HOW TO SPEND YOUR TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA WISELY

More often than not, knowledge is about what we know, and not how we learn. Eventually, people find that the means through which they gained knowledge in a particular area becomes an unimportant factor. When we really get down to it, what matters is what you know, and how you use what you know to create the best results.

Recently, I was having a conversation with my close friend Oluwaseyi Adelaju and I opened up to him about my ineptitude at using Twitter, and he was very surprised. After he made fun of me, he later opened up to me that using Twitter is the number one reason why he has advanced so well in his career. He told me how when he started using Twitter, he focused single-mindedly on gaining relevant insight and skills, rather than gaining a ton of followers. He also talked about how he strategically followed just people that posted on subjects that he wanted to learn about. Truthfully, after his eulogy, I ended up feeling like I was missing out on something great.

But beyond that, we were able to come to the conclusion that as long as learning remains a fixed goal, the means/medium to acquire knowledge can be a variable. The goal should outweigh the medium.

Now, think critically about this. Even if the goal outweighs the medium, the medium still retains some form of validity. I just told you that my friend was able to effectively utilize social media (a generally underrated medium) to tremendously advance his career.

Now let’s get to the crux of the matter – One striking difference that I noticed between Seyi and many other users of different social networking platforms is that while Seyi used social media for knowledge acquisition, a lot of other people use social media for just entertainment purposes. Trust me, there are still people out there who use social media just to show off.

Before you come for me, let me give a disclaimer.

I’m not a spoilsport. I like enjoyment too.

But see, I’m not saying that social media shouldn’t be used for the original purpose why it was made. I’m just saying that using it for only entertainment purposes is such a terrible way to utilize it. Here’s a fact: you will be unproductive if you only use social media for ‘enjoyment’.

Please note that with great power comes great responsibility. Therefore, with (great) internet access comes an even greater responsibility to focus. You are what you feed on, and what you frequently expose yourself to. So, make deliberate efforts to expose yourself to content that helps you advance your life, skills, knowledge and experiences.

My charge to you is this: Decide on the medium you want to use, and always let the utmost desire to acquire knowledge become your driving force. Also, don’t be scared to leave one medium for a better one.

I want to hear from you. Tell me what medium gives you the most value for your time? Which one are you ditching? Let me know the other ways that I can increase my knowledge base 😉.

P.S.: I am very active on just one platform – LinkedIn, and it’s quite addictive.