While researching social media topics on Pinterest, I came across the results of an interesting study of 2,000 North American women and their use of social media.

Here are some of the key findings of this study, which was conducted by the Pew Research Center in April 2013:

• Of those surveyed, 86% had at least one social media profile/account.
• The average user had 2.2 social media profiles/accounts.
• Respondents reported spending an average of 12 hours per week using social media.

In my interaction with both current and potential social media tutoring clients, a common question is: “How do I make the best use of my time on social media?”

These folks are very busy with their professional and personal lives, so the idea of adding something else into the mix can make social media very unappealing.

There are many different ways to address the concern of potentially spending way too much time on social media.

 

Here are some of my own practices when it comes to spending time on social media.

 

Joyce’s Social Media Time Saving Tips

• Create a schedule of when you want to be active on each social media site and stick to it. For example, each morning I put in about five to 10 minutes on the professional social media site LinkedIn.
• For sites that can be particularly “addictive,” such as Pinterest, set a time limit. My rule of thumb for each Pinterest session is either 10 minutes or posting 10 “pins,” whichever comes first. (Some people find it helpful to actually set a timer that will ring at the end of the allotted time period so they don’t get so involved that they lose track of time.)

• Skim through your Facebook newsfeed. Avoid reading the specifics of each post unless the information in it is of special relevance or interest to you.
• Configure your settings on each social media site so you don’t receive notifications of activity sent to the email address you have for that site.
• Go to the site’s notifications section once a day or less.
• For Twitter, assign those you follow into specific lists. Then just check on the tweets of those in key lists, and do this once a day or a few times a week. Depending on how many people you follow, checking your entire Twitter timeline could take a LONG time.

 

How About You?

How much time per week do you spend on your favorite social media sites? Do you feel comfortable with that amount of time? What time-saving tips would you offer the new or relatively new user to social media?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.