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

February 16, 2010

Top 10 Traits & Habits of Mixx Users!

The term “psychology” shows more than 73,000,000 results on Google. It is a broad term encompassing various ideas, approaches and definitions.

By psychoanalytik

By psychoanalytik

I have always desired to major in psychology, however, people always advised me otherwise because unless you continue your PHD in psychology, people don’t really take you seriously; especially those seeking to be drugged out of their depression and misery!

Though I ended up majoring in Marketing and Business Administration, I still have a soft spot for psychology which I like to use here at Thoughtpick at several occasions for Twitter use and Facebook’s popularity, combined with my marketing and social media knowledge and experience.

In the Mixx…

Since I began using Mixx, the behavior of Mixx users has always been very intriguing to me and their use of Mixx has been a topic that I wanted to analyze and write about. However, I decided to wait till I knew more and thus understood more. I guess the time is now!

Through many encounters, conversations, shares and comments, I began to finally find my way around the psychology of Mixxers. Here is what I came up with:

1. Mixxers are as proud as Redditers…

And even more! Every single Mixxer is both proud and happy to be using Mixx. Each user takes pride in delivering valuable, fresh and unique information to fellow Mixxers. Each user is excited about each submission he or she adds and shares.

[read full article >>]

February 2, 2010

Internet Freedom: A Hoax or a Reality?

We hold in our hands, the most precious gift of all: Freedom. The freedom to express our art. Our love. The freedom to be who we want to be. We are not going to give that freedom away and no one shall take it from us! Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Cicely, 1992

Touching quote right? I am sure most of you would agree. However, are we really holding our “precious” freedom in our hands? Are we appreciating it as we should? Are we conscious of how our actions might negatively influence the health and sanity of our freedom? I think not!

More Access: Less Freedom!

During another daily round on Mixx, I found the following cartoon:

Internet Freedom?

Internet Freedom?

It made me think about the heavy weight the future of our freedom carries upon its shoulder due to this “much freer access of information”. It also reminded me of my clean up trip on Facebook a couple of days ago and of how I had to remove around 300 so-called friends and place around 200 others on my limited profile! [read full article >>]

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 >>]

February 1, 2010

Social Media’s Hunt for Haiti Survivors!

Many disasters occur worldwide and yet, with our minds shut off from the world outside of us, we don’t even see them or even hear about them! Two earth quakes hit Haiti. The whole world was watching; not oblivious to what is going on this time.

Social media brings everyone together in support of Haiti and even further, in the hunt for survivors!

[read full article >>]

December 28, 2009

5 Web & Internet 2010 Funny Predictions – Photoshopped & Illustrated!

The only constant thing is change!

Therefore, and to make sure that we capture the changes in social media for the coming year, we have prepared for you a funny list of our own predictions for ten social media tools and sites for the year 2010! Make us smile, and share them :)

1. Twitter Explosion

1twitter

Twitter Explosion

[read full article >>]

December 16, 2009

How To: Utilize Social Media for Voicing Worries & Sharing Concerns!

“Pain shared is pain lessened; joy shared is joy increased. Thus do we refute entropy”. The Callahan Chronicles

Pain!

Confusion!

Maybe misery enjoys company, maybe it doesn’t. Either way, the truth of the matter remains to be that whatever an individual maybe going through, regardless of how positive or negative it may be, being able to voice and share concerns, sorrow, anger and worries usually makes the burdens less and more bearable!

Therefore, this post is dedicated to answering the following questions: Could social media really help people in distress? Does it have the ability to reduce stress, anxiety and confusion through its different venues? Is being open and sharing personal feelings and experiences through social media positive?

Speaking from Personal Experience:

Privacy is a very highly valued element in one’s life. That is a given. Yet, sometimes, when your close friends’ advice seems to be scarce or redundant and you have different conflicting thoughts which you, yourself, are unable to resolve or handle, exposing part of yourself through a viral medium, such as social media, might actually bring positive outcomes!

[read full article >>]

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 >>]

October 19, 2009

Top 10 Tips to Get Rid of Your Social Media Addiction!

I admire addicts. In a world where everybody is waiting for some bline, random disaster, or some sudden disease, the addict has the comfort of knowing what will most likely wait for him down the road. He’s taken some control over his ultimate fate, and his addiction keeps the cause of death from being a total surprise.” Chuck Palahnuik

Social Media Addiction!

Social Media Addiction!

Whether or not we choose to admit it, each of us has, or at least is prone to having, a certain addiction at some point in time or another and for a specific substance, object, concept and so on. Recently though, the hot topic which everybody seems to be talking about is the sibling of Internet addiction; the one and only: social media addiction!

Yes, I know what you are thinking now: “Social media addiction is overrated.” Some might even say: “It is a joke!“. I have to brutally disagree! Just as any other addiction has the power to eventually end up disturbing and disrupting your lifestyle, social media is capable of causing the same damage!

Quick therapy is key to effective recovery!

Previously, I wrote a couple of articles discussing the negative outcomes of social media addiction and stating the effects of social media on our overall mental health. Back then, I was simply stating the problems and the consequences that I observed through my humble experience with social media. However, the goal of this post is to give you the top 10 pointers and tips on how to cure yourself, with the help of others, from your social media addiction.

[read full article >>]

September 18, 2009

Is Social Media Pushing TV to its Grave?

Television is dying,” Jay Leno…

How is social media affecting the old, traditional yet long-loved media channel: the television? Is social media slowly pushing television to its grave? How is social media able to encourage less television viewing and promote more Internet usage simultaneously?

Personally Speaking…

television-is-dead

Television dead?

Allow me to begin this post by presenting you with a short personal experience of mine which will, in turn, help you realize how I thought about this topic and where my ideas are coming from in addition to where they are headed!

I have been a mildly heavy Internet user for the past two years or so. A year ago, my interests in reading, writing and going out started changing: I started spending more time on Facebook and less time for going out and seeing friends. Since March 2009, I think I became an “Internet addict”, replacing most outings and TV time with Internet use, especially social media related sites and channels! I can recall that the last time I actually sat down and watched anything on TV was late March of this year!

With this little story in mind, let’s take a deeper look on how social media is discretely replacing the role of our beloved television!

[read full article >>]

August 31, 2009

Social Media & Medical Diagnosis: Could Your Online Doctor Kill You?

Is social media slowly replacing the traditional form of curing illnesses by doctor visits followed by diagnosis and medical prescriptions? Can social media really kill you through misdiagnosis? Should we really trust online doctors who give out free or universal drug prescriptions?

An Intro into My Train of Thoughts…

Misdiagnosis By Angela Melick

Misdiagnosis By Angela Melick

I won’t go as far as Voltaire and say, and I quote: “Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.”But I sure do agree that this quote can be applied to many “trendy” online doctor-wannabe’s who claim to have the know-how to diagnose medical issues simply through reading a bunch of symptoms!

Recently, and with the increasing reliance on social media for almost every little piece of news we read and advice we need, social media has become a place for “self-acclaimed” gurus in every field, even the critical field of medicine!

This worries me!

If you look at solid statistics, you will be able to clearly see that there are around 80,000 deaths reported annually, in the US alone, due to doctors’ mistakes and wrong diagnosis! Add to that the fact that, in these times we’re living, anything can kill you; what you eat, what you drink and even anger!

[read full article >>]

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