I read a great blog post recently in which the author listed over (10) sites that he checks out every day to get his news. One commenter wondered why the author didn’t get out more – is it because he’s sitting in front of a monitor waiting for news to come in? I think that’s really what the commenter was getting at. Well, you don’t have to be stationary to receive news updates.

I offer this option – Social Media. Mainly the two networks- Twitter and Facebook. These two sites are viewed as time wasters by some. I see them as ways to improve your productivity throughout your day. You do need to follow some simple guidelines though.

Twitter – follow people or companies that you want to read about and will give you relevant information. I currently follow @ryanobles (local area Newscaster) as well as several national and local news networks, tech publications, companies and bloggers so that I can get “my” news updates. I also recommend that you use an application like Tweetdeck, TwitterBerry or UberTwitter. With these apps and your mobile phone you can get news whenever and wherever.

Facebook – sometimes the best news comes from my friend list. I once found out that two servers had just been delivered for a project that I was working on.

Also you can become a fan of companies that you have a interest in. I happen to follow Timbuk2, Chipotle and Dunkin’ Donuts. In Twitter fashion they run contests and daily promotions that you can find on their individual fan pages.

If you need help with who to follow on Twitter try Wefollow.com and @modalinc (shameless plug). As for Facebook you already have an account and hundreds of friends right? If not start with people you are genuinely interested in hearing about. Use the search field and type in a company or news outlet to see if they have a fan page. Most companies and news outlets do.

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