While my life continues to get busier and busier each day, I am faced with the challenge of how to manage the increasing activity. Each day, I juggle work, healthy living, and my personal life with varying degrees of success. Work/life balance has always been important to me but it is amazing how fast one or the other can take over if you aren’t careful.

Not helping this situation at all is the constant lure of new social media websites and iPhone applications that seem to launch each week. For example, a few months ago I started to see posts from friends that were done through FourSquare. I pride myself on being an early adopter of new technology and have been the first in line to buy a new device or sign up for a new service more than once. In this case, I was a bit conflicted - I already spend a ton of time on Facebook and Twitter, both online and on my iPhone, so how would I be able to add another application into my life without upsetting my current balance?

With some hesitation, I jumped in and signed up for a FourSquare account after asking a friend of mine what he thought of the application. In no time at all, I was checking in here and there several times a day and sharing the updates with friends. I was primarily able to do this because FourSquare allowed me to sign up using Facebook Connect. so I didn’t have to create a whole separate account. I was then able to Tweet and post my status to Facebook, reducing my need to sign into those two services separately to do customized updates. So while I am now accessing a 3rd application on a regular basis, it feels like I am netting out with the same level of diversion.

But wait, there is more.

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Most people who follow me on Facebook and Twitter have come to realize that I’m not shy about expressing my opinion about AT&T Wireless’ lack of coverage and poor service in my city and neighborhood—which just so happens to be Los Angeles, California.

For the last two years, I have had little to no coverage in my home and other areas of Los Angeles, often getting the “Searching” or “No Signal” notice on my phone. Last time I checked, LA is the second largest city in the US, which makes me wonder why one of the biggest wireless providers isn’t delivering in one of our nation’s biggest cities.

My neighbors and friends, equally frustrated with the lack of service, have also tried everything to voice their opinions—ranging from calling AT&T, to going to their stores, which ironically, had no signal inside the store (aka the store on Beverly and La Cienega).  One of my friends even carries a newspaper ad in his back pocket showing AT&T’s claims for excellent coverage in LA.  None of these efforts proved to be worthwhile.

Making matters worse are the endless Luke Wilson commercials touting AT&T’s fantastic coverage. Don’t mock me Luke Wilson. I doubt you’ve spent endless hours on the phone with AT&T trying to get the service that you paid for.

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I believe that the best stories out there are ones that are from personal experience, filled with the joys and anguish we get ourselves into.  This is one of those.

Since I got my 73 year-old father to join Facebook and Twitter, he has had a ton of questions on how to use it.

“What is the difference between my Homepage and my Profile?”

“If I write on your wall, does everyone see it?”

“How do I tell just you that you are an amazing son?”

OK, I stretched the truth a bit oh that one but you get the idea.  Answering these questions for him took a lot of patience and some revisiting of previous lessons but I think I got him to good place on how to communicate appropriately on these platforms.  Luckily, my dad does not have a smartphone so would not need additional lessons on how to not embarrass oneself while out and about.

So, you might think that since I am such an active user and have the ability to teach others, I would be a master of all the nuances of the websites, as well as their slick iPhone applications.

Not so fast.

While I was on the iPhone app recently, I received a Facebook email, that I thought was just for my eyes only.  It was not a very complex email, and actually contained an invite to a nice party on the weekend.  Sweet – I’ll have something to do this weekend instead of catching up on episodes of 30 Rock.  I hit reply and went into detail about my week, what was going on this weekend, and some little quips that only my friend would have been able to understand.  I believed that my friend would respond with a smartass reply and all would be well in the world once I got back to my computer.

OOPS.

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Today’s entry is brought to us by our guest blogger, Jeff Last.

Why is a meteorologist contributing to a social media marketing site’s blog?  I don’t have a book or a super-absorbent shammy cloth to sell.  I’m not a star (although my wife and son gave me the nickname “Hollywood Jeff” years ago, but that’s for another blog).

How can weather be part of today’s social media?

Weather affects our lives.  Severe weather is a leading cause of damage to personal property.  The U.S. has sustained 90 weather related disasters in the last 30 years with overall damages exceeding $1 billion per event!  Extreme weather results in thousands of deaths and injuries annually.

