Earlier this week, I ran across an article written by John Sumser. John is one of my favorite recruiting columnists because he really makes me think. He’s a little like the Matt Drudge of recruiting—he seems to get things figured out a little ahead of the rest of us.
The article of interest concerns the time and energy it takes to maintain a social network on the internet. It is the first time I’ve seen some metrics on this topic. Any idea how long it takes to stay in touch with a social network of 1,000 people (not an uncommon size for many today)? Take a guess before you read on...
Through an interesting birthday celebration experiment, John shows that just to maintain the network at the “annual birthday greeting card level” takes five concentrated hours per week! The article is long, but entertaining, regarding how he reaches this conclusion.
Do you have this kind of time to dedicate to such an effort? It’s an important question to ask yourself because social networking is the type of activity that can eat up a whole lot of time if it is not controlled by some self-imposed boundaries.
If you are purposefully dedicating this much time, are you likely to get a return? John goes on to answer this question in a follow-up article. Here is his perspective:
“There is no correlation between having a big social media presence and:
- being good at what you do
- being smart
- having something useful to say
- being worth the attention
- getting your work done
- making sales
- closing deals
- getting new business
- innovating
- being a good place to work
- getting smart people to work for you
Social media is no different than any other form of [media]. The message and the distribution channels tell you nothing about:
- the biases of the author
- organizational affiliationthe truth or falsity of any claims made
- the accuracy of the material
- whether or not the material is good for you
- the utility of the idea
When new [media] technology takes root, the early adopters appear to have (and in some ways actually do have) more influence and authority than might otherwise be accorded them. Prowess with new technology can seem like subject matter expertise. Learning to tell the difference between publishing skills and functional utility is one of the new frontiers of literacy.”
The point: If you happen to be one of those people who spend the time and effort to master this new form of media, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know what you're talking about. Mastering the media (at perhaps a very high cost with regard to time and effort) may give you a short-term advantage, however, it will be eventually overwhelmed by those who truly have the subject matter expertise.
What is the take away here? Don’t aspire to become a social networking expert. Instead, aspire to become a real estate expert who is proficient with social networking.
Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.
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