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Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

February 2, 2010

10 Tips on How to Get Your Writing Groove Back!

“Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can’t see any reason to change the formula now”. Chris Van Allsburg

I have always been a great fan of the word “muse”. It has been the driving force behind each and every piece I write, whether on my personal blog or for Thoughtpick. Regardless what the topic might be, I have always found my muse there; leading me towards a certain writing style or approach.

To Blog or Not to Blog!

To Blog or Not to Blog!

However, the muse is a little moody, conniving fox! It can run away from you and leave you dry of ideas; you can’t think of anything new or creative to write!

That’s okay if you are writing for your personal blog but really negative when you are a writer for a certain blog or even if your own blog is business related! Imagine being a writer for Mashable for example, yet having nothing to write about!

Therefore, and strictly from experience, I decided to share with you the top ten tips of getting your writing groove back!

1. Get Away!

And I mean that in every way possible! Don’t try to force yourself into writing; nothing good will come out of it! Just stay away! Put your laptop off and go out for a walk or watch a movie; anything which is as far away as possible for the topics you are supposed to write about!

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Tips and How To’s — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 4:14 pm

November 16, 2009

Does Social Media Have the Power to Deteriorate the Economy?

“More than half of office workers use sites like Twitter and Facebook for personal use during the working day, and admit wasting an average of 40 minutes a week each.

“One in three of the 1,460 office workers surveyed also said they had seen sensitive company information posted on social networking sites, leading to fears about how workers use the internet.” ~ according to The Telegraph (article linked to below)

If Twitter ‘costs British economy £1.38bn’, then how much is the total economic cost of using social media in other countries worldwide? Consequently, in the long run, does social media have the power to deteriorate the economy in general? And is social media to blame for information leakage and lack of privacy?

World Economy

World Economy

I Told You So! Or Did I?

In recent posts, I have discussed the power of social media both positively and negatively. May it be in terms of its privacy concerns, the personal safety threats it represents or its ability to motivate us to waste time, social media has been blamed for almost every mishap in our lives since Web 2.0.

However, when it comes to actual facts, figures and numbers, I highly doubt that it is a true statement that social media does have the ability to actually hurt the economy! Here is why:

  1. There WAS technology before Web 2.0 & social media; we were not living in the dark ages! Whether we used to spend hours sending e-mails, making phone calls or just sending messages via our mobile phones, there has always been a reason or a way to waste time! Before the mobile phone, there were landlines, before those, there was the television and so on so forth! [read full article >>]
Filed under: Deductions and Realizations, Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 3:57 pm

November 6, 2009

Interesting: The Boom of Social Sites Visualized [image]

A fun visualization by Focus magazine about …“the explosion of social networking sites over the past decade has facilitated a transformation in the way we communicate with each other. Here’s a list of some of these communities with over 1 million users, both active and defunct.” It’s ironic how I almost never heard about most of the sites on this list!

Do you think there are many other active social communities that we don’t know about? How many of them can help your business? And what is the best way to choose between them to best fit your business needs?

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Web News — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 9:00 pm

November 5, 2009

5 Ways for Using Social Media to Bring about World Change!

“Make it a rule… never to lie down at night without being able to say, “I have made one human being at least a little wiser, a little happier or a little better this day.” – Charles Kingsley.

As beautiful as this quote is in meaning, sadly, regardless of how hard we try and due to our heavily loaded, work burdened and responsibility strained lifestyles, we always find ourselves lacking in the “giving” and “charity” departments.

"Unity" by Sonia Jimenez

"Unity" by Sonia Jimenez

However, it goes without saying that when there is a will, there is a way and social media might just be the solution to our time deprived schedules, especially when it comes to dedicating time to causes whether they be charity related or otherwise.

Therefore, the questions that need to be asked at this stage are the following: Is social media sufficient for bringing about change worldwide? Which social media channels and tools are actively involved in promoting causes? And how do we make the best of these in the little time we have within our daily routine?

The Power of Social Media Lies Within its Viral Element

Whether we are trying to bring an end racism, promote environmental awareness, protect children’s rights or achieve any other cause, I tremendously believe in the power that social media possesses in its ability to make things happen simply because social media is very viral!

Depending on the platform you choose to subscribe to and use, I bet there is always a way to get your cause related message across to your audience way faster than any news channel or regular billboard campaign!

The key is the geographically dispersed multi-cultural educated and intellectual audience and the ability to build trust and attract them to listen and even play a role in making a change.

