Social musings... and TIME on FB and fogies

Among other things for work, I have been tasked with analyzing the major social media outlets and recommending which of them I feel would be a good fit for our organization, and at what level of participation.

Between Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Digg, countless Ning communities, Twitter and the countless other outlets out there, I've come to a couple of major realizations:

1. In order to remain current in social media you have to be one of two things (1) young, with time on your hands and the confidence to play with each new wave or (2) an early adopter.
   
2. Becoming an effective early adopter of every. trend. out. there. requires time. Lots and lots of time. Like, full time.

While I am a devotee of social media (thanks initially to Robert French and a little class called Style and Design in Public Relations Messages), I do get overwhelmed. This is not my full time job. This is one aspect of a much larger job - and as the designated "social media girl" I am the only one officially charting these waters at the office for the organization.

Questions I'll work on - and pass along here - as I find answers:

• What new media outlets are the best for organizations? Specifically, non-profit, science heavy organizations? It seems to me a lot of social media (Twitter, online communities and others) are best utilized by individuals unoficially tied to an org.
• How much time out of my work day should I spend on these outlets? On which should I concentrate most of that time?
• Other than reading Mashable and Twitter... and about 500 marcom pro's blogs religiously, is there a good, consistent way to stay current with the latest technologies?
  

Staying current is key, and I am aware of this - but I also want to tailor these outlets to work for me (as an individual) and more importantly, for my organization. Any ideas or suggestions for a new approach? I'm overwhelmed!

...

Oh yeah - and I think I'm quitting Facebook soon -

TIME Magazine on Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies

My favorite is number three:

3. We never get drunk at parties and get photographed holding beer bottles in suggestive positions. We wish we still did that. But we don't. (See pictures of Beer Country in Denver.)

Funny, while I'm slightly irked about the fogies overrunning Facebook, I am envious that they (aside from the occasional, unphotographed, indescresion) have outgrown this phase. I have not.

Enjoy!

And, if you have some pointers for me about the former, please help!

Photo from the mentioned Time article.