Introduction
The Great Social Media Hoax on Productivity
Introduction
“It takes discipline not to let social media steal your time”. Alexis Ohanian
There’s just something about Social Media.
It’s inescapable.
It’s like a magnet. Once you get in there, getting out becomes an uphill task. To say the least, it can be addictive.
But that notwithstanding, social media has very many benefits to productivity. I know that sounds surprising to many. Why? Because most of the time, social media has been painted as a distractor. That’s not totally false. Indeed, social media can be a distraction to your productivity. It’s a double-edged sword. We will see why it is both a boost and a distractor to your productivity.
In this post we’ll share with you; What social media is; the social media giants (which may come as a surprise to you); unknown benefits of social media on productivity; the other face of social media and ; conclusion.
You’ll even learn how social media can create convenience and enhance productivity. On the other hand you’ll learn how not to be addicted to social media.
Table of Contents
The Great Social Media Hoax on Productivity
Unknown Benefits of Social Media on Productivity
The other Face of Special Media
Let’s jump in.
So, what is Social Media?
Social media refers to a type of online communication that makes it easy for users to share information, discuss issues freely using a combination of multimedia containing images, text, video and audio.
Social media can be classified into six categories namely:
1. Social networking,
2. Social bookmark application,
3. Social news,
4. Media sharing,
5. Microblogging,
6. Blog comments and forums.
The Top social media or social networking sites today are:
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram WhatsApp, and
Google groups.
Social Media Giants
Facebook is currently the largest with 2.8bn active users worldwide followed by YouTube with 2.3 billion active users then WhatsApp with 2 billion users and Facebook Messenger with 1.3 billion users.
Instagram and WeChat (China’s version of WhatsApp) have about 1.2 billion users each.
This means that social media as an upcoming innovation is now part and parcel of our lives and it will influence how we work.
At workplaces, the commonly used social media platforms are: WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, google search engine and Blogs with WhatsApp and Facebook being the most commonly used.
Email, even though not considered as social media is popular among employees as a tool for communication.
5 Unknown Benefits of Social Media on Productivity
Social media has become very popular especially because of its convenience. It allows users to receive and share information with the world from their comfort of where they are. However, in terms of impacting productivity, research shows that it has both positive and negative effect. Its positive impact on productivity at workplace and institutions of learning include:
i) Saving on time and money;
ii) Making communication fast and effective;
iii) Improving innovation;
iv) Facilitating timely delivery of information; and
v) Facilitating work collaboration.
Furthermore, when used for communication, it helps in improving efficiency and co-operation at workplace.
It can also be a source of knowledge, ingenuity, creativity and real time updates.
It has also been found that some employees use social media to temporarily escape from a demanding and unsatisfying job and in the course of doing this it increased their performance.
The other Face of Special Media
On the flip side, social media has been found to have negative impact on productivity. This because as it can lead to miscommunication that may arise from different perceptions on a message shared through social media platforms.
Such a situation can cause misunderstanding and demotivation.
Other ways how social media may lead to low productivity patterns may be due to issues like cyberbullying and cyber slacking.
The user’s attitude and behaviour in controlling usage of social media is critical. It should not be used for personal purposes during work, school time or time dedicated for particular tasks.
Internet has a way of addicting people. Many users are addicted and this poses a challenge when it comes to being in control of how long you take on social media.
You should be cautious that you do not deviate and get carried away by social chats, catching up with friends, posting comments and liking friend’s pictures to an extent that you forget about your tasks.
Studies have also shown that most of the communication on social media is to friends and family members.
Furthermore, using social media for personal reasons is likely to interfere with your productivity as it eats into your time.
While on social media, your attention gets immersed and this can easily alter your attitude towards your tasks. You’re to be in control at all times.
Conclusion
Research has showed that social media can be both a boost and a distraction to productivity, Consequently, you need to create a self-regulating system that ensures you reap the benefits of social media.
It is therefore a question of balancing and knowing not only when to start but also when to stop. Self-discipline and control are the key to striking a balance.
If you are an employee and your organisation has a policy on social media, it is advisable that you comply with it as this helps you to keep your productivity in check.
Some organisations have devised ways of allowing their employees to take social media breaks where they allow them to take a pause from their work-related tasks and indulge in social media.
This helps them to get a mental boost that in turn improves productivity. As an individual you can borrow from this and incorporate social media breaks in your day-to-day schedules to boost your productivity.
