Life is just a minute. Only sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, can’t refuse it, Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it. But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it. Give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute. But an eternity is in it! -Dr. Benjamin Mays
When I came across this amusing and interesting infographic that illustrates what happens every minute on the internet, it made me think of Alvin Toffler’s book, Future Shock,(1970), where he popularized the term “information overload”. Could anyone have imagined then how profoundly the world would change? Consider the enormous amount of information and dialogue happening on-line today. For example, every sixty seconds there are: 100+ new LinkedIn accounts, over 98,000 tweets, 1500 blog posts—the list goes on.
From a business perspective, consider what are you contributing to the social media conversation. The new imperative for us all is to keep up and connect. How are you linked in with this enormous amount of knowledge? Do you know your customers’ social media preferences and are you communicating with them based on their preferences, rather than your own? From a personal leadership perspective, how are you standing out in this ever-expanding crowd? Are you ensuring that you’re not intimidated by this vast global network, but are instead benefiting?
