Speaking personally, I have a lot of social media obligations…Facebook-mainly personal, but some work stuff, LinkedIn-all professional, Twitter-again, mainly fun with a smattering of professional thrown in. Am I really going to add another time-sink to the mix? Or will I let something fall by the wayside?
Perhaps the answer is in adding Google + to whatever dashboard adds it first. While that makes sense, there is going to be a wealth of redundancy and even more kludge to wade through. Various GTD (Get Things Done) practitioners have recommended limiting email review to set times throughout the day. This practice could be of value in working with social media as well. Checking in on the various social media sites at intervals throughout the day will help limit the time spent there, but not completely.
Another method of time management with social media is filtering what you see, so that you are only viewing a snippet of the total. Also, separating personal from professional social media accounts could be effective, making sure that your attention can be focused exclusively on professional activity throughout the day.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Google + is going to be good. It’s already got some cool things such as group video chat, easy photo sharing and special effects, not to mention drag n’ drop content sharing.
The service also brings together some interesting collaboration tools through its “Circles,” allowing for easy file and information sharing, instant communication, mobile availability and, of course, integration with Google search and Google’s office suite.
It comes down to what’s important when determining how you spend your time. Remember that your time and attention are both highly limited and precious resources. And, don’t forget that there is no substitute for real, live and personal contact, no matter how many circles, friends or twitter followers you are a part of.
Jeff Weadock
Information Technology