My Thoughts on the Daniel Brusilovsky Situation
Feb 8, 2010 People, Technology, life
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By now, those of you in the social media scene have probably heard of the incident with Daniel Brusilovsky and TechCrunch. For those of you who don’t, here’s a rundown of the situation. Daniel was interning for TechCrunch, and allegedly asked for a Macbook Air in exchange for a post about a startup. TechCrunch found out about it, and fired Daniel, who followed up with a personal statement, admitting that “a line was crossed”, but not quite saying much else.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve been quite intrigued by the whole scenario. I honestly did not know of Daniel before this (though I probably should have), so it was interesting. To see another young blogger do something like this, and the reactions that its received.
Personally, I think what Daniel has done is indefensible. A group of us bloggers in Singapore recently had a meetup where we were just talking about the up-and-coming culture of bloggers asking to be paid. And I’m personally hugely against it. So, that’s where I stand on the whole issue. Daniel was wrong, and deserved to be fired.
The main two things that catch my attention, though, are these.
Firstly, Daniel’s statement. He doesn’t quite admit to anything on this. He says “a line was crossed that should have never been”, but that he “[does] not want to go into details”. He also seems to make excuses, claiming his youth. He then makes a request for privacy. You know what the statement reminds me of? Tiger Woods’ statement after his accident at the end of last year. It feels like a crafted statement, to reveal as little as possible, and try to sweep everything under the rug as quickly as he can.
Dewey Hammond put it perfectly well when he tweeted the following:
Ppl praising @danielbru ask yourself this: After getting caught red-handed what other choice did he have but to apologize?
And that’s what it strikes me as. An apology (not even an apology, but a statement), for the sake of it because he was already busted. Of course, I could be wrong, but personally, reading that, it didn’t seem particularly sincere or remorseful. I’d like for him to come out and be straight about it, and say “I did this. It was wrong, there was no excuse for it.”
Secondly, and more importantly, I think is the fact that lots of people are saying that people should cut him some slack because he is a kid. Yes, he is a kid, but kids can and do take on responsibilities too. (And for what it’s worth, from the way his statement itself is crafted, it seems to me that he’s more than smart enough to have known what he was doing.)
Granted, I’m a couple of years older than him (and am not quite anywhere near his level of fame), but speaking as a kid, I don’t think he should be excused on those grounds. Us “kids” are always asking to be treated and respected as adults, and well, to quote Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility”. You can’t have it both ways – you can’t ask to be respected as an adult, but hide behind the image of being a kid if you make a mistake.
If you want to hide behind the label of a kid, stay in the playground. Once you choose to step out, you need to face the responsibilities of being an adult – and own up to your mistakes. It may sound harsh, but that’s my 2 cents.
[?]Tags: apology, daniel brusilovsky, kid, payola, responsibility, techcrunch, transparency
It’s Not All About the Money
Jan 30, 2010 People
It’s quite old news by now, but Simon Cowell is quitting Idol.
Yes, the show will miss him. But what I want to mention here is why he’s leaving. As the article mentions, he’s walking away from one of the highest paid jobs in the world. But he’s leaving because he doesn’t have ownership of the program. He’s leaving because he’s essentially “just talent”.
I’m in full support of that decision, and I think that it’s really good to see. And I think it’s something we need to remember, whenever we’re dealing with (and even more so when we’re managing) others.
It’s not always about the money. Ownership of what you’re doing, knowing that you have a significant role – that’s just as, if not more important. More often than not, as a motivating factor, ownership trumps money.
What motivates you? And how do you motivate those you work with?
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Gimmicks
Jan 11, 2010 People, music, personal branding
Lately, on TV (yes, I still watch TV, I’m old fashioned that way), there have been a lot of ads for the new season of American Idol. And it got me thinking.
Think through the past winners. I admit, I didn’t follow the show too much in its earlier seasons, only starting watching it proper towards the end of Season 6. But since then, the winners have been Jordin Sparks, David Cook and Kris Allen, with Blake Lewis, David Archuleta and Adam Lambert as the runner ups. What about the likes of Nick Mitchel aka Norman Gentle? Or Katrina Darrell, the bikini girl? Nowhere near the top.
What’s my point in this? Every year we see loads of people trying out various gimmicks in an attempt to “stand out” and make an impact on the judges. But invariably, the ones who really go on to win the competition have not been these people. The winners have been the ones who have focused on their singing, just went in, did what they do, with no extra fuss. They let their ability speak for itself, and didn’t require the extra gimmicks to make an impact.
There are always going to be gimmicks available, that seem to promise an instant impact. But gimmicks can only get you so far. If you’re really good at what you do, you will be noticed, even without the gimmicks. If you aren’t good enough, then no amount of gimmicks in the world can help you.
