Confessions of a Loner

Will the 'Questions' feature in Facebook be a great marketing tool in future?

2011-03-31T17:33:00.004-04:00

Most of us use Facebook to remain connected with our social networks or friends. But now it's not an unknown fact that Facebook is an important communications tool, one that helps immensely in the marketing and promotion of a brand. To maintain its success and people's interests in it, Facebook regularly tries to modify itself by adding new applications.

Facebook has recently added "Questions" to its list of features. According to industry experts like Matt Rhodes, this feature has an enormous potential to be a valuable market research and engagement tool because:

The interface is nicer than the Facebook Polls application.
You can pay for Facebook advertising for your Questions (via the URL), which could provide a significant, targeted response for market research efforts.
It's easy to share the questions with your friends and follow the question to keep a track of written responses.

Now, Facebook Questions are no survey-smashers at the moment, but with improvement can be among the best online-marketing tools. It just needs to find the balance between the depth needed for market research, the targeting options it has for brand page posts, privacy and the sharing options it currently features.

Now Google lets us "like" the pages on web

2011-03-31T17:03:00.003-04:00

Following the success of Facebook's "like" button, now Google has launched its new “+1″ button that will appear next to every website that is displayed in it’s search results pages.

Facebook “like” buttons have been extremely popular for over a year now and have been a great way to to measure a brand's success. They have displayed social proof to viewers by revealing the level of “attention quantification” of a company’s Facebook page… as an example if 50,000 people are displayed as liking a brand's Facebook page, that shows the viewer that this company is popular and may be worth checking out further.

The like button has also provided the means for the company’s latest Facebook updates to potentially appear in the news updates of all people who have ‘liked’ the page. If a company posts an update to its Facebook page then potentially 50,000 people can receive the company’s latest news in their personal Facebook profile. So by posting your latest Blog post to your Facebook ‘page’ allows your content to spread and to be amplified across the web.

Now let's just figure out how the "+1" button works. When you search something on Google, a ‘+1′ button will appear next to the each and every search result. You can effectively ‘like’ the individual search result(s) by clicking on the +1 button. In this way, your searches will become a sort of public data where everyone will be able to follow how many users around the globe like or appreciate some particular search or link. But before you rush to try your hands on it, just keep in mind that it is not available to everyone at this point. Right now it is only available to random US based users. One also needs to have a Google profile. Also, to see the the +1′s in your search results you will need to be logged into your Google account.

Though we are not sure of its effectiveness at present, but it does appear to be a cool application from Google that is expected to enhance the social web further.

References: Jeffbullas.com

Elements of online public relations that are going to help me in my future career

2011-03-30T01:35:00.004-04:00

This eight-month long program in Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Centennial College has been an extremely enriching experience for me. I had a chance to learn many new things that I did not know before.

A course on Online Public Relations is something that I have enjoyed the most in the entire program. I was inclined towards learning more about online PR as I have always wanted to establish myself not only as a good writer but also as a specialist in online communications and web content writing. But I came across many elements of online PR that I was not aware of while starting the course.

If I have to choose the most important thing that I have learnt in online PR that will be applicable in my future career, honestly I won’t be able to select just one. I used to blog earlier and knew what a blog was. But I learnt how blogs can be used as a PR tool through this course. This was something new and exciting. I saw how important blogs are in today’s business world and what a difference they can create in building and maintaining an organisation’s image.

The next best thing was working on creating a podcast. I never really imagined that a podcast can be such a powerful tool in corporate communications. In a team, we got an opportunity to do our own podcast – choose a topic related to PR, interview someone, record sound pieces and then edit them.

I also learnt a great deal about Search Engine Optimization and believe this is something that is going to help me in the long run. As I want to be a web content writer, this will help me understand my content better, choose the key words and direct them in such a way that they appear in maximum searches. There is a thin line between a hard worker and a smart worker. I believe my knowledge of SEOs and its applications will help me to be a smart worker in my future jobs.

This course also introduced me to social bookmarking and tagging. And I have learnt how to use these small but vital tools effectively.

Last but not the least, the knowledge of social media that I have gained through this course is surely going to be an asset in my career. I had been social media savvy for a long time but I never knew how important it is to have a social profile to rise in this industry. I never really liked Twitter and did not bother using it much before I joined this course. Today I am quite active in Twitter and have more than 200 followers myself. Now that I have got it started, I plan to work constantly towards building my online brand through Twitter and other social media platforms.

Overall, it has been a great learning experience, one which I have enjoyed personally.

The beautiful Andamans...

2011-03-30T01:00:00.004-04:00

I had a chance of exploring the beautiful Andaman Islands in early 2010. It was a family trip and we spent six days and five nights in the wilderness and waters of The Andamans.

From blue-green waters to mangroves, from limestone caves to the mysterious Jarwa tribes, The Andamans is a small paradise surrounded by the Indian Ocean. It is an unexplored beauty which has not yet revealed all its secrets.

This picture was taken near the jetty while waiting for the cruise to the Havelock Island, a small island in the Andaman family...The travel comprised of being two hours on the deck on a high tide day with loud angry sea winds roaring, plus a sudden downpour that only ended up being the icing on the cake :)

Death can't take hope away...

