Social Media – Problem Solver or Productivity Killer?

I'm with you. I've got MySpace to keep up with friends (never did facebook, as it didn't support my school for a long time), LinkedIn because I'm sure I'll need it at some point, and then the blogs I read. It almost goes back to the idea that "there is a time and a place for everything. It's called college".

All those social media tools — blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn — are definitely both useful and productivity killers at the same time. I love checking out blogs like this, keeping up with friends on Facebook, and even trying to add professional contacts on LinkedIn. However, the problem is that people like doing these things from their job! So while they're all useful in their own ways, they also clearly take away from the job we're supposed to be doing when we are on those sites. I think most people use those tools while at work because they figure they have to be at the office sitting in front of a computer anyway, so why not. When we go home though, we don't think of stalking people on Facebook or networking via LinkedIn. So is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think we're probably all still trying to figure that out. I mean, I'm writing this right now from work!

You never know where the next opportunity is going to present itself- it might be on Facebook, it might be through Twitter, or it might come through your blog. I'm with you all the way because social media can be a time suck, but don't forget the counter argument that you're closing valuable communication channels.

http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/how-many-social-networks-is-too-many-for-our-personal-brands/

I've spoken about this before as well. I can't find my blog post where I mention the 3 part selection criteria for joining social networks but its:

1) Volume – don't join one that has 100 people
2) Credibility – the strength of the individuals is key
3) Relevancy – it has to be relevant to you and meet your needs

@Dan Schwabel

Your first rule seems like it can end up being counter to the second and third rules. Sometimes volume can decrease the strength of the network. It's more than 100 people but look at the excess noise and crap that facebook generates now that they've opened up the platform to developers and expanded to include more than just college students. It used to be a much more efficient system before it grew.

I would love to see a social network that was just my contacts and people connected to me through my contacts by one degree. Once the volume gets past that efficiency and effectiveness is going to decrease on some level.

Lately, I've been in the process of trimming down the social media I use also. I have to remind myself constantly to check messages, update pages, etc. If you aren't going to use a social medium effectively, it's best just to let it go. Although, sometimes it's hard to resist the draw of a new trend generating a lot of buzz (hence my Twitter account).

There's also a value to utilizing a diverse range of social media. Using Facebook, blogs and LinkedIn sounds like a perfect combination. Good luck with your decision, it sounds like it'll work out well!!

What I'd like to see if the realization that social mediums are not necessarily suitable for professional endeavors. Facebook is a social networking site, and there is no reason to try to strong arm it into being a professional tool. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. I agree that in general, it is a "productivity waster" for 99% of the time, because I would imagine that percentage of logins are from people who are intentionally distracting themselves from their work or studies.

Very timely post, Ryan. Just because it exists doesn't mean you have to use it.

Ryan, nice post. Thanks for the glowing endorsement as well.

The thing I don't like about using so many social media sites is that I'm friends with the same people on all of them. I don't see the point of having the same contacts on multiple platforms – so I use Facebook, since I had it first and I've put the most "social equity" into it. Someone mentioned earlier that you can cut off channels of communication by not participating in certain networking sites, but that really depends on who you are interacting with. If it's your friend that's also on facebook, in your address book, and in your cell phone, you don't need another channel to talk to them.

Blogs are different to me because many times they are as much about the ideas as the person writing them, and most of the blogs I read are not from people I'm friends with on Facebook. They're also where I get my inspiration for my own blog.

I like the third point Dan wrote – that the social media tool must add value. I think that should be the golden rule as to whether you use the tool or not. This post is a reminder to everyone to make sure you're getting value out of the time you put in to social media!

When reading this post, I was a little surprised that this realization had only recently come to you. Very few socially active, entrepreneurially minded, incredibly busy individuals I know have ever spent much of their time on Twitter, MySpace, online games, and the like. To highly productive, past-paced people, these sort of entertainments or networks have always stood out as a clear waste of time. While it can be fun to look at pictures on Facebook of the party you attended the previous weekend, it is far too easy to keep clicking into different albums or different peoples' profiles and have two or three hours go by without noticing.

