Why Social Media Isn't That Bad

You name it, you have it - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn... and there's more. For the lucky few who have escaped the abyss-like world of social media, you may be disconnected.. sure. But, I can bet you that you aren't refreshing Facebook around 25 times or day - and maybe even you are getting more done.

For some reason, I subconsciously just always (and I mean ALWAYS) go straight to Facebook. I don't even really know why - I just do. I'm not saying that it stops productivity, a bunch of social media tools are in fact very useful - social media networking sites are where I spot the trigger. Some people do spend their jobs analyzing Facebook Page views and how to market products, so that is a given they are benefiting from social media. But in terms of the workplace and school, while we want to foster that online creativity sometimes it's just enough to trigger a bigger problem of procrastination.

Social Networking has it's place for businesses: communication, file sharing, research, and for collaboration. It looks great - so what's the problem? The problem is that we start out to be productive while working on an important task. We then quickly check Facebook and somehow end up on YouTube looking at cat videos two hours later.

Technology places an important and irreplaceable role in our work environments (professional and academic). Forbes released an article April 2013 highlighting that in order to become a more productive employee, you need to be on social networks. Joe Nandhakumar, a professor at Warwick Business School reflected on his research, finding that employees who used different types of social media/digital forms for communication were more creative and collaborative at work - making them more productive.

Speaking from experience - while I do find myself on Facebook for no real apparent reason - 'appropriately' using social networks has helped not only myself but my business to be more productive. I currently run a business in photography and graphic designing, both of which are extremely visual and rely heavily on the Internet. I use sites like Instagram to see what other photographers are up to, I use Pinterest to gather inspiration for both myself and my clients, and I use Facebook to reach out to foster relationships with potential and existing clients. Our experiences with social media doesn't have to be bad, it can be productive and it can be controlled.

Check out the infographic below from Social Cast.

Categories: Computer Science, Social Media, Technology