than Linkedin.
However, spend time with all of them you will find a world of entertainment and opportunity far more interesting than channel nine could ever dish up.

Here’s how I break down my Social Media Activity:

Facebook: My biggest rule is; to be my friend on Facebook, you have to be a friend in real life. I couldn’t think of anything worst than opening my page and seeing a stream of ridiculous quizzes completed by strangers, yet there’s something weirdly voyeuristic when you’ve actually met the contestants. And when they put up a picture you want to go and see the whole album. I recently watched my nephew’s complete trip to South America shot by shot, update by update. Do you think an auntie (no matter how cool) would be given that information any other way? Every birth is celebrated, every birthday acknowledged, every cry for help answered. I get to share so much more of life’s moments with those I love (and acquaintances I care about).

Twitter: Twitter is completely different from Facebook and although Facebook has a much larger user base it seems like anybody who is somebody is on Twitter. I only have one rule; if you have ‘guru’, ‘life coach’, ‘social marketing expert’ or ‘conservative’ in your profile description, I will not follow you. I don’t want a million tweets on ‘how to make money on the internet’ or links to anti abortion sites. I have found the best clips from Youtube, great design tips and the answer to almost every technical dilemma on Twitter. I have followed news stories in real time as if I’m reading the wire in a news studio. I have met interesting people, heard interesting stories and been sent to places I’ve only dreamed of on the net.

I got an umprompted direct message from Bootsie Collins (Parliament). I think I spent the whole of 1976 dancing round my bedroom to ‘The Clones of Dr Funkenstein’ ( I was a weird kid!) I asked him how he knew I was a funkateer (it was a whole different language back then) his response was: “You got funk and you got style, your an all around StarChild. P-Funk love & hugs! Bootsy baby!!!” I blipped immediately this tune (Yes, I’m still weird).

But how do you make the most of Twitter? It’s simple really:

• Follow great people with something interesting to say.
• Tell everyone you know the REALLY interesting things they say (retweet)
• Say interesting things to others

As with all social media, what you get out, is proportionate to what you put in. But if you don’t have time to do that on twitter, then just follow a few hand picked news channels and celebrities you love, that’s enough.

But if you want to explore alternate realities with like-minded people then add as many as possible (and delete them if you don’t like what they say).

Skype is for people you want to chat to for hours (and you don’t mind them seeing you when your hair’s a mess.

Blip.fm lets you express yourself and be your own DJ.

And Linked in? This tweet I got the other day says it all:

“You create content? We should do business, here’s my Linkedin profile”

Maybe I am addicted, but I think I’m addicted to something good, useful and potentially profitable. So do I think my ten year old should really have a twitter account? When she sends tweets like this she should! “Hey guys, I know I always say this, but my mum rox!”