5 Fast, Simple & Efficient Ways for Using Social Media to Bring about World Change:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead.

  1. Make use of the Power of Tweets: Twitter is a popular social media channels with millions of users spread world wide. Make your tweets count! A few cause related tweets daily posted by each of us can make a difference: at least we feel united at some level! Example: #haleighcummings Support Awareness • Pls RT • 3 Missing Children • add a #twibbon to your avatar now! – http://bit.ly/2KzCdm [read full article >>]
Filed under: Research-Based Topics, Tips and How To’s — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 4:55 pm

November 3, 2009

Social Media & Tourism: Playing the Right Cards!

In the current times we are living, social media occupies almost every part and aspect of our daily lives and decision making processes. There is now a way to use  each and any social media channel, or a combination of them, to promote any product, place, person, service and so on.

Tourism...

Tourism...

Based on the above generalization, we can easily grasp the importance of social media, especially when it comes to marketing and advertising. It is now just a matter of how to promote a certain product, service or place, to whom and the creativity of the content of the message being sent out.

So what about tourism? Does it have any place in this equation? Is it, also, able to benefit from social media? And how can social media be best utilized to promote countries in general and cities or certain sites in specific?

Tourism: The Basics!

How about we start with the simple basics of tourism; the building blocks?

To begin with, we must be able to determine why people travel and how they are able to judge if a country is worth visiting and touring or not.

Basically, people travel for two main reasons: Business and leisure (which includes tourism). Now, since business destinations are usually predetermined, we need to identify what makes a person choose a certain country over another for vacationing purposes. This falls under 5 main reasons and they are:

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Controversial Picks, Deductions and Realizations — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 5:11 pm

October 26, 2009

User Manual: What to Expect When Using Social Media?

“Anger always comes from frustrated expectations”. Elliott Larson

Expectations are – simply put – the building blocks and the breaking points of everything in life.

Expectations Only Lead to Disappointment!

Expectations Only Lead to Disappointment!

Whether in the way we conduct our personal lives or business wise, expectations usually have the power to strengthen or hinder efforts and in turn influence any outcomes either positively or negatively.

Hundreds, no, thousands of books and articles were published about various subjects pertaining to expectations all around us. The main reason for these publications is to prepare individuals for what they might face in certain situations or during specific events or cases and how to deal with them accordingly.


Social Media Expectations: The good, the bad & the ugly!

Preconceptions about a certain concept, person, place and so on have the ability to cause confusion. This is because the human mind conditions itself to a certain way of dealing with things based on prior expectations. Thus, if the expectations are not met, the mind usually refuses to change its perceptions and whatever is at play might lose its credibility and attractiveness element.

Therefore, I thought I would prepare a list, divided into 3 categories: the good, the bad and the ugly. The main purpose of this list is pointing out everything one must expect to encounter through his/her use of social media channels, tools and platforms.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Deductions and Realizations, Research-Based Topics — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 7:13 pm

October 1, 2009

The Addictive Psychology Behind Facebook’s Use & Popularity!

“Just as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes tend to have a highly “addictive” quality in their nature, Facebook too can be extremely addictive!” me.


Facebook Cartoon By geek and poke

Facebook Cartoon By geek and poke

Not so long ago, we discussed how the use of social media channels, in general, can cause different types of psychological problems or disturbances and how it can have the ability to negatively influence our mental and emotional health. In another post, we discussed the psychology behind people tweeting.

But how about Facebook? What are its psychological manifestations and the psychology behind it and its use? Is it, too, a threat to our not-so-balanced emotional stability? Why is the use of Facebook so addictive?

A study conducted in 2007, discussing the psychology of Facebook, mentions many mental and emotional issues associated to and resulting from using Facebook and so on.

In order to avoid sounding repetitive by reiterating what others have said regarding this issue, I will state my personal opinion of the subject at hand before reading further about it from my research results.

[read full article >>]

Filed under: Controversial Picks — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 5:29 pm

August 6, 2009

Social Media Dead in 2020: May it “Rest in Peace”!

Has social media “worn out its welcome“? Are people getting tired of social media? Is social media changing who we are? Are the arguments against and the threats imposed by social media able to bring it down to its knees? How long will social media users tolerate the negative effects of utilizing its sites, tools and channels?

A brief introduction…

Yes I admit it: I'm a Twitter Addict!

