Comcast Bonnie replies to at least 400 tweets per day, and she is human.

According to a recent New York Times article, Comcast Bonnie  (Bonnie Smalley, a customer service representative for Comcast) also answers a hundred or so more messages via email, MySpace, Second Life and LinkedIn. The article details several methods Ms. Smalley employs to deal with this superhuman volume of messages, but for most people, the amount of messaging now bombarding their online persona is reaching unmanageable levels.

Anyone dipping a tentative toe into social media will quickly be amazed by the volume of messages that can bombard them each day. One challenge for businesses looking to make commercial use of social media is how to make their voices heard above the noise, and it seems nobody has yet found a sweet spot of an optimal number of posts per day or per week. Take Twitter. Some corporate twitterers post several time a day, while others choose to do so infrequently. Of course having an interesting or useful message to say is of paramount importance, but is it more likely to be heard if it is one of many of your tweets? Or maybe every tweet should count, and less is more?

In one sense it depends on who’s listening. Some people revel in noise, and can pick out useful nuggets effortlessly. Others tend to tune out if there is too much to take in, and I’d count myself in their number. Today on logging in I saw 10-12 posts from one source and considered un-following them before even reading one entry. Much like real life, some people tend to be drawn to extroverts who love the sound of their own voices, while others prefer the company of more silent types that choose their words more carefully.

For organizations, there is no way to tell how the recipients  reacts to the quantity of messages received through whatever medium is used to stay in touch. Instinct tells me though that the ratio of useful messages to the total needs to be quite high to prevent busy people zoning out. Not everyone has the skills of Comcast Bonnie.