Which social media do you open first?

(I almost added “in the morning” to the above question, but I may have a few readers outside the publishing world who do not network while they do most everything else.) 

I confess to being a Tweet-aholic! Virtually every morning I open my Tweetdeck, followed by two email accounts, Facebook, then peek at a handful of Yahoo loops, Linked In, Ning groups, and Goodreads groups. I can’t say when it happened, but somewhere in the past year I found, for the time I had available, the short reads of Twitter give me many more connections, more instruction, more helpful information, and more breaking news. An important plus over FB is that with fewer graphics, it feeds faster. Shorter posts allow me to read more and scroll less. Time efficient. Also, the concise 140 characters, which once frustrated me, keeps my mind from being as cluttered with excess baggage. If I want to know more, I can choose whether to click on the available link.

Recently I’ve discovered a terrific new organizational tool which makes my link surfing, from any media source, even easier. I always run onto a couple great blog posts I want to spend more time with on the one or two days each week I dedicate more time to social media. Instapaper.com allows me to save the link with one click. Simply sign up for a free account and drag the “Read Later” icon into your bookmarks. When you come onto that post to save, click on the “Read Later” in your favorites. One click—really that easy. Instapaper.com also offers the ability to create files to sort those links.

Some people enjoy networking more than others. But, if we intend to get other things done, devices that make networking quicker are a plus. If my Tweetdeck doesn’t operate, it’s not a good day. Being able to use one screen to glance across the last few minutes to hour of posts in a dozen friend categories or key word searches is something FB cannot match.

Do you use any apps of services that speed your networking? Please share.

And…which social media do you open first (in the morning)?