Is Social Media a gigantic waste of time?
A recent column in the IBJ (Indianapolis Business Journal) by Morton Marcus is asserting that this brave new world of online communities are nothing more than that- a huge, colossal waste of time.
Before I do the obvious and prove Mr. Marcus wrong I think we should concede a little ground. He has a point, it is not hard to waste a lot of time online. Building up meaningless connections with people you don’t know has little value. Having 1000 online acquaintances (or “friends”) doesn’t beat having 10 “real” friends.
The problem is that Morton is not having meaningful conversations online. So who can blame him for throwing in the towel?
My wife has recently embraced Twitter and Social Media in general. It’s been fun to watch her get bitten by the Social Media bug over the last few months. First it was Facebook, aka the Social Media Gateway Drug, and now Twitter. Although I joined Twitter over two years ago I have to admit it wasn’t until the last few months that I “got” it. The reason was that I didn’t see any meaningful conversations happening when I logged in.
As anyone who is a member of Twitter will tell you the problem was that I wasn’t engaging in the community. I wasn’t seeking out like-minded individuals to share ideas. Also, I wasn’t posting my ideas and links so why would anyone seek me out?
The Web is a huge, ever expanding universe. It’s easy to get lost and feel like everyone is trying to sell you something. So how do you have a meaningful online conversation?
Here’s a few ideas on how someone like Morton Marcus can have a meaningful online conversation-
- Talk To Peers- ask around, what sites are they spending time on?
- Look But Don’t Touch- before creating accounts, spend some time on the recommended sites. You don’t need to join every community you come across online. This can lead to Social Media Fatigue (SMF as it will now be called).
- Start Slow- join one community, I suggest Facebook, Twitter or a niche Ning community (i.e. SmallerIndiana.com). Spend 10-15 minutes every day on that site. Join conversations that interest you, message users that seem to be on the same path as you.
- Know When To Fold ‘Em- it’s ok to leave a community. I left My Space recently. I wasn’t having any meaningful conversations. I left a note on my profile page letting people know they could find me at Musicalfamilytree.com which is the music community site I started with some friends and now has about 1500 members and many quality conversations centered around one of my great loves- music. It’s a Goldilocks’ site. Not too big, not too small, just right. If the community you joined has passed the Goldilocks’ sweet spot then opt out.
You will start to see a return on your time investment as you start to have meaningful conversations around topics you care passionately about with people that share this passion. That return might be in the form of knowledge, friendship, or business. This depends mostly on what you wanted going in.
So I hope you are reading this Mr. Morton and you give Social Media another chance. It does require a different way of thinking especially in how one allocates time. But if done properly it can yield a great return, personally and professionally.
Jeb, I think this is a great post. I, too, have watched my wife adopt social media and make great connections to her friends and new clients.
She was actually able to start and maintain her freelance work strictly through Linkedin and Facebook.
And you know what? Social media is a lot more fun than cold calling.
Interesting post Jeb. Nice report, empowering web marketing for better online business. Hope to hear from you soon regarding fresh relevant reports.
Jeb,
You’re on point. When I read MM’s editorial, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Getting out of social media is like putting your head in the sand. I had to write a blog post too: http://tr.im/7eon
(I submitted it to IBJ as an op-ed, we’ll see if they pick it up!)
- James
Thanks for the feedback fellas! Hopefully Morton will wander over here or respond on his own blog. I’m pretty sympathetic to him really. I meet a lot of clients that are overwhelmed by all these networks, names and latest crazes. I think our role (i.e. Small Box and MediaSauce) is to meet these people where they are and gently bring them up to speed. What I want to avoid is acting snobbish when it comes to technology. Not always easy to do when you are a know-it-all like myself!
It seems that many companies worry about the personal returns of social media usage rather than the professional ones.
I think that the human nature of social media interaction dictates that there must be some personal investment in order to yield any professional returns.
A whine about personal brand-building here: http://bit.ly/ke8Q
My opinions here: http://webdeveloper2.com/2009/01/social-notworking/
Jeb, this is a great post. I think you and James Burnes both posted great responses to Morton’s article. I’ve certainly noticed that you only get out as much as you put in to social networking.
[...] It takes a considerable investment of one’s time to follow Jeb’s advice about having a meaningful online converstaion and craft your Twitter network to a manageable level so that it’s actually useful and [...]