[?]Tags: american idol, blake lewis, david archuleta, david cook, gimmicks, jordin sparks, kris allen, talent
The Power of Social Media
Jan 3, 2010 People
At the turn of the new year, inspired by our NYE tweetup, I wrote about why I love social media, and what social media is to me. In a sentence, I wrote that social media, to me, was about “conversations, community and friendships, with a dash of spontaneity”, and that was why I loved it.
What I left out of that post, though, is the power of that. Yes, on the surface, the whole “social media is about people” thing seems very nice and heartwarming, but I think it goes far beyond just that.
Social media allows you to build a tribe more easily than ever. And tribes are really powerful. When a group of people who share the same ideal and the same vision of how the world should be, get together and bond together around those beliefs, a lot can happen. A small group of people, bonded around a shared passion and belief, is all it takes to change the world.
And I think that’s the power of social media. It makes it easier than ever for anybody, anywhere, to connect with others who share their beliefs and their passions. It takes away boundaries of distance and social status. It takes away almost all boundaries, actually. And allows people to connect like never before. It makes it easier than ever for groups to form around a shared belief and to take action to make those beliefs happen.
That’s the power of social media. It lies in the people, and the ability to form relationships and have conversations. It’s not about marketing reach or cheap advertising. It’s still about people, and community, and conversations, and relationships. That’s where I think the true power of social media lies.
[?]Why I Love Social Media
Jan 1, 2010 People, Personal, life
NYE @ Arab Street Tweetup was amazing, and I think it epitomized everything I love about social media. It had everything – spontaneity, great conversations, new friendships – it was just awesome. And before I go on, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who made last night happen. Jerrick, Ivy, Justin Lee, Justin Ng, Hisham, Michael Cheng, Nicole, DK, Shawn, Jean, and everyone else who stopped by. I had a great time.
Here’s what happened. A few days ago, Jerrick and I were talking on Twitter. He’s back in Singapore for the holidays, and we were saying that we needed to catch up before he left again. Off the top of my head, I threw out the idea of doing something for New Years Eve with the other local social media people. Jerrick then retweeted the idea, and Ivy came across his retweet, and said it was a “great idea”. The three of us then started discussing what we should do, and by the next day, we decided (Ivy’s idea) to go hang out at Arab street for dinner, drinks and the like.
So, we created a twtvite and sent it out. People responded, and two days or so later, at the event, we had about 10 people show up. After dinner and some drinks, we decided to head to Hackerspace Singapore, for more conversations. And let me say, Hackerspace is awesome. They have a great idea, great beliefs and ideals, and I really hope they do well. But more on that another day.
Back to last night. We went to Hackerspace, and just hung out and talked. For something like 8 hours. In between that time, more people joined us, some left at various points in the night. But all in all, a group of us were there until 7 in the morning. We did a countdown, we talked about everything. From what social media meant to us individually, to our thoughts on how Singapore is like at the moment, to random conversations about toilets.
But it was great. Just hanging out, and having a great time with friends, filled with great conversation and discussion. I can’t think of a better way to start the new decade. Before yesterday, I had not met half of the people who were there before. By the end of the night (well, the morning, to be specific), I had made new friends, and I had had a night filled with great conversations, with really smart people.
So yes, that, in a nutshell, is why I love social media, and what I think it should be about. It’s what I’ve missed the most while I was on hiatus. Conversations, community and friendships, with a dash of spontaneity. We get so caught up sometimes worrying about how to monetize our blogs, how to build a reputation, how to further our personal brands, etc (and yes, don’t get me wrong, those things are important, in context), that we forget the social aspect of social media. And I think we need to always remember that.
At the end of the day, social media is about people. At least, that’s what I think.
What do you think? What is social media to you – and what do you like, or not like, about it?
Photo by mhisham
[?]Tags: #nyeonarabst, community, Conversation, friendships, People, relationships, social media, twitter
Job Dedication
Dec 9, 2008 People
A few days ago I wrote about doing what you love.
And doing what you love is not just important for you, as an individual, it’s also important for the company you work for.
Yes, you can do decent work doing something you don’t love. But you will never get dedication like this.
[?]Tags: dedication, job, love, nonsociety, passion
Ever Dream of Being a Janitor?
Dec 7, 2008 People
Few of us would even consider that as a possibility. But John Andersen did, and he shares the joys of janitorhood.
His is a great example of someone who’s doing what he loves, not for the money, but because of passion, and because of the fulfillment it gives him.
John writes:
It’s just that before you dismiss a career because you think it’s beneath your abilities, it sometimes makes sense to investigate further. Look inside yourself. You may find like I have, that something as “lowly” as janitorhood can be a hidden gem, a key to unlocking the door to a rich and fulfilling lifestyle, the likes of which you had never before dreamed possible.
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Are you overlooking hidden opportunities around you?
Tags: career, janitor, job, Lifestyle, opportunities
