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Some months back, I stopped posting on my favorite online forum. One of the reasons was that my posts were being deleted, because of (what I believe was) personal bias.
It was particularly frustrating - especially when some of the posts took me upto 30 minutes to think and draft. So I started posting them to this blog instead.
It saved me over 2 hours every week… as well as the heartache and annoyance associated with having my thoughts stifled and fettered.
With a recent shift in moderation style, I’m cautiously re-visiting that forum again - but with my new ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’ firmly in mind.
My posts are no longer the 500 word extravagances they once used to be. Instead, they are 50 words - often much less. If they get deleted, I don’t lose much. Also, I can get it done inside 10 minutes!
That’s the key to my ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’.
Last month, I joined Seth Godin’s ‘TRIIIBES’ - and was faced with a treasure trove of thought-leadership. Eagerness to devour as much of it as I could resulted in spending HOURS inside the private site.
Other things suffered. And I still couldn’t keep up with everything in there. So I applied the ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’.
I still can’t keep up. But limit my ‘downside’ risk - by keeping social networking time down to 10 minutes, max.
My ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’ applies to Twitter too.
Of all the different ones I dabbled on - Plurk, Identica, FriendFeed, Gooruze and more - Twitter is the one social network on which I continue to spend time.
Previously, I spent ‘too much’ time!
Not any more. In addition to my ‘Twitter Rule of Forty’ (which has enriched the quality of my relationships on Twitter), the ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’ has kept my time there strictly limited - which helps productivity.
Far too often, people get caught up in social networking and spend hours every day ’socializing’.
That’s ok if you’re retired, relaxing after work, or on holiday - but a poor substitute to doing what you NEED to do in your business, career or curriculum!
Make my ’social networking 10 minute rule’ yours too.
Closely analyze the productivity and value of social networks you participate on - and drop the ones that are not critical to your core purpose.
Then, strictly limit your participation on each social network to 10 minutes every day - no more!
At first, it will be tough. You wonder how to cram everything into that short time span. And as you are forced to prioritize, you’ll discover that the most important activities on each network do not take much longer than that anyway!
That realization is the biggest impact my ‘Social Networking 10 Minute Rule’ has had on my effectiveness from participating on social networks.
It’s just another ‘ROI (return on investment)’ measurement for a ‘hard to quantitate’ activity like socializing online!
3 Comments Received
August 31st, 2008 @5:56 am
Dear Doc
Your reminder about limiting the social networking time has come at a very good time for me - thanks!
I have to promote a new web site at the highest priority and I was spending upto 2-3 hours per day at the various forums and Twitter and like.
If everyone did so, may be the quality of posts will go up and volume will come down, so we will really have to spend less time there.
September 1st, 2008 @2:10 pm
Thanks for the reminder of how easy it is to
get lost on some of the social networking sites,
and waste a lot of time.
It’s something I have to personally guard against.
I actually use a timer to remind me when it’s time
to go do something productive.
Willie
September 1st, 2008 @2:48 pm
Great post Dr. Mani (as usual).
I’d add that it’s not just the time you spend on social networks, it’s the type of activity.
10 minutes lurking is absolutely wasted.
30 minutes adding to the conversation with intelligent posts and responses to people who are asking questions has a high ROI.
If your goals this week include getting more exposure for your ideas and products, then 10 minute is not enough.
I’d also suggest that the wasted time aspect comes from people trying to do too many social networks at the same time. Narrow them down to 2-3, and focus on those as frequently and consistently as possible. For me, those are Twitter, Facebook, and Ning.
Bob Jenkins
DiscoverSocialNetworking.com
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