Yes, there needs to be a balance. Part of the difficulty is when you feel pulled in different directions at the same time.

The key is to set boundaries (as someone rightly pointed out) and stick with them as best you can. If situations come up where you overstep those boundaries, don't beat yourself up over it (again, as someone rightly pointed out) because it happens.

I think it's great to go “unplugged” at least one day a week. Connecting with the IRL important people who are with you (spouses, kids, significant others, close friends, etc.) is too important to neglect.

But yes, that means spending all day on Twitter. And let's make one thing clear for those who think Twitter doesn't travel: you can be on your phone tweeting so that doesn't mean you're glued to the computer screen, rather a much smaller screen.

Like alcohol, use social media in moderation. Those that find social media as a way to feel worth or fulfilled during the day is what some would call disturbing– and moreover, an addiction.

I have rules when I leave the office:
- Enjoy the company of my fiancee
- If there's a valuable chat session on Twitter, jump in for 1/2 hour to an hour
- Check facebook for 1-2 hours, which includes sharing some content that my friends would love to know about
-Finally, silence the mobile fun at night so I don't hear sounding notifications of twitter, facebook, gmail, work mail, etc.

Now, my hope is that these people wanted to get back to real life relationships and were excited to see friends and family (not just miserable at work), but I think it raises an interesting concern. Building relationships online seems almost more difficult than in real life (certainly more time consuming).

It doesn't seem to matter how fast a typist you are, online relationships do not allow us (internet marketers who are concerned about reputation at least) to speak as freely or as quickly as we might in person. Additionally, it can take so long to earn a “friend” or “follower” in the online world, but losing one seems to be quite easy.

I am certainly not a king of social media (I do not have an outrageous number of followers on Twitter and do not submit regularly to Digg or Reddit), so I cannot say. I personally think it is most important to keep being yourself and doing what you do, and not to let social media run your life.

I can definitely see how someone who fully depends on a group of people they may never have met in person would feel as though they constantly had to be working on that relationship. In the process it is pretty easy to see how real life relationships could suffer.

My first level response? It is probably quite reasonable to become an expert/success in one area of social media and maintain a “real life.” However, I have my doubts that people could have a massive following across many mediums of social media (unless of course they are a celebrity) without their personal relationships suffering.

What a fabulous batch of comments you have below. I really like what Keith said about not feeling guilty; that's important. Because 1) you did nothing wrong and 2) guilt isn't productive. I love sharing this little trick, when I feel stressed or spread too thin, I start tagging #Balance2010 on my tweets. It's a great reminder to myself and others. And when I see that on my tweets, it helps me put things into perspective.

I also agree with Linds that it can seem like some users are on Twitter from the minute they get up to the minute they hit the hay. I've learned to be inspired and challenged by these users; many of them have monetized their time and effort on social media. Some enjoy themselves heartily and when it's time for their teleseminar, webinar, or whatever they're hosting, their tweeps are automatically in. And they make sales from then on. It's part of a strategy. Or, they have a team under them and that is how work is getting done although it appears they're on Twitter 24 hours a day.

Sometimes, seeing what's behind the scenes for others can help you breathe a sigh of relief. We've all been given 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year. What will you do with yours?

I admit that I've got “online friends” and “offline friends”, but my key to social media has always been to connect back to real life. I doubt it will happen, but I would like to meet everybody I've connected with online over the past couple years. It doesn't have to take time away from my “real life” because it fits in so seamlessly.

The biggest step, for me, was realizing that I don't need to see every item in my news feed on Facebook or every tweet in my stream. I see what I see and I miss what I miss – life (real and online) goes on.

Excellent topic. The main person who comments on my Twitter use is my fiance. I use Twitter more than any other social network and find myself clicking the UberTwitter icon on my BlackBerry while we're out to eat. I've tried to curb that addiction by leaving my phone in my purse while we're out to eat.

On another note, there are some people who seem to be on Twitter literally from the time they get up until they are in bed that night. I often wonder how in the world they get anything else accomplished during the day. Even if social media is part of your job, I doubt staying on Twitter all day is what you're supposed to be doing!

Also, social media users do need to find a balance and still connect with people offline, IMO.

Lindsey