It was in 2005 that I noticed a trend that intrigued me and it was that teenagers were becoming obsessed with a social networking site called MySpace.
I didn’t create an account as it seemed a waste of time and I had more important things to do.
In 2008 I was invited by a friend to join Facebook and on signing in I was impressed by its clever programming and functionality that allowed you to connect with old friends and colleagues from college at the click of a button.
Over the next 12 months I observed that certain people became engrossed in Facebook and seemed to spend most of their waking hours updating their profile and uploading photos.
In 2012 that has not changed.
What has changed though is how it is used. Facebook is a place to play games like Farmville or Mafia wars. It is a website where you can now buy products and get specials. You can listen to music and upload videos. You can instant message and chat.
The creation of Facebook “pages” for business to participate has allowed the whole Facebook ecosystem to evolve at an accelerated pace.
Marketers have found it a vibrant place to engage and communicate with customers and it is socializing marketing.
So is it too much of a time sink that takes us away from things that should be done? Does social media in fact leverage our time and reduce the tyranny of distance?
Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
If you take a closer look then the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages.
Here are some of the upsides to social media
- 18% of people 50-64 years old use it to connect with others who have similar hobbies
- 17% use it to find “love”
- 50% use it to reconnect with old friends
- It is a source of entertainment as 250 million photos are uploaded every day and there are 100 million videos to watch
- 41% of the class of 2011 used it to look for a job
Do you think social media is waste of time?
Why Social Media Isn’t a Waste of Time
Courtesy of: Schools.com
More Reading