Someone asked this question the other day on a forum I was browsing and I’ve been pondering it since.

I don’t have anything profound to say about it, but I will share that between my computer and iPhone I do spend a heck of a lot of time on social sites.

The majority of that time is spent networking and interacting for the purposes of growing business relationships—because I do happen to have a business online.  I also have the handy excuse that social media is a major component of the work I do with clients.

Social media can be addictive and time-consuming and is something done generally in isolation. But the interesting thing about this particular discussion is that the original poster was referring to being less social within social networks—as opposed to out in the “real world.”

Essentially they were saying that a great majority of time is spent on your updates, comments, recommendations, etc. leaving less time to interact with others, answer questions and engage in back and forth conversation.

I myself may have experienced this a bit in the beginning, when I was still getting acclimated to how the sites actually worked.  But now the most value—and fun—comes out of the actual “socializing” and relationships.

It’s also worth mentioning that social media has facilitated many in-person meetings such as “tweetups” and local groups formed through meetup.com and the like.

So I’m curious: Either way, do you feel your use of sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. has caused you to be less social?  Do you give yourself a break from it once in a while?  Do you obsessively check Twitter 25,000 times a day like I do? 😉  Let me know your thoughts.

Also, if you are interested in learning how to use online marketing and social media techniques to help build your business and give you a competitive edge, check out my affordable e-Coaching program that’s built around your schedule.

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