As you say, there are some clear advantages to at least being a member of networks like Facebook or Linked In, both to hook back up with old friend and to make new connections. However, the people who spend all their time interacting with the world through these social networking tools are most likely not spending a lot of time interacting with the world in other ways such as hanging out with friends (in person), excelling at their job, getting their side project going, or attending movies, plays, or other cultural events.

Ryan,

I agree the social media can be time consuming and confusion entials which to properly utilize to create growth in your industry. I am stilll working on "stream lining my symphony" to be amazing and still lound.
LinkedIn is great for the business side and blogs keep the social ideas and blood flowing.

I think the overarching theme of all the comments is to only use the social media tools that you will completely take advantage of. There is no point in "kind-of" using ten social networks. You get a lot more out of taking advantage of every feature on one or two.

I really like Dan's rule about social media adding value as well. If its not helping you in some way, personally or professionally, its just a waste of time.

Thanks for all the comments!

-Ryan

As someone who does'nt have all that much time on his hands to begin with, social media (even facebook) can eat up tons of time that could have been spent on studying, drafting pleadings or court documents, or writing my weekly column. So I think nearly all forms of social media can take away time from your responsibilities.

But despite that, we do it anyway because of the advantages they offer. Minimizing the social media you use is good, and even i have done that (albeit unconsciously). I dropped friendster and haven't read as many blogs as I used to, and in fact, I don't even update my facebook that often anymore either.

I guess sometimes you just have to decide what is a more productive use of your time. General rule is that social media may not be that productive, especially if you have a dozen deadlines staring you in the face.

Of course, if managing the social media is your responsibility (like if you were a problogger or if blogging was integral to your business), then dabbling in it would be productivity already haha…

I agree, Ryan. I am trying to simplify my life, as well. Facebook will not go away, and I am getting into LinkedIn as well. I will keep up with my Stumbleupon account, because I am active there. Other than that, I don't have time for all of these gimmicky social media sites either. I think one of the most important aspects of being more productive is simplifying your life.

also, I've decided to stick to google applications only, such as only gmail for email, only google reader for RSS feeds, and only picasa for web albums. I know flickr is probably better, but I like sticking to one platform that all strings together.

I just got back from FOWA in Miami where the theme of the whole event was making social sites easy for the user. This is coming people. With the advent of OpenID, Google's Open Social and sites like Plaxo, users are able to join multiple social networks and manage them from one place.

Social networking is a time killer but I would not be where I am at today if I didn't waste a few hours, send out some messages and meet new people from across the globe. I'm not saying that Social Networking is the end all be all, I am saying that you "can" manage your online sites, and the big social networks and internet corps know this.

In going with what Dan said and taking it a step further, you need to be where the people who will help you out are. If they are on Myspace, go there. If they are bloggers, go there. Twitter has played an huge role for me while Facebook has fizzled.

It's all about community and managing that community. Go where the conversations that affect you are. Or you can be like me and join a new network everyday. But that's kinda nuts and very unproductive.

Thanks. Great article, and comments. I'd add that it takes a while to know if a social network is worthwhile or not.

I've joined a half dozen interest groups, and then dropped half within a couple days. A couple others I've just let lapse, after visiting them and not being sure it really worked for me (too tedious to meet others, little in common, too anonymous with seemingly little connection to the real world, where after all I spend most of my real time). I try to go back and delete my information, instead of just letting it hang out there, but it can happen.

I wonder how many other people on some of the internet networks aren't really there "there" either. The best ones, a handful, are ones I go back to again and again, even with some breaks, because I meet really interesting people, read really interesting posts, or I like to see friends I haven't seen in real life that I know are also there.

I didn't see much mention of too many email accounts, but that seems wasteful, to me. I think I'm down to four now (gmail, yahoo, a dating website and a work server account). Don't even get me started on too many banking accounts, all linked to their own credit cards, and overdraft accounts, and investments too, if you want them. (How many logins, pin numbers and passwords does it take to safeguard an identity?)

But, I'm redundant now. Yes, prioritize and re-prioritize periodically, and remember do what you love, whenever possible.

Nice website.

I think it's all about finding balance. If a person can't handle all the social networking sites, then they have to downsize. It's important to be connected, however, just like we can't be at every live networking event, we can't be a part of every new technology. There's not enough time in day to keep up with it all (unless there is an application that combines it all).

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