Where Do You Find The Time for Social Media?
Odds are, if you are someone who finds yourself evangelizing the benefits of social media, that you have had your enthusiasm quelled by the mantra of those resistant to the idea that web 2.0 is here to stay; “Yes, but where do people find the time?”
This common response of the naysayers who seem convinced that social media can only be consumed or produced in addition to that which is already a part of our hectic lives, is misguided in my opinion. The topic of time management as it relates to the read-write web is not a new one – in fact it has been discussed right here on this blog recently. Non the less it is one that I can’t seem to shake as I am constantly having to address it with those who remain unconvinced that social media can become a manageable part of their lives.
Clay Shirky, who was the keynote speaker at this week’s WHUC09, has an entertaining response to the claim that there simply isn’t enough time in the day for social media. He refers to what he is calling the “cognitive surplus” that has emerged as the direct result of fewer hours spent watching the old boob tube. Andrew Shaindlin, who was a panelist at this weeks WhippleHill conference, has his own humorous take on how we might begin to harness some of that surplus by encouraging more “constructive” air travel.
With all of this in mind, I thought I would ask a few of the attendees and “experts” at WHUC09, “where do you find the time for social media?” The consensus seemed to be that it isn’t that difficult to encorporate social media into your daily routine but rather that it is simply a matter of choice. After all – I could be watching Jeopardy right now but I thought it more useful to write this post. That one could be a toss up. I’ll let you decide.
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Curt. nice job with the post.. you should embed the video so people don’t miss it.
Thanks, Travis. I tried embedding but there seems to be an issue with embedding youtube vids into wordpress sites using non-wordpress URLS’s that I can’t quite crack. If any of the other edsocialmedia folks know a work-around – feel free to hack away (and pass along the “how to”)
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Great WHUC! Really enjoyed the day on Wednesday and the ability to participate via UStream!
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Great post! I am a fan of Shirky’s and showed his video at a faculty gathering. So many of the people there got defensive about their television watching that I decided I wouldn’t do that again!
Thanks for the comment, Sarah. I agree – people become defensive when you begin to point out that time spent engaged in social media can come from time currently spent doing less “productive” things. I think Andy is spot on in his response when he says that it seems like it would take a lot of time until you begin actually participating and then find a way to work it into your routine.