Make Social Media an Asset not a Distraction

By Cindy Krischer Goodman McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Like many, I enjoy catching up with friends on Facebook, seeing what industry experts are talking about on Twitter and reading blogs by people with common interests But my new fascination with social media has me trying to figure out how to keep up and still have time for work and family

Where does social media fit in with work/life balance?

The question is timely as we see more Internet users spending an increasing amount of time in social media environments In 2009, more than four out of five online Americans are active in either creating, participating in or reading some form of social content at least once a month, according to Forrester Research

If you love schmoozing or knowing what your social circle is doing, if you are building a brand or job hunting, devoting time to social media is smart The challenge is that each social media platform requires contributing and responding and can easily drain hours out of your day

"The real issue is that people have not yet learned how to be productive and use social media," says Amy Webb, CEO of Webbmedia Group, a social media consultancy She says it all starts with figuring out your goal Are you trying to connect and maybe share photos with friends, market your company, reach out to job prospects or maybe stay on top of trends in your industry? Once you determine your goal, figure out how to make social media a tool in that goal and not a distraction, Webb says

Some of the tactics so far:

Set boundaries Webb schedules time throughout her day to check in on her social networks "I don't set time limits because I would feel pressured," she explains Instead, she sets tasks She will reply to those messages and comments that need an immediate response and wait until the end of the day to respond to all others

Niala Boodhoo, who co-writes the Poked blog for MiamiHeraldcom, offers another approach for those who intend to take a peek at Twitter and end up spending hours clicking on links or forwarding tweets She suggests monitoring how much time you spend on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter with a Mozilla Firefox plug-in called Leechblock "It's the perfect way to police yourself," she says You can specify which sites you want to block, you can set a time limit for a site or block access for a set period of time (9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday)

Make it a lifestyle Alex de Carvalho believes in total immersion He integrates social media for work and pleasure - into his day and evening He sends out updates and responds to comments on social networks on one screen, while using a second screen for his work programs Carvalho says when you look at social media as a lifestyle, it affects everything from what technology you buy to who you hang out with and how you spend your time

When Carvalho leaves the office, he taps into Twitter and other networks from his iPhone and says doing so eliminates wasted downtime "The time you spend waiting at a dentist office can be spent interacting with your network of friends"

Carvalho says he attains his social media goals of building an online persona rather easily "It comes down to less than an hour a day on average because of the way social media is integrated into my life"

Set personal limits Debbie Regent considers Facebook a hobby that has replaced evening reading and television watching "I'm definitely hooked," she says "I could go nuts and spend hours on Facebook but I don't let myself" Each night from 9 to 11 pm Regent checks her Facebook inbox or searches the site for long-lost friends Lately she finds herself struggling with wanting to connect more frequently Regent, a nonprofit fundraiser, sneaks quick peeks at Facebook during the work day, to make a move or two in Scrabble "I call it my guilty pleasure, five minutes on Facebook"

Bridging the gap between work, family and friends For employers, the social media debate takes a different turn One small-business owner told me he fired a staffer who thought it was perfectly acceptable to spend hours updating his Facebook status all day long on company time But then there are executives who travel for work and use social media to tweet their spouses or say good night to a child

Gregory Hammond, chief legal officer of TriNet HR Services, devotes five or six hours a day to social media "We want employees that are connected," he says He believes if you use these networks right, you can build relationships with many more people than you ever would have imagined and use them to be closer to your friends and family

Hammond says it's possible to devote as much time as he does to social media because he sleeps only three hours a night Even still, he says, the time investment pays off "I'm talking about things that matter to me with people who teach me things"

Cindy Krischer Goodman: cgoodman@MiamiHeraldcom (c) 2009, The Miami Herald