Yes I admit it: I'm a Twitter Addict!

I’m a dreamer and have always been since as long as I can remember. A common activity dreamers partake in is continuously wondering about the future: What is it going to be like? What are the things that are going to change or become obsolete? Is it going to be better or worse? And so on…

A few days ago, while carrying out a tremendously boring task, the idea of the future came to haunt my thoughts and I found myself strangely wondering about social media in 2020 – I might need to emphasize that working with a team of geeky computer addicts contributed to this!

As I thought of social media, I drifted off to my childhood days and recalled the need to buy a certain toy or another, play with it and then, just like that, throwing it away and forgetting it even existed! In some ways, I think what it happening with social media users is similar! To social media new comers, every single tool, site or channel represents a toy; a new discovery, a fresh challenge and an intriguing experience yet the question which we ought to ask is: For how long could this interesting social media last, given all the issues social media is facing and the problems it’s creating, day by day?

A Deeper Analysis…

To prove my unbiased opinion, it is rather essential for me to mention that I am who you may like to call a social media “addict” (please see figure above). I developed habits such as checking my Mixx, Twitter and Facebook accounts every single morning before my coffee, during the day and right before I lay my head down to sleep. Come to think of it, I truly believe that many of my dreams revolve around social media as well!

So, why do I believe social media will be dead is 2020? Here is a list of reasons that I’d like to share with you:

  1. Identity Alteration: Although many of us do not recognize the seriousness of this issue, the fact of the matter remains to be that our personalities are constantly being altered or even more so sabotaged through the prolonged use of social media. Since you can choose to be whoever we want, impersonate whomever you desire and say almost everything on your mind, it is rather easy to forget who you really are and get lost into the image that you have created online!
    [read full article >>]
Filed under: Deductions and Realizations, Research-Based Topics — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 3:56 pm

August 3, 2009

Should Twitter, Youtube & Facebook be Banned from the Workplace?

Do social media tools, channels and sites pose a threat to the quality of work produced in the workplace? Do we realize the actual negative outcomes of using social media within working hours? Is it morally unethical to spend a portion of the 8 to 9 daily working hours utilizing social media for personal use? Do you think social media use should be completely banned from the workplace?

The Web's top visited sites are social media sites - should they be banned at the workplace?

The Web's top visited sites are social media sites - should they be banned at the workplace?

Whether it be Facebook, Mixx, Reddit, Digg, Youtube, Twitter or any other social media channel of your preference, it is a fact that most of the tools, sites and channels, which flourished as a result of Web 2.0, are of a time-consuming nature. Naturally, if you are to waste your own private time working around those channels; sharing information, watching clips, meeting new people, chatting or listening to music, then it would be acceptable. But what about when your utilization of those channels gets out of your own room, home and free time and steps into your working hours?

The way I see it, and from personal experience, unless your job description dictates that you utilize social media for public relations, marketing, promotion, engagement and interaction with potential clients, social media could cause severe discrepancies between the quality of work you do and the quality of work that should be achieved!

Why would that happen?

Allow me to present you with the 5 top reasons why I am completely against the use social media within the workplace: [read full article >>]

Filed under: Controversial Picks, Deductions and Realizations — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 4:06 pm

June 8, 2009

10 Social Media Campaigns that Rock! Learn How to do the Same!

What defines an exemplary social media campaign? What are the elements necessary to capture consumers’ attention and bring about interest and participation in any given social media campaign? What are the best recent social media campaigns online? How can we measure the success of a social media campaign?

A Brief Intro

It is definite that things in life are never just black or white; they usually come in different colors and shades which naturally applies to everything we do, see, touch, feel and so on.

Recently, one of the main focuses of companies with online presence and dedicated communities is creating and designing original, top-of-the-line, creative and motivating campaigns using social media.

Here is where the colors come in play! If we assume that colors are the intensity of a social media campaign’s success, brighter colors being most accomplished and so on, it can be quite difficult to determine which campaign was executed perfectly! Yet, after conducting some research, I have been able to highlight 10 brands that were able to pass the test with flying colors!

10 Social Media Campaigns that Rock:

  1. “Give Me My Chuck” campaign – using social media to pressure the NBC to continue to broadcast the third season of Chuck!
    Save Chuck Campaign

    Save Chuck Campaign

  2. [read full article >>]
Filed under: Deductions and Realizations, Research-Based Topics — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Beirut @ 3:02 pm
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