What Is That Sucking Sound? Teetering on the Productivity Line in Social Media
I have been toying with the idea of giving up watching TV. I have talked about this for a bit of time now among my social media family and I have not yet done it. This might very well be the week it happens. This week I am noting that sucking sound and seeking to find more productivity, both in my day to day work and also in general with my social media.
I gave up watching network news pretty easily about a year or so ago, excepting a love for the news-flavored Daily Show with Jon Stewart. That feat was not a hard one. For too long now I have disdained the atrociously skewed version of guts, fear, and violence that the evening news seems to specialize in. My dad’s death last year only amplified my deep desire to get in touch with the good stuff of Life, not just the scary, blowey-up, kids dying, corruption is King crap. I am happy to report that I have become a better and more calm person for the choice to go “newsless”.
Some accuse me of wearing rose-colored glasses to not stay plugged into the news and to those people I have a middle finger flying. I hardly take notice of people anymore who tell me I am too optimistic for my own good. F-bombs were practically invented for those “realists” as far as I am concerned. I can live my life blissfully “ignorant” and happy if I wish.
Frankly, as someone who has actually traveled the world, who reads history, and who questions the societal company line, I often know more than the incessant news watchers anyway. Being good at connecting dots is a great skill and I can’t help but do it in my head. The news has so much society mood in it that it often feels very light on facts. Yeah, I don’t miss the news.
Besides, I don’t actually see that it harms anyone else to look at the bright side of things and it works for me. Any other point about it is moot as far as I’m concerned. Ah, but do I risk being “uninformed”? Well, yeah, I do…maybe. I say SO WHAT? TV is like crack and I am tired of being a crack baby.
These feelings have certainly nudged me to examine how I work in social media.
Danger Zones
There are a few time sucks in social media for me and perhaps you can relate. I would love to hear your way of managing these potential black holes of time and attention. This is a sincere call out for professional input. How do you decide about the following opportunities to engage?
Engaging with known commodities
Some folks have a schtick, a bone to pick, a theme. In social media, however, the broken record effect can happen. Let’s just say that it’s good to know you’re working with a themer.
Everything you talk about with a themer will bring you back “there”. You can be discussing watermelons and by the end of the conversations, you will be discussing women’s rights. It happens a lot (well, maybe not the watermelon to women’s rights, but you get my point…).
I know these people. I can rattle off a dozen of them right now. They are sometimes my friends, they are definitely my colleagues, and they have a theme. There’s no getting around it. Unless I have time to go where they insist everyone go no matter what, I avoid engaging in conversation with them ( I pray that I stay versatile enough to not become one of them).
Q: Do you always jump in even when you know you are talking to a themer? What’s your policy on the yes/no of engaging?
Engaging with poor logic monsters
I think that, before you are allowed to sign on to the Internet EVER, that you should have to take a course in logical argument. You should know what a straw man argument is and you should know how to identify presumptions, assumptions, inference, and implication. Engaging with people who do not have a strong hold of great logic is very exhausting and can lead you around and around. I try to identify them as quickly as possible and cross the street.
Q: Anybody else see examples of this too?
Engaging with flamers, trolls, a-holes
That rising emotional swell in your gut causing your face to turn beet red – that rushing thought of “OMG, this guy is an idiot” - is a sure sign that you may be dealing with a flamer, troll, or an a-hole. Some people just know how to push buttons and they do it really, really well. It’s a sport for them and they love what they do. Avoid these folks. You will never win. Check your ego and step away from the jerks. And, yes, most of these folks need to go back to logic school.
Q: Ever met any of these guys? How did you deal with them?
Coaching people who should be paying you
I am an open book for most people. I will answer questions about professional matters. I mentor several people from other countries (where $2/day is a good wage and there is no way they could afford me). However, in the beginning of my career it was way too easy to make myself too available to people who would otherwise pay me if I didn’t give it away. I’ve learned where my line is and I honor it. It took some time but I got there. It’s worth your time to find your line too.
Q: How do you deal with answering professional questions? I’d love to hear your technique.
Chasing 3rd party resources
The more I am online, the more of an original content proponent I become. It’s easy to spend more time retweeting or sharing other people’s stuff than creating your own point of view material. Overall, if you intend to use social media professionally, this approach is a losing proposition. Shift that bad boy attitude now – create more original content. Make it good and share it. Seriously. I mean it!
