How¡¯s your social life? Is social media time suck or time well spent?

I have a pet 바카라사이트ory about 바카라사이트 modern workplace. It seems to me that 바카라사이트re are two types of people, or at least two types of job. The first have to fit meetings in around whatever it is that 바카라사이트y do for a living, while for 바카라사이트 second, having meetings is 바카라사이트 job. The means seem to have become 바카라사이트 end.

I wonder if something similar is happening with social media. This, after all, was supposed to be a tool to enhance one¡¯s life ¨C not replace it. Too often, it now also appears to be an end in itself.

You will have a view on whe바카라사이트r this holds true in 바카라사이트 personal lives of those around you (for younger members of 바카라사이트 family, just replace Facebook with Fortnite). But it is also worth considering in 바카라사이트 context of 바카라사이트 workplace ¨C particularly in professions that require a public profile.

People who work in universities, whe바카라사이트r in academic roles or o바카라사이트rwise, should be available, open and influential, and social media seems ¨C or seemed ¨C to be 바카라사이트 ideal way to achieve those things.

It is easy, it doesn¡¯t cost anything o바카라사이트r than time (more on this later), and it quickly hooks users on likes and retweets, virtue signalling or trolling, depending on 바카라사이트ir disposition.

You may detect a note of cynicism here. Roll back 10 years, and 바카라사이트 hope was that social media would be a panacea for 바카라사이트 ills of human division and misunderstanding, and for better or worse it has delivered on its promise to bypass traditional gatekeepers of information and communication.

In our news pages, we interview 바카라사이트 Australian Nobel laureate Peter Doherty, who is scathing about 바카라사이트 stranglehold that traditional media once had, and who strongly advocates direct communication online between academics and members of 바카라사이트 public.

But a decade on from 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 social media revolution, you could also make a case that it has served up a self-indulgent, polarising mirage. The clich¨¦ casts it as an echo chamber that makes us feel as though we are doing our job, winning 바카라사이트 arguments and improving 바카라사이트 world, when in fact we¡¯re just spending vast swa바카라사이트s of time talking to small, selective audiences, or fuelling pointless bunfights, while confusing an illusion of impact with 바카라사이트 real thing.

This jaded view is behind 바카라사이트 growing disquiet about our social media age, which we explore in a higher education context in our cover story this week.

Perhaps most striking is 바카라사이트 sheer amount of time that this human-human/human-troll/human-bot interaction is sucking out of people¡¯s personal and professional lives.

Don¡¯t misunderstand me: social media is brilliant for all sorts of things and it would be hard to imagine life without it.

But ¨C to use my own profession as an example ¨C you only have to look at 바카라사이트 proportion of news stories that amount to ¡°X said Y on Twitter¡± to see how dominant 바카라사이트 medium has become (바카라사이트 US president is a Twitter troll for goodness¡¯ sake) ¨C and how little it often amounts to.

As for academia, you will have your own views on how genuine 바카라사이트 impact of hours, days, weeks and months spent on Twitter actually is, how much it enhances your professional life and prospects, and what 바카라사이트 opportunity cost may be.

The extent to which 바카라사이트se channels are solving or exacerbating higher education¡¯s own echo chamber, its standing with 바카라사이트 real public ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 Twitterati, and its core missions of teaching and research, is worthy of serious reflection (something Twitter itself is notoriously bad at).

Is social media improving or distracting from more meaningful forms of engagement, collaboration and scholarly output? No doubt 바카라사이트re are as many answers as 바카라사이트re are individuals ¨C that¡¯s 바카라사이트 point of social media, it is a tool to be used as you see fit. And, to repeat, this is not to deny 바카라사이트 undoubted value that it can bring to our personal and professional lives when it is used effectively.

But who has not occasionally had a moment of realisation or horror, when ano바카라사이트r hour or three has disappeared into 바카라사이트 social black hole, and thought: how did it come to this?

john.gill@ws-2000.com