5 Social Media Time Wasters and How to Avoid Them | Mirna Bard

Social Media

5 Social Media Time Wasters and How to Avoid Them

It’s probably not surprising to learn that many people avoid using social media because they think it’s a time waster. You can waste a lot of time on Twitter, Facebook and other such sites if you aren’t careful.

Here are some time wasters and how to steer clear of them:

1. Games. More specifically, game applications. Facebook is probably the biggest issue here. If you’ve ever spent any time on the site, you know that CafeWorld, Farmville, Scrabble and dozens of other popular games are rampant there. It’s quite easy to get sucked in and spend hours playing all the different applications. Just say no and you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle.

2. Chatting. Social media is, well, social, so it’s no surprise to anyone that you can get caught up chatting with people online. The best way to manage this is to set a time limit and have clear cut goals. Set a timer if you tend to lose track of time. Also see Dan Safkow’s productivity video on a free tool called RescueTime.

3. Spreading yourself too thin. There are thousands of social media sites, but that doesn’t mean you have to be active on all of them. In fact, you shouldn’t. Go where your target audience is sticking to two or three of the best sites for your business.

4. Arguments. When you’re looking at the opinions of hundreds of people every day, it isn’t hard to disagree. And since some people are just out there to antagonize others, it’s easy to get into an argument, even if you don’t intend to. Avoid engaging with anyone who is making negative comments in your direction.

5. Fun links. People share a lot of links via social media and while some are very useful, others are a total waste of time. Again, limiting your time on social media is the best way to avoid this temptation, but you should also eliminate people from your friends list who only share “fun” links, such as links to games, comedic articles, etc. If these peeps don’t add value to your network, it is okay to remove them.

There’s no need to get sucked into the time wasters that kill your productivity. Set specific time limits and make sure you have goals to follow when you’re online. Knowing where you’re going will keep you on track.

What has been a social media time waster for you?

Posted Apr 2nd, 2010 By Mirna Bard in Social Media, Social Networking With | 6 Comments
Tags: Business, Facebook, Online Communities, Social Media, Social Networking, time waster, Twitter

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http://www.digitalmarketingzen.com David Wells

Great Post Mirna,

I think far too often companies are afraid to get into social media because of the above mentioned reasons.

They really need to understand how to manage their time in an efficient manor to get some real juice out of using social media.

I like to help avoid these time wasters by using tools like hootsuite and converse by socialize your cause(http://bit.ly/smconverse) to schedule out messaging and see all of my social media updates in one easy to use dashboard.

Oh and death to farmville! It is the worst!

-David
http://www.whandassociates.com Kelly Weppler Hernandez

Great post Mirna. I, too, think that people are hesitant to engage in Socail Media because they are aware that it can take a lot of time. The key is to put some parameters on how much time you’ll spend each day and develop some goals around what you need to get out of Social Media. And most importantly, as Mirna suggested, only spend time on the sites in which your target audience engages.
http://tracybrownenterprises.com Tracy Brown

This is a great post, Mirna. While I personally have little interest in engaging in some of the activities you laid out, I have also noted that people I talk to regarding the importance of creating a relevant social media presence focus on those aforementioned activities as the reason for NOT joining. And who can blame them? A busy professional has little time for Farmville or “Mafia” games.

The key is to help them understand how to reach their audience – if the audience is using the particular medium, of course – and when possible, show them how their competition is using it. Still, I am finding that not only does it take evidence, it takes time. For many professionals, it’s still a new world that has yet to prove (to them) it’s power.

Again, great post, Mirna. Glad I found you on Twitter!
http://www.mirnabard.com Mirna

You all make excellent points! Thanks for your comments..keep ‘em coming!
Sam Telfer

Hi Mirna,

I liked the post, but feel that the comment about avoiding negative comments is a little too broad.

‘Avoid engaging with anyone who is making negative comments in your direction.’

I think that social media offers companies a way of bypassing traditional PR and being open and honest. Part of that is not selectively engaging based on sentiment. Recognizing criticism and responding to it is equally as important as participating in general discussions.

Social media allows companies to be transparent, open, and increase the degree with which they communicate with everyone. This has to include negative comments so that you can show that you are not hiding, and are trying to solve issues that are being thrown at you.

Most people are smart enough to see when criticism is valid, and when it is not. Companies just need to make sure that they are choosing where to engage negative comments correctly.

Social media disasters usually occur when companies do not do anything about the negative comments out there rather than when they do engage.

ESPN, American Express, Citibank, Comcast, Dell, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and others have great outreach programs, and they pick their battles wisely. By doing nothing, you leave yourself open to being labelled as ignorant.

Social media tends to be pretty forgiving to those that admit mistakes, engage with negative users to try to fix issues, and then to make sure that they do not make that mistake again.

Sam
http://www.mirnabard.com Mirna Bard

If I were to go in more detail about negative comments, then the post would be too long. However, I did not mean negative comments about your business or brands. These types of comments are considered constructive feedback and definitely should be address somehow. This topic deserves another blog post. I have seen people on Twitter and other social networks throw insults at each other due to differences in opinion. Thank you for your comment and great insights Sam!

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