BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Are You Wasting Your Life on Social Media?

Following
This article is more than 10 years old.

I was caught by the title of J. Maureen Henderson's recent post here on Forbes, 3 Reasons You Should Quit Social Media - and when I clicked on it, I discovered that almost 200,000 others were similarly snagged.

Why is this post so alluring to so many people? I think there are three reasons.  First, our use of social media has become so ingrained and ubiquitous over the past handful of years that any suggestion to disconnect seems both scary and ludicrous - fascinating. Second, we all kind of wonder if it would actually be possible do it. Could we live without twitter - or Forbes.com, for that matter? Also fascinating. Last and most important: most of us have a sneaking suspicion that our time online is not really adding to our overall quality of life...and we wonder if we maybe should just opt out. Intriguing.

I love that J. Maureen wrote such a throw-down-the-gauntlet kind of post - and I'd suggest an alternative: moderation.

Henderson focuses on all the ways in which social media can be a distraction and a waste of time.  It's true...and there is another side to the story (I get that this wasn't the point of her post). Social media can also be both useful and practical - a good use of time. Like most powerful tools, it can be used well or badly.

So, how to take advantage of social media without wasting your life? The main thing is to get and stay conscious about how you're using it:

1) Make it serve you.  Decide what you want to get out of social media, and then use it for those things.  Want to stay in touch with far-flung friends and family?  Great: facebook and instagram can do that.  Want to market yourself to the business community all over the world? Linkedin can help.  In other words, make your use of social media intentional; use it to better achieve your existing goals.

2) Guard against zoning out. All of us have activities that are 'anesthetics'; the grown-up equivalent of a pacifier. We all need them, and they're perfectly OK to indulge in occasionally -  there's nothing like a bit of channel surfing or online window shopping at the close of a tough day.  But if you're using social media for hours of daily pacification - zoning out vs. living (this is a lot of what Ms. Henderson talks about), turn off the computer and do something that stretches you or connects you with someone else, mentally, physically, or emotionally.

3) Vet new tools before putting them in your toolkit.  Shiny new social media platforms arise, it seems, daily. Shiny new things are attractive. But before you get all infatuated, see idea #1. It's OK to check out new stuff - but do it with an eye toward how (or whether) it will serve you.

Doing this three things will give you a good shot at taming social media, so that it becomes an accelerator toward your real goals.

___________

Erika Andersen’s latest book, Leading So People Will Followis now an international business bestseller. Booklist called it “a book to read more than once and to consult many times.”

Are you a followable leader?  Take the Accepted Leader Assessment and find out.

What does leader readiness mean?