Matt Baril

It seems like there is a a certain resistance towards Social Media that's coming from a growing number of professionals in regards with the usefulness of belonging and using Social Networks. I've heard, and you probably did too, 3 main arguments against Social Networking websites:

1. Privacy concerns
2. Time commitment required to really tap into the power of Social Networks
3. Addictive effect of most Social Media tools – Time waster

These are all, to some level, justified and yes Social Networking brings its own challenges, but one should realize that these 3 "weaknesses" are people related. In other words you are the problem and not Social Networks per say: you decide what information goes on your profile, you decide how much time you spend networking, and you let yourself spend way too much time on Social Networking Websites. Instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water, professionals should work at finding a balance between Social Media and their career and lives.

There are at least 5 top reasons why professionals cannot afford not to join these Social Networks:

1. If you're not online, you don't exist

Whether you like it or not, if you're a professional, you're also a brand and more exposure can lead to a better reputation, increased credibility/authority and more contracts or a better job. People rely on the web for most of the information they need, and if you're not there you just don't exist. If people have a discussion about a topic you have expertise in but you're not there, you don't exist. There is so much information delivered to so many people with traditional marketing that the sign you bought at the bus stop is not likely to do you much good. Social Media will not kill traditional marketing, but for people operating in niches it just doesn't make any sense to buy expensive advertising with low efficiency rates. People's attention span for advertising is decreasing and you're energy would be better spent advertising to people who actually want to hear from you.

2. It's not what you know, but who you know

I think this one is obvious, there are millions of people using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and odds are that a few thousands are people with similar interests as you, or could be potential customers/employers. You can get business leads, you can grow your customer base, you can learn from the people you connect with. You can get a better understanding of what the people you connect with want and what they're looking for. More connections with more people means you know more, you understand better and you're on top of the game. Being actively connected with hundreds of people in your industry will bring opportunities you could never have expected.

3. Keep your hundred of connections alive

There is so many people you can reach and keep in touch with without Social Media tools. Emails, phone calls, letters, pigeons all require a lot of time and energy. How many people can you actively and seriously keep in touch with without Social Media? 50? 75? You need to actively be involved in order to get the information from them and therefore keep these connections and their potential leads alive. With Social Networks, the information comes to you instead of you going after the information. Your reach will be much broader and you'll be closer to any of connections than ever before. The mistake people shouldn't make here is that you don't have to give up emails and phone calls to use Social Media. Keep these more traditional time consuming methods for your top connections.

4. A time saver, not a time waster

Things are shifting and you can now easily have 300+ active connections and keep track of what they're doing, how they're doing and the business opportunities they offer. Clicking a like button or commenting "Hey! Nice job, congrats!" doesn't require much time, but keeps that connection alive. People who claim Social Media is a big time waster don't understand it. I challenge you to keep 300 connections with emails and phone calls. Social Networks take time because we're connected to so many more people. Chances are that most of the time you're emailing people instead of calling them as it was common place 20 years ago, social media does the same by decreasing the amount of emails you write and receive. Don't get me wrong, emails and phone calls will always be there, but they'll be kept for top connections as they take more time.

5. Keeps you in the loop

LinkedIn and Facebook have an event feature, Twitter has created a new social phenomenon called Tweetup, and unconferences are becoming more common. The fact is that Social Media might be in the virtual world, but it'll lead to more real world connections and will help expanding your real world network. People organize themselves with online tools, and once again if you're not there you don't exist and won't be invited. Social Networks also help you being on top of what's happening and keeps you in the know with important information: birthdays in Facebook, most interesting articles of the day with Twitter and professional networking events with LinkedIn are just a few examples.

Social Media provides you with everything you need to know, and it's up to you whether or not you want to listen to Social Media. I understand some people just hate Social Media and cannot be convinced and I'd like to know why. If you know one of these people, send them this article so they get a chance to share what they have to say. What about you? Do you like or hate Social Media?

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Related posts:

1. 10 Ridiculous So Called Social Media Rules – Part 1
2. Using Social Media the Borat Way
3. How are you coping with Social Media?