How much time on social media?

How much time do you spend on social media? Too much?

Nielsen Online reported over the summer that Americans people spend more time on Facebook than any other Web site. The study noted that 87.25 million U.S. users visited Facebook during June, and each of those spent an average of four hours, 39 minutes and 33 seconds on the site during the month.

More recently, Nielsen reported that time spent on social network and blogging sites accounted for 17 percent of all time spent on the Internet in August, nearly triple the percentage of time spent on the sector a year ago.  

"How do people work a full-time job and manage all their social media accounts?" an old-school communications guy asked me recently. It's a good question. Social media users might argue that the sites make them more productive, helping them quickly gather information, connect with colleagues and stay plugged in. But there's some goofing around that goes on, too.

Here are my opinionated suggestions for how to limit your social media time to a well-spent hour a day:

Direct messages: Whether on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, read and respond to these as they come up. These are like answering the phone. This isn't so much social media as direct communications. If you get dozens of these a day, you're either so successful that you need a personal assistant, or you're a teen-ager. Either way, I don't feel sorry for you. Time spent: 10 minutes, as needed.

Twitter: Tweets are like Tic Tacs. You always have time for one, and they can be refreshing and fun. But if you're popping a Tic Tac 30 times a day, do you have a problem? Your mobile device should be your main Twitter interface, and you should tweet, and post pics, as they come up. If you see something or hear something great -- and especially if you witness news -- whip that phone out and tweet. (I enjoy people's mobile tweets far more than the jabberers who sit home or at work and post all day long.) Twitter is also the ultimate dentist-office time filler. When you get a break in your day, nothing wrong with checking Twitter. (I've wondered recently if Twitter users would have been heavy smokers in a previous generation.) Time spent: 15 minutes in the form of daily gap fillers.

LinkedIn: I think you should check in with LinkedIn for 10 minutes every day. That is, unless you're rock-solid confident about the economy, your job and peace and prosperity in general. Work today is all about networking. LinkedIn is not a place to park your resume. Drop a key contact a message, reach out, and see what colleagues are doing. You might need their help someday soon. Think about LinkedIn as like watering a plant or brushing your teeth. It's a healthy habit that pays off. Neglecting to do this has sad results. Time spent: 5 minutes in the morning. 

Facebook: Biggest time suck in the universe right now? Nope. Not even close. Nielsen reports that the average American TV consumption remains at an all-time high of 141 hours per month, more than 30 times the average time spent on Facebook. But I think a good way to think about Facebook is like your favorite TV show. If you sit down for a half-hour in the evening and check out what's going on in your friends' lives, you'll catch many of them at prime time. If you have friends lists, which I highly recommend, you can sort of DVR your experience by focusing on separate areas of your life. Time spent: Half-hour in the evening.

Please understand me: I am NOT recommending everyone spend an hour a day on social media. If you spend less, or don't use these sites at all, more power to you. But if your time on the sites is growing, and you're not evaluating or monitoring it, I hope this helps provides some perspective. 

Now get back to work.