Tips For Simplifying Your Online Life (NAPSA)—A growing numberof Internet users are overwhelmed by their online life. Between multiple e-mail and social networking accounts (think MySpace and Facebook, among others), the ser- vices that were created to makeit easier to stay in touch with friends and family have become compli- cated to manage and maintain. According to a recent survey: e 79 percent of Internet users have two or more e-mail accounts while also maintaining at least onesocial networking account. 87 percent of Internet users spend a minimum of seven hours a week managing these accounts. 82 percent of Internet users wish they could have one in-box where they can check all their e-mail and social networking accounts in one place. Advanced Communications From thefirst telegraph in 1831 to the first U.S. cell phone network in 1983 and the latest computer-in- your-pocket mobile phone, the race to communicate more quickly is always on. Now,the latest craze is online communications—social networking, twittering (instant e- updates to your networkof friends) and blogging,etc. But how do we maintain control over our online communications (instead of letting them control us) and get back to a more simple way of managingall these accounts and devices? Simplifying Here are some suggestions for untangling the communications muddle: d a 5 j ; With new communications tools, it’s possible to find relief from “online overload.” spend more on cell phone services than on landlines. Choose one provider and one phone. Read the newspaperonline. Most Americans are online every day anyway, so you might as well get your newsthere as well. Cancel your print subscriptions and save a few trees in the process. Bookmark your favorite sites so you don’t have to search for them over and over again. Consider using the e-mail vacation response tool when you know you can’t check them all as regularly as usual—so that urgent matters don’t fall through the cracks. Also, consider using OpenID—asingle online login service to manageall your different passwords. Use online tools that consoli- date all your e-mail and social networking accounts into one easy in-box. One example is Fuser.com, a free online tool that allows you to check all your e-mail andsocial networking accounts at one time from a “virtual command center.” Cancel all your phone lines except for one. With the widespread adoption of the mobile You no longer need to waste time with multiple Web sites and logins to communicate with your friends, family and colleagues. To holds with a landline. In fact, 2008 is likely to be the first calendar year in which U.S. households These simple suggestions can go a long way toward makinglife a little less complicated. phone, we are seeing fewer house- learn more, go to www.fuser.com.
