社交媒體浪費時間?7種方式也能讓你更有效率大綱

Social media can be a large time-waster. Many people spend much of their day tweeting, liking, and posting status updates.

社交媒體可以浪費你很多時間。很多人花很多時間發微博、加關注、更新狀態。

It has forever changed the way the world communicates. Yet, as much as it can waste time, it can also be a great productivity booster. Are you using social media for productivity or procrastination?

社交網絡永久地改變了世界交流的方式。然而，社交媒體可以浪費時間，也可以成爲提高效率的強大助推器。你是用社交媒體來提高效率呢還是拖延時間呢？

Tool or Time Sink?

是工具還是打發時間？

We usually think of social media as a time sink. Something that takes up time and allows you to procrastinate throughout your day.

我們通常認爲社交媒體會耗費大量的時間。它會花費你很多時間，使你每天的任務不斷拖延。

There is no doubt that many people use it to pass the time in their day. Yet, when used for good, it can be a powerful productivity tool.

毫無疑問，許多人是用社交媒體來打發時間。然而，如果使用得當，它可以成爲提高效率的強大工具。

Social Media: Productivity vs. Procrastination

社交媒體：提高效率 VS 拖延時間

In a world where ideas, communication, and speed are increasingly valuable, social media excels. Granted, social media isn’t going to write that report for you, or analyze that spreadsheet. Nor is it going to perform that manual labor task.

在一個想法、交流和速度都越來越有價值的世界裏，社交媒體的優點脫穎而出。當然，社交媒體不能幫你寫報告或者分析電子表格，它也不能幫你完成那些體力勞動。

However, there are many ways social media can help you get work done, develop new ideas, or just get feedback. In all of these areas, social media can save you time.

但是，社交媒體依然可以通過很多辦法來幫你完成工作，搜尋新的想法或者得到反饋。在所有這些方面，社交媒體都可以幫你節約時間。

Here are 7 Ways Social Media Can Make You More Productive:

下面就是社交媒體讓你更有效率的7種方式：

1. Seek Advice

1. 尋求建議

Need advice on a topic? Social media can provide rapid tips, thoughts, and input. It is a great way to cast a large net, instead of just getting the singular opinion of the person in the cubicle next to you. Of course, depending on the matter, you have to know who you are listening to and trusting. Other times, it can be a great way to get a quick point in the right direction.

需要某個話題的建議？社交媒體可以迅速爲你提供小貼士、想法以及輸入。利用社交媒體建立一張大網是個不錯的辦法，而不是僅僅聽取你旁邊那個人單一的建議。當然，根據事項不同，你必須清楚你該聽誰說，該信任誰。此外，社交媒體還可以幫助你在正確的方向上迅速找到切入點。

2. Solve Problems

2. 解決問題

When you can’t solve a problem by yourself, ask the world. For example, a while back I was having a problem with a piece of software. I had googled and googled and couldn’t find a solution. I put the problem out on my social media channels. Within twenty minutes, a gentleman from Sweden (with whom I had never communicated previously) sent me a link to the answer. Simple, yet powerful stuff.

當你自己不能解決一個問題時，問問這個世界。比如說，我曾經在一款軟件上遇到了問題，我用谷歌搜啊搜也沒有找到解決辦法。於是我把這個問題發到了我的社交媒體上。不到20分鐘，一位來自瑞典的先生（我之前從來不認識）發給我一個鏈接告訴了我答案。就是這麼簡單這麼厲害。

3. Reach Companies

3. 接觸公司

Companies that are social media savvy are serving their customers in new and efficient ways. Twitter is one of my favorite ways to reach companies that I deal with. Instead, of getting on the phone and being on hold for endless minutes, I can send a tweet in seconds. A 5-second tweet can get me assistance on my upcoming flight. Anytime, anywhere.

善於利用社交媒體的公司正在用新的有效的方式爲客戶們提供服務。Twitter是我最喜歡的和公司打交道的方式之一。不用打進電話後忍受無休止的等待，我幾秒鐘就可以發一條tweet。花5秒鐘發一條tweet就能幫我查詢到下一班航班，而且沒有時間地點的限制。

4. Get Feedback

4. 得到反饋

Have an idea and need some input or feedback? Ask your social media audience. Often, you don’t even have to ask for feedback. Just put an idea out there and see how much response and sharing it gets.

有一個想法，需要得到輸入或反饋？問問你的社交媒體上的聽衆吧。通常情況下你甚至不需要詢問他們來獲得反饋。你只需要把你的想法發佈出來，然後看看會得到多少迴應和分享。

5. Find Ideas

5. 尋找點子

Whether it is for your business, blog, or hobby, there has never been an easier time to find ideas. Want to know what people are thinking, talking about, or have passion for? You have a searchable stream of consciousness at your fingertips. A friend of mine determines his blog post topics by searching for keywords on Twitter and seeing what people are asking about.

不論是爲你的生意、博客還是興趣，從來沒有像現在社交媒體這樣容易找到點子。想知道人們在思考什麼，談論什麼，喜愛什麼嗎？你只需要動動手指就可以搜索到這些。我的一個朋友通過在Twitter上搜索關鍵詞並觀察人們詢問的問題，來決定他博客發佈的話題。

6. Communicate with a Broad Audience

6. 和更廣泛的聽衆交流

Social media allows individuals greater power than ever to communicate with a large audience. It used to be you had to go through a publisher or big media company. Authors, speakers, experts, can now reach their audience directly, immediately, and in most cases for free.

社交媒體爲個人提供了比過去更大的能力來和廣泛的聽衆交流。過去你必須通過出版商或者大型媒體公司才能做到。而現在，作者、演講者和專家可以直接快速地接觸到他們的聽衆，而且大部分情況下是免費的。

7. Quick Communication

7. 快速交流

There is something special about the brevity of social media. Take Twitter. There is magic in those 140 characters. If you tried that with your email, your recipients would think you were nuts. (Of course, email is for a slightly different purpose.)

社交媒體的簡短是有特殊意義的。比如說Twitter（還有微博），短短140字就具有魔力。如果你用電子郵件發同樣的內容，你的收件人大概會認爲你瘋了（當然，電子郵件的目的又有不同）。

Social Media isn’t all about procrastination. It one of the most powerful technologies of our time. So, the next time someone tells you that you are wasting time on social media, tell them that you are being more productive.

社交媒體並不都會讓你拖延時間，它是我們這個時代最強大的技術之一，所以，如果下次有人對你說你在社交媒體上浪費時間，告訴他們你比之前更有效率了。

Of course, that may not fly with your boss.

當然，還是別讓老闆知道的好。