Is Social Networking a Waste of Time?

In HRmarketer CEO Mark Willaman's recent post, he raises the concern that the internet and SMM has gotten out of hand, and is a huge drain on productivity.

What he didn't address though, is the growing positive influence social media has (and will continue to have) on all business.

Social networking is brand awareness. The brains behind digital brand awareness these days are called social media marketers, editors, or managers. Bigger companies, like the New York Times, have a whole team of people managing their social networking sites, while others have a single mind working their Tweets. In fact, a recent study from Jobvite revealed that 13% of 1044 responding job seekers got a job through social networking. I would guess that they wouldn't consider their networking a waste of time.

Depending on the size, outreach, brand, demographic, market and direction of the company, each organization will do its social networking a little differently. They find what works best for them. So, instead of blaming social networking for a company or individual's lack in productivity, I would first evaluate the approach they used.

Here are a few tips:
1. Answer the "what": What are you looking to accomplish?
2. How much time and talent will it involve?
3. Is this a good use of time and talent: What else could you be doing?

Let's just say it's not the constant Tweets that are wasting time, it's the strategy behind it that may need to be reevaluated.