Social Networking = Social, NOT Working

As a user, I like the social networks.

I have had a profile on Linked In for years and have been updating every now and then. I have made contacts with ex-colleagues and other industry professionals and they are in my "network". And I have used Linked In successfully to search for candidates - on advice from a Bezurk friend and also a Google recruiter. And once in a while I get a random message from someone or other on business opportunities and such. Linked In is useful for business professionals and it is there when you want to use it, but most of the time you just "forget about it".

Last year, with much virtual prodding, I joined Facebook. I came into the Princeton network and the Singapore network. People who were offline friends became online friends. Friends who were lost were now found. Acquaintances from years ago are now Facebook "friends". When you get on facebook, you get bombarded with news about your "friends" and what they are doing. It is truly social, unlike Linked In which is "professional".

So my point is when does "social networking" become "Social, NOT working". I see people "attacking" other people, commenting on their pages, and writing on each others' walls. I have "Texas Hold'em Poker" invites as well as invitations for "zombies", "vampires", "werewolves", and "slayers". I get things about "Friends for sale", "Are YOU interested?", and "find out what city you should live in". I see groups of university alumni group, ex-Open World employees group, and the "I know someone that should be hit by a bus" group. I won't even start on the applications....

There are hundreds of thousands of things to do (if not millions). But the thing is... many people are doing them during office hours! I don't mean your normal Dilbert cubicle farm employee, I mean senior people in major companies "poking", "superpoking", "writing", and "slaying" other people during the working day.

Don't they have work to do? Are they as swamped with duties as I am? All this socializing must come at a cost to productivity. Well, the news has been reporting so...

BBC: Facebook 'costs businesses dear'
INC.com: Pulling the Plug on Facebook
Sydney Herald: Facebook labelled a $5b waste of time
Timesonline.co.uk: Is social networking a waste of time?

To all my Facebook "friends" out there, I am not dissing you. I am just confounded. Don't "remove me from friends". If you do, I will have to add you to the list "I know someone who should be hit by a bus".