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Why do you participate, or avoid, social networking? I believe it depends on how you view it.  Do you see it as an opportunity, or an obligation?

I had an interesting online conversation yesterday. A friend of mine IM‘d me to tell me that he probably won’t see any replies I make to his tweets.  Apparently he posts to Facebook via text messages on his phone,  and those posts are automatically posted to Twitter.  The weird thing about this conversation wasn’t the content.  I’ve had this conversation with others. What was interesting was the tone.

While discussing this with my wife tonight, we both had the same thought. It was the expectation my friend was railing against.  I’ve been thinking about this and an interesting thought came to me.  See what you think about this…

I’ve always been amazed that so many people talk about not finding time for social networking.  ”How do you find the time to keep up with all of that?” Another friend asked the other day.  And yet, keeping up has never been an issue for me.  I see it as more of an opportunity.  But for the first time, tonight, I see where some people may see it as an obligation.

Today I completed an online product survey and was asked how many people I interact with on a regular basis.  Since they didn’t specify online or offline, I combined the two and answered 10-15.  It’s true!  Although I live in the country and haven’t left my house in a week or two (figuratively speaking), I regularly converse with 10-15 people.  To me, online social networking tools, like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, etc, are opportunities for me to extend my reach, my influence, and my leadership.  More importantly, they allow me to keep my pulse on real life outside of the walls of my office.

When CEOs of major corporations, like @MichaelHyatt and @Zappos can find the time, I think the “not having time” comment is not the real reason.  We all find time for what we value.  I believe the real issue is how we view the tools.  For instance, I rarely answer my phone if I’m engaged in something – be it a conversation, a creative project, or some casual family time.  That’s because I don’t value being available when other people decide I should be available.  That’s why email, SMS, IM, and Twitter work so well for me – I can respond at my leisure.

So, what it really boils down to is your values. If you see social networking as an intrusion and an obligation, you will struggle with it.  If you see it as an opportunity to expand your circle, you will gravitate towards it.

How about you?  Do you see social media tools like Twitter and Facebook as opportunities, or an expectation that you don’t need in your life?  Do you see these tools as an opportunity to create space and freedom in your life?  Or, do they crowd out what little free time you’ve been able to carve out of your schedule?  What about your employer?  Do they see these tools as opportunities to improve their ROI – or do they see these as time wasters that are only used by slackers?

What is your take?

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