In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and fathered, defined and popularized the concept of "paradigm shift." Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather is a "series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions", and in those revolutions "one conceptual world view is replaced by another".
So what if you spent half your time at work on Linked-In, Facebook or Twitter? Yes, the recession has slowed business significantly. I’m not talking about surfing the net because you have nothing better to do, I’m talking doing this AS PART OF YOUR JOB.
In a recent survey by Michael Stelzner, on social media marketing almost 10% of the survey respondents spent 20+ hours a week on social media marketing. Ask senior executives in marketing in my age demographic (age 40-44) and they’ll tell you; “I don’t get it…” In the past, spending time online at work to do personal business was viewed as a major productivity waster.
In a 2006, INC reported the productivity loss to be as high as $544 billion dollars (just think about that, if we all stopped surfing the net at work we could fund the Federal bailout of the Banking, Insurance and Auto industries). As a result, companies took dramatic measures to block or monitor access to sites, tools like IM and other “distracting” technologies.
Now after years of being told that being online at work was a bad thing, this new research and the appeal of Social Media sites, makes the case that it’s not only safe, but in certain cases, necessary to be online. According to the Salary.com & AOL survey, the average 2 hours a day American workers wasted in 2006 surfing the net is now the average time needed to do social media marketing...my, my how times have changed.
And what might be most surprising is that may be “OK” with the boss - the most active users of sites like; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are small business owners according to Stelzner's report.
Other interest findings from the research:
- A New Day is Dawning - although 88% of marketers reported using social media for marketing, 72% have just started (less than 3 months).
- Once You Start…You Can’t Stop – the research points out a direct correlation between how long marketers have been using social media and their weekly commitment. For folks just starting, the mean is 2 hours a week, compare that with folks who have been at it for years…an average of 20+ hours.
- One Thing Leads to Another - the more time you log, the more tools/sites you’ll use. Similar to the old thinking that cigarettes and alcohol lead to the “harder” stuff, the same is true with Social Media usage. The “newbies” like to start with LinkedIn, hard core users are most interested in social bookmarking sites, FriendFeed and StumbleUpon.
- Not the “Young'ins” – contrary to popular belief, it’s the 30 to 39 year old segment that logs in the most time, with 44.8% reporting spending 10+ hours a week.
- Small Business “Sweetspot” – small businesses love social media marketing because it has generated exposure for their business, leads and partnerships, and to close business.
As you may have noticed, I’ve been sitting on this report since March. At first I had a hard time believing some of the results…still do, but then it occurred to me that maybe I needed to shift my paradigm. Not sure that I’m ready to “replace my conceptual world view with another” but given current trends I guess we in the “post 30-39 generation” do need to be open to it.
Kuhn maintained that, scientist are, in essence, puzzle-solvers who aim to discover what they already know in advance - "The man who is striving to solve a problem defined by existing knowledge and technique is not just looking around. He knows what he wants to achieve, and he designs his instruments and directs his thoughts accordingly."
The upside is if I do “replace my world view” it should give me 20+ hours per week to spend on social media...it may even help me turn around a blog post in less than 3 months.