Reducing the affect of weather on individuals and property requires knowledge and preparation.  Agencies, like the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS), rely on fast and efficient dissemination of information to alert the public of trouble and tell them what to do if they are in danger.  As a matter-of-fact, dissemination of this information is as important as the information itself.  An advance warning of a tornado is useless if no one hears it.

Therein lies the point of this missive.

Many decades ago, weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather were “broadcast” to the public in only a couple of forms (the newspaper probably the most popular).  It wasn’t until 1921 when the University of Wisconsin made the first successful use of radio to broadcast weather forecasts and advisories.

Fast forward to today.

A growing segment of the population is leaving traditional media to get their weather information elsewhere.

This next generation of weather consumer must be reached.

So, what did I do?  I started office Twitter and Facebook fan pages to dip my toes into the sea of social media.  These sites have gained followers and fans in the two months they’ve been around with no official promotion or advertising.  The information posted to these pages is what can be found on our website or on NOAA Weather Radio (the “voice” of the NWS), but social network sites allow for contact with a different market, typically younger adults and professionals that look well beyond traditional media for information.  In addition, as social media promotes a dialogue, our consumers have another way to interact with us.

Social media allows me to promote weather safety and disseminate weather information to a segment of the population who may not have been listening before.  And best of all, I can brag about the wonderful weather in northeast Wisconsin to all of my friends in southern California.

Jeff Last is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NOAA National Weather Service in Green Bay, WI.  Jeff has been in the weather business for over 20 years, but only recently became addicted to social media thanks to a certain EVP of an L.A.-based social media marketing company.  Please follow him on Twitter @jefflast because his weather alter-ego twitter page (@nwsgrb) has more followers than he does.

While we’re on the topic of celebrity Twitterers, I’d like to single out one of my faves: Dave Navarro (@davenavarro6767).

Shaq (@THE_REAL_SHAQ - yeah, the caps are forgiveable in his case) holds a place in my heart as Fave Celeb on Twitter, but Dave has a few things going for him: he’s the guitarist in one of my all time favorite bands, Jane’s Addiction; his Tweets are pretty entertaining and - perhaps most importantly -  he has a penchant for featuring what looks to be a Barbie in all kinds of compromising Twitpics.

Barbie getting up close and personal with a guitar?  Check.  Barbie bent over a toilet after a big night? Check.  He cares about his girl’s safety and makes her wear her seatbelt (I know, I’ve seen the Twitpic).

Dave posts photos of what’s “now playing” on his car stereo, his breakfast dates, and dentist appointments.  He must be doing something right: I look forward to the banalities of his life as if he were a friend…plus, he never fails to crack me up.  You have to check it out.

Be sure to catch Dave and Jane’s Addiction with one of my other all time favorites on the road this Spring/Summer. It’s the Nine Inch Nails/Jane’s tour aka NIN/JA. (And while we’re on the topic, Trent Reznor @trent_reznor is a damn fine social media maverick, too - have you seen his cool new iPhone app?)

Most people who know me well know one of my biggest complaints is that I have no cell signal whatsoever in my home.  I am in what they call a “black hole” - an area in Los Angeles (yes, Los Angeles!) that gets nothing but garble on not just one, but two AT&T cell phones. I’m that tool who actually drives my car three blocks just to use my phone.

I’ve thought about ditching both phones and going to a different carrier, but the truth is…

I <3 my iPhone.

Imagine my joy over the news today that Skype is launching an iPhone application. Oh Praise Jeebus! While Apple and AT&T have put some restrictions on it (you can’t do ALL your calling with Skype, just over internet via Wi-Fi) still, this could be life changing for this dual cell phone toting gal. With the Skype iPhone app, you’ll be able to make free VoIP calls to other Skype users. If you want to call a landline or cell, Skype provides low cost calls to those phone numbers too.

And the reviews are in: Awesome.

Some people think this might be a step toward the end of cell plans as we know it, and that we’ll soon just be paying for data plans. Others are critical of the application’s shortcomings.  What’s most important to me– it’s one step closer to enjoying my phone(s) in my home and not putting up with lousy service from my wireless carrier.

Whether or not it poses a threat to AT&T remains to be seen, I’m just happy to be able to use my iPhone again.