Q: What stops you from creating more original content?
Kittens, babies, quotes, and celebrity gossip
I do use social media socially rather than strictly professionally. There are times when I set aside time to chit chat with my friends online. During those times, I am playing and it’s not wasting time – it’s having fun. Honestly, though, even during my play time, I swear I will likely explode if I see another auto stream every 5 minutes of Gandhi quotes. *heavy sigh*
But, when I am in work mode, I tend to have to get stuff done. I am usually doing client work, or my own revenue building, and it’s important I stay focused. Staying focused includes knowing my goals and accomplishing them. Simple.
It might be one of my life purposes to find the spore factory that creates those Gandhi quote accounts and blow it up (and blow it up good!). I’ll let you know when I find it, but just know this. Distractions are just that – distractions. Be clear and honest with yourself when you are working or when you are playing. ‘Nuf said.
Q: Go on…you know you want to…which Youtube time suck is your favorite? Mine is laughing babies.
Never been to Farmville (but I confess I was a Mafioso)
When I first joined Facebook, I did the game Mafia Wars. IT.WAS.SO.MUCH.FUN! Way too much fun! I deleted the game after 2 weeks because it consumed me. Since then, I have blocked and not played any other apps.
I continue to evolve in how I use social media professionally and how I avoid wasting time. Community, engagement, interacting, and creating content takes time. And, I don’t want social media to be my new TV fix. What do you think? What ways could you be more productive on social media? I’d love to hear it!
Til next time!
Vicki @Smartwoman Flaugher
[graphic by Marcin Wichary]
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I can so relate to the dilemma of when to stop giving and start charging. I still give away more than I should, but now, when seekers begin to dig for details, I simply let them know how unfair it would be to my clients if I gave away the knowledge and expertise those clients hired me to provide. They either quit asking or hire me, and they respect my loyalty to my clients.
If not for the pages I manage for some clients, I could more easily give up facebook than TV. There is no DVR for facebook, so if you’re not constantly engaged, you *might* miss a truly worthwhile comment. Sadly, most of what I see is merely more time suck fodder.
Call me old-fashioned, but I still kinda like telephones for meaningful communication. I enjoy the immediate feedback and the emotion that can only be conveyed orally.
Truly enjoyed, and related to, your article!
@Judy Gombita was so right to invite me over to read your post! Thanks, Judy!
I think we’re kindred, Vickie! What you say, I say; what you feel, I feel. What you blog, you do better! For, I cannot dwell on these jamokes who suck me into a vortex until I’m dying from giving, giving.
I would work for free so I could counsel everyone all the time. As for TV? Hell yeah; shut it down already.
We’re in a political nightmare and the country is sorely divided. How do we keep our sanity? Your guess…
What a wonderful comment, Jayme! That Judy is a gem. I have been overwhelmed by the response to this post. Seems lots of people hear that sucking sound and are looking to do something about it. I love social media but it does take time. I just want my time to be well spent.
Do stop by again, kindred sister. Nice to meet you.
If I were in that sort of situation, I wouldn’t use social media anything but professionally. That way it has a chance of being less of a “time suck” — one can set working hours as more in line with the traditional nine-to-five, without being in a nine-to-five profession. At 5:01 I’d go offline, and say nobody dare try and contact me.
But according to a study by market research firm Pear Analytics (pearanalytics.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Twitter-Study-August-2009.pdf), 40% of Twitter conversation is described as “pointless babble,” which (as summed up on Wikipedia), “social networking researcher danah boyd … argu[ed] … is better characterized as “social grooming” and/or “peripheral awareness” (which she explains as persons “want[ing] to know what the people around them are thinking and doing and feeling, even when co-presence isn’t viable”).
The Wikipedia article on Twitter links the term “pointless babble” to an entry on “small talk.” Something I find utterly boring but a sometimes necessary (albeit still pointless) waste of time.
Thanks for the comment – good points, especially about managing your time. If social media has taught me anything, one person’s pointless babble and small talk is another person’s connecting and caring technique. I do my best not to judge too harshly, as I know my tastes are not everyone else’s. I do like the idea of social grooming…I think I will have to go research that a bit…
Thanks again for dropping by.
Vicki