The view on whether social media is a distraction or a necessity during the workday is a polarizing topic.
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If you are on Julie Morgenstern’s side then one should limit their SM usage to 10 minutes a day, because you have a business to run after all. On the other end of the spectrum you will find Peter Shankman who believes you must always look at potential new clients and what your competition is doing.
In some cases social media use may not even be up to you at all, but to your boss or the corporations view point on the matter. Coming from the land of insurance companies many in Des Moines completely block all employees use of Facebook. It can be argued that in these jobs the employees may not need to be on Facebook for the task at hand but aren’t the employees supposed to be trusted professionals?
I for one can waste/spend hours reading my Twitter stream. It is in constant motion with new ideas, links and business news that I need to know immediately! As with most activities in life there must be a happy medium. You cannot spend a full day reading what other people have to say nor can you ignore everything and remain in your oblivious own world. Business is changing and you need to be aware more then ever.
So, here are my super short tips, choose according to preference:
- Maybe you need to purposely make time out of your daily schedule to check on these conversations to learn and respond accordingly.
- For others weeding down your follow list on Twitter and Facebook may be a necessity. Choose only those that consistently have pertinent posts.
- Networking has also become a timely activity and with the use of TweetDeck or HooteSuite you can keep you on top of who is talking about you, your brand and clients. This gives you the freedom to check and interact as many or as few times as wanted throughout the day.
The bottom line, social media is and should now be part of MOST people’s work and play.
– Haley Meckstroth
