Kicking the online social networking habit - update

Just over two months ago I came out and said I was taking a break from my online social network on Ecademy. Unlike many New Year resolutions, I've stuck to this one. So what's happened?

Well I was expecting to have at least an hour more of spare time a day freed up. Somehow or other that hasn't happened. I occasionally dip into an Ecademy spin-off called Last Thursday but it rarely holds my attention for more than a couple of minutes at most. I have certainly spent more time on the forum at Luminous Landscape, which is really an excellent site with some outstanding contributors and discussions on photography and art; but that's no more than 10-15 minutes a day. And I've occasionally dipped into a Skype chat with old Ecademy contacts.

However, though I don't feel as if I have more time, I do feel a bit less fragmented and a bit more at ease with myself. But what about business.

Ecademy is a business-oriented social network, so being away from Ecademy might have been expected to have a negative impact on business. But no. I did a day for a new client in January (an Ecademy contact), I've just started working with a new client in Holland (a long-standing friend from pre-Ecademy days) and there is something brewing with a new business locally - thanks to a contact from my local Academy for Chief Executives Group 33 run by Mike Wilsher.

So all in all, I'm pleased with my decision to take a break. It's freed up mental and emotional space for other activities. It's enabled me to become more focused. It's given me the satisfaction of overcoming a compulsion. And it's given me a bigger perspective on the benefits and disbenefits of online networking.

I don't regret a moment of my Ecademy activities, and I would certainly recommend it to the right sort of person. Whether I return, and how, remain open questions.