The meteoric rise of Facebook all those years ago cemented social media as an inescapable part of life (up there with things like gravity, death and taxes).

And like any other technology, our job is to follow the pros and unfollow the cons. 

Let’s do this for two broad levels of social networking: productive and debatable. 

Productive

In our complex world, most worthwhile projects require a diverse team of experts. Productive social media is the type that enables such team building. 

The best known example in this category is LinkedIn. There are also other options for given industries. For example, even us socially backwards scientists have ResearchGate. 

Although one can certainly waste time on these networks, they’re generally more useful than harmful. They also offer a great repository for your online track record – a valuable intangible asset. 

It’s the next category that requires all our vigilance…

Debatable

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter fall in this category. These are general purpose tools that can be used to distribute any kind of information – whether it’s valuable, distracting or downright dangerous. 

Here, some good old common sense can do a world of good. So, unleash the full might of your common sense on these simple questions:

1. Can you honestly say that the information you share would improve other people’s lives in this age of information overwhelm?
2. Does the information you consume from these platforms genuinely improve your life in this age of information overwhelm?

If you answered with a loud and clear “yes!” (with no awkward feeling in the back of you mind), there’s no problem. If not, it might be time for a rethink. 

Disconnecting

Ditching social media is turning into quite the global trend, and most of the experiences of these trailblazers have been highly positive. This article is a good example.  

An important insight from heavy social media users who disconnect is that their relationships actually get better. 

Indeed, social media is a great way to prioritize quantity over quality. But I think we can all agree that relationships work best the other way around. 

Could you benefit from downscaling your social media use? If so, now’s the time to act.

After all, it’s getting trendy 😉