I've been noticing recently that my blog reading habits have changed significantly in the past few months. In fact, I read far fewer blogs than I did just a few months ago. Twitter and Facebook have changed that for me. I'm still an avid believer in blogs and can't imagine that I'll ever stop. But my social networking is more diverse now than it used to be. Each tool has its value:

Facebook...

1. Gives me valuable connection to people from my past.
2. Exposes a different audience to my blog posts (through Facebook Notes) and my tweets (through Facebook status updates). I have 1200 Facebook friends, and I'm guessing 80% of them don't connect with me anywhere else.
3. Is more personal. It is the place I upload pictures of my family, our vacation or a recent house renovation project.
4. Gives me a connection to my teens and their friends.

Twitter...

1. Is an instant feedback tool. I've been in numerous meetings where we are looking for a resource. I can ask the question on Twitter and have a dozen answers within minutes.
2. Spreads influence. Last week I tweeted a quote by Beeson during a staff meeting. The quote was quickly re-tweeted by 11 other people to a total of 5,545 followers...all within 18 minutes.
3. Makes leaders real. I love hearing that Dave Ferguson prioritizes his family and is going to his kids game and that Mark Batterson is a 48-year old on Wii Fit. It's just good to know that people you respect are real.
4. Gives me bite-sized teasers to blog posts. The ones that interest me are the ones I click on.
5. Connects me to more than 1400 "followers" (not my word, that's part of the Twitter vocabulary). I only officially follow a few, but I visit many more every day as others link to them.

6. Is easy to review from my phone, anywhere, any time.

Blogging...

1. Gives me an outlet for writing. I'm not a verbal guy...I'm a writer. Writing gives me energy and renews my passion. Blogging gives me that outlet. Knowing that 3,000+ people may read my words on any given day makes me breath deeply and suck air!
2. Is a great journaling tool. I'm not a journal guy -- but I see and appreciate the value in journaling. I can look back at a few years of blogging and re-live some of my journey along the way.
3. Is easy to archive. Pretty much anything I've ever blogged is easy to find and retrieve.
4. Helps me stay connected to the thoughts of my friends, my staff, my leaders, and my mentors. I get a glimpse into their hearts and minds when I read what they've been blogging.

I'm curious, am I the only one whose social networking habits are changing? How have yours changed?