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(fèi)你很多時(shí)間。很多人花很多時(shí)間發(fā)微博、加關(guān)注、更新狀態(tài)。

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(wǎng)絡(luò)永久地改變了世界交流的方式。然而，社交媒體可以浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，也可以成為提高效率的強(qiáng)大助推器。你是用社交媒體來提高效率呢還是拖延時(shí)間呢？

Tool or Time Sink?
是工具還是打發(fā)時(shí)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(rèn)為社交媒體會(huì)耗費(fèi)大量的時(shí)間。它會(huì)花費(fèi)你很多時(shí)間，使你每天的任務(wù)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(fā)時(shí)間。然而，如果使用得當(dāng)，它可以成為提高效率的強(qiáng)大工具。

Social Media: Productivity vs. Procrastination
社交媒體：提高效率 VS 拖延時(shí)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(gè)想法、交流和速度都越來越有價(jià)值的世界里，社交媒體的優(yōu)點(diǎn)脫穎而出。當(dāng)然，社交媒體不能幫你寫報(bào)告或者分析電子表格，它也不能幫你完成那些體力勞動(dòng)。

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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(jié)約時(shí)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
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(gè)話題的建議？社交媒體可以迅速為你提供小貼士、想法以及輸入。利用社交媒體建立一張大網(wǎng)是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的辦法，而不是僅僅聽取你旁邊那個(gè)人單一的建議。當(dāng)然，根據(jù)事項(xiàng)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(diǎn)。

2. Solve Problems
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(dāng)你自己不能解決一個(gè)問題時(shí)，問問這個(gè)世界。比如說，我曾經(jīng)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。于是我把這個(gè)問題發(fā)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(rèn)識(shí)）發(fā)給我一個(gè)鏈接告訴了我答案。就是這么簡單這么厲害。

3. Reach Companies
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.
善于利用社交媒體的公司正在用新的有效的方式為客戶們提供服務(wù)。Twitter是我最喜歡的和公司打交道的方式之一。不用打進(jìn)電話后忍受無休止的等待，我?guī)酌腌娋涂梢园l(fā)一條tweet?；?秒鐘發(fā)一條tweet就能幫我查詢到下一班航班，而且沒有時(shí)間地點(diǎn)的限制。

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4. Get Feedback
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(gè)想法，需要得到輸入或反饋？問問你的社交媒體上的聽眾吧。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(fā)布出來，然后看看會(huì)得到多少回應(yīng)和分享。

5. Find Ideas
尋找點(diǎn)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.
不論是為你的生意、博客還是興趣，從來沒有像現(xiàn)在社交媒體這樣容易找到點(diǎn)子。想知道人們?cè)谒伎际裁?，談?wù)撌裁?，喜愛什么嗎？你只需要?jiǎng)觿?dòng)手指就可以搜索到這些。我的一個(gè)朋友通過在Twitter上搜索關(guān)鍵詞并觀察人們?cè)儐柕膯栴}，來決定他博客發(fā)布的話題。

6. Communicate with a Broad Audience
和更廣泛的聽眾交流

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.
社交媒體為個(gè)人提供了比過去更大的能力來和廣泛的聽眾交流。過去你必須通過出版商或者大型媒體公司才能做到。而現(xiàn)在，作者、演講者和專家可以直接快速地接觸到他們的聽眾，而且大部分情況下是免費(fèi)的。

7. Quick Communication
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(fā)同樣的內(nèi)容，你的收件人大概會(huì)認(rèn)為你瘋了（當(dāng)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.
社交媒體并不都會(huì)讓你拖延時(shí)間，它是我們這個(gè)時(shí)代最強(qiáng)大的技術(shù)之一，所以，如果下次有人對(duì)你說你在社交媒體上浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，告訴他們你比之前更有效率了。

Of course, that may not fly with your boss.
當(dāng)然，還是別讓老板知道的好。