Using a Hammer Could Get You Fired
Feb 5, 2010 Technology
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It could, if you used it to hit your boss, or a co-worker. Or if you used it to smash your office desk to bits.
My point is, the hammer is just a tool. It’s how you use it that could get you fired (or not). It’s the same for these social networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter. There’s lots of press lately about how using these tools could ruin your reputation, or get you fired. The latest example being this article on MediaPost.
And yes, what they write is completely valid. Companies are still not fully adjusted to this new world of social media, and if you overstep the bounds that they set, you could get fired. So yes, you probably do have to be careful, to a certain extent.
At the end of the day, though, it’s not about the tool. Twitter, Facebook – these are just tools. How you use it could get you fired, true. But that’s the same of any tool.
[?]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
We All Have Something Valuable to Say…
Sep 6, 2008 Technology
I really believe that – that everyone has something valuable to say, and something to contribute on at least some topics. And I love how the web provides a means for us to be heard. Especially in recent times, it’s so easy to step up and have your say on any topic.
You can start a blog, or create a Squidoo lens, for example. You can edit Wikipedia. You can Twitter, or comment on blogs. It’s now so easy to make a contribution and have your voice heard online.
Now, thanks to a Help A Reporter (a free service by Peter Shankman), that ability to have your voice heard is stretching to print
The playing field is being leveled, and we’re all being given more and more opportunities to show our expertise, and let our voice be heard.
The platforms are there – and increasing. Are you making use of them?
Thanks to Seth Godin for pointing out the service.
Tags: be heard, blog, help a reporter, squidoo, twitter, voice, wikipedia
Why I like Identi.ca
Jul 10, 2008 Technology, blogging
There’s a lot of Twitter ‘clones’ and competitors coming to the fore lately. A few weeks ago, it was Plurk (which as you might know, I’m not really a fan of). Now, the biggest buzz is Identi.ca. And this time, I am a huge fan of it. It’s been around for a week or so, but I just haven’t had the time to write about it until now.
Why do I like Identi.ca? It’s not about the featueres, though that’s rapidly improving. I like the ideas and principles behind it. It’s a push for openness. We all know that free markets are better than closed ones. That holds true for the online world as well.
And that’s why I’m really in support of Identi.ca. I think the push for openness is really important, and the possibilities of openness – imagine a world where Twitter, Plurk, Pownce and Jaiku can work with each other – is something I look forward to.
So, you can find me on Identi.ca. As always, my username is derrickkwa. Feel free to connect with me over there.
[?]Tags: identi.ca, microblogging, openness, twitter
Why I’m Not Using Plurk
Jun 7, 2008 Uncategorized
I’ve got an account on Plurk, but after checking it out for a couple of days, I’m not really using it.
Daryl, who has become a huge proponent of Plurk, has been sharing some of his reasons for choosing Plurk over Twitter. His reason number 4: it provides closer/more intimate conversations. And in a way, I don’t disagree.
But that point is precisely why I’m not on Plurk. The downside of more intimate conversations is that there tends to be more “mindless chatter“, as Daryl put it – and as evidenced by this thread. Yes, it helps build closer relationships, but from an outsider – if I’m not following everyone in that conversation – it doesn’t add much value, just noise.
It’s sort of related to what Mitch Joel wrote about why he tends to reply using Direct Messages instead of @ replies on Twitter, and why I personally don’t write much about my personal life here.
Yes, there’s a place for Plurk, I’m not denying that. It’s just a completely different dynamic, and not one that’s suited to me. I’m looking not just for conversations, but for intellectual, stimulating discussions.
I try to keep my personal conversations private, for two reasons. firstly, to not add too much noise. And secondly, because in a mass conversation like that, chances are – for me personally – I would have trouble keeping up and giving due attention to everyone.
Sonny Gill wrote that “Twitter is the conference and Plurk is the party“. And personally, I’m just not much of a party person.
So yeah, if you’re looking for me on Plurk, chances are you’ll find my account, but not me. I’m not on it anymore. I’m waiting (and hoping) for Twitter to get back up.
[?]Wishlist: Twitter Notifications for @ Replies
May 3, 2008 Technology
Here’s a feature I’d want on Twitter, a way to turn on notifications only for @ replies. Twitter provides the ability to turn on notifications to either your whole timeline, or to DMs only. I’d like one for @ replies.
Why? Because sometimes I’m having conversations on Twitter, and I need to go offline. Or sometimes I Twitter from my phone, and would love to get notifications about people who reply to me. It’s more focused. Rather than a hundred SMSes a minute, it’d be much more useful to only get notified of conversations I’m involved in. Or to at least get the option.
I’ve got a rough idea of a possible way it can be implemented as a 3rd party. Twitter provides notifications for DMs. So I’m thinking, would it be possible to create a bot account to do something like this. You follow it, it auto-follows you back. Then it monitors the @replies RSS pipe (created by Andrea Vascellari, referencing TweetScan) and just duplicates the RSS updates as DM to you. That’s just one possibility, and it should be highly possible to create, right?
What do you guys think? Am I the only one who wants this feature? And anyone want to help create something like this (because I don’t have much experience with scripting)?
[?]Tags: Conversation, replies, scripts, twitter, wish
Feedback Loops
Apr 25, 2008 Analogies, Technology, blogging
Image via WikipediaWe’ve all heard the high pitched squeal that results from feedback from speakers. And I’m pretty sure most of you would agree that it’s annoying. It’s not something you want to hear.
Feedback occurs when a microphone picks up it’s own sound from the speaker. The sound gets trapped in a loop (microphone picks it up from the speaker, amplifies it and sends it to the speaker, where it gets sent back to the microphone, etc), which causes that annoying whine that we all know (and most hate).
The thing is, with the power of Web 2.0, it’s very easy to get trapped in our own ‘feedback loop’. The web allows you to amplify your voice. With blogs, podcasting, Twitter and all the other Web 2.0 tools, you can speak and be heard.
But social media is a conversation. It’s not a one way broadcast. Yes, the tools help to amplify what you have to say, but if you’re just trying to build yourself up, it’s not going to work. You’ll just get annoying.
Companies which blog and only plug their products aren’t going to get much value from social media. Companies which blog and listen to what their customers say back will.
Same for individuals. You’re more likely to gain from social media if you’re listening to what others say, and feeding off each other, inspiring each other. If you’re just amplifying yourself over and over, you won’t gain value, and you won’t be adding value either. You’ll just be making noise.
How do you keep yourself from getting trap in a ‘feedback loop’?
Tags: feedback, listening, social media, twitter, web 2.0