2011-02-08T19:12:00.005-05:00

I was sitting on the cold shore combining the sand around me, looking for shells. Dusk was falling. It was windy and the mist coming off the waves felt cold against my body. I looked at the ambitious waves, rising from the restless water underneath, and reaching altitudes to engulf whatever comes in its way. A small boat was struggling to move through the angry waters for a long time. The sight forced me to nurse a hope that the boat would make its way safely from the clutches of waves. A gloomy picture of fear and helplessness flashed in my mind. It made me recall something that was long forgotten.

I was in grade 10 then. It was the first day after the summer vacations. Everyone in the class was buzzing with excitement to meet each other after two whole months of boredom and prolonged naps. I noticed a boy missing from our class of 50. Initially, I thought it was the usual case of being absent.

Days rolled by but he never returned. Then one day our class teacher announced that the boy was suffering from abdominal cancer and had been hospitalized.

The class stood aghast.

Memories started cluttering my mind and finally, formed the image of a handsome boy. His name was Robin. He was a quiet boy. He was not among my close friends but I admired him for his kind and gentle persona. He looked nice with his jet-black hair and chiseled features. I knew him as a person who always helped everyone in need with all he could. I remembered how I always used to tease him about a girl whom he had helped once. I realized that my eyes had become moist and hot tears were rolling down my cheeks. I looked around only to see faces similar to mine. I was feeling choked. I tried to scream but my vocal cords seemed to have been paralyzed.

We all made ‘Get Well Soon’ cards and handed them to the teacher who was going to visit him. I hoped the vibrant shades would bring some hues to his fading life.

Meanwhile, Robin kept on going for chemo treatments once every week. We all were happy to know that he was showing signs of recovery and had also started having fruits instead of the regular glucose and saline water. Our class teacher, who used to visit him frequently, would often say, “I have never seen a braver boy than Robin. He studies the notes I give him and says, “Ma’am I want to, and would surely sit for the boards this year with all my friends.””

One fine day, just before a month before our exams, ma’am told us that Robin’s kidneys had failed working and now he was on dialysis, along with the chemo treatment. This news brought an end to our fresh hopes of seeing him healthy and with us again. That day we all went to see him in the hospital.

I could not recognize him at first. The evil disease had stripped him of his beauty and had made him bald and weak. It was painful to see the fading flame in his clear black but dreamless eyes, his hollow smile agonized by the dread of death. We held our tears back with a tremendous effort and chatted with him. We cracked jokes and laughed, and saw him laughing. We played some verbal games and them bid him goodbye.

Later that month, we got occupied with the final revision of the whole course. In the meantime, Robin’s health kept on worsening. We heard that his family was also going through an acute financial crisis. Our teacher told us that his father, who used to be a strong man once, was getting frustrated day by day. He was constantly making efforts to make ends meet out of nowhere. I wished God would save the family from crumbling.

A couple of months passed and one day I heard the news of Robin’s death. I cried in despair for the loss of a good friend and a better person. But I also thanked God for relieving him from the terrible pain. Just a week after his death, I came to know that his father had died in a train accident. It was said that while traveling somewhere, he fell between 2 trains in motion. It seemed to me more as an act of suicide than an accident. Perhaps, the man had wanted to lose himself after losing his all, the last and undoubtedly the best being his son. After this, Robin’s mother went to live with her parents with her younger son.

This incident filled me with questions that troubled me for days. What had Robin done to deserve death? Why did his parents had to go through the incurable trauma of losing their child? Why is God so brute? I never found answers to these questions. But now I realize that the people, whom we love and care for, never die. They become immortal in our memories. I believe Robin is there, not in person but in presence. Death takes the physical life away but it can never erase the essence of living. Robin fought the battle of life and I feel he tasted triumph in his own way.

My thoughts got interrupted as cool, salty winds hit me. I looked at the small boat. It had fought to sail through the waves and was gliding along the sea that was now calm and defeated. I threw the shells that I had gathered, into the water, and started off for home.

Blog - from being a personal diary to a brand booster...

2011-02-03T20:46:00.005-05:00

I was boggling my mind for some time thinking of things to write for my blog. And then came the idea of blogging on 'blogging' itself.

Blogging has been there for a while now. Something knows as 'Vlogging' or video blogging also appeared a few years ago. But I prefer sticking to my old, simple and ever effective blog.

Ever wondered what a useful medium a blog is? It can be as small as penning down your daily diary to writing and maintaining an all professional blog for a company. There are so many blogs on so many different topics. Fashion, food, technology, environment, politics, personal problems- just think of a word under the sun and you have many great blogs on each of them. There is something for everyone out there.

Let me tell you my story. I have always been a loner and for me blog has been a great friend. I don't fancy sharing my feelings with many people. I prefer a personal diary to jot down the happiest and the most painful moments of my life. Now why not go digital instead of scratching your pen on a paper diary. No worries of running out of pages. You can also attach all sorts of multimedia with your posts- images, videos, songs and much more, all that you could not even think of putting in a paper diary...And the best part, it's a lot of fun too.

Think of maintaining a company's corporate image and goodwill, and a blog is a great way to boost your brand. Plus it facilitates two way communications in the form of comments. This is very important from Corporate Communications perspective.

So all those people out there who don't have their own blogs yet, I would be happy if you feel motivated now to create your own personalized digital space.

Trust me, it is a great device. Happy blogging!!!

Blog revived!!!

2011-02-02T23:24:00.007-05:00

Hi there...

I am back to blogging after over two years. Then it was solely a desire to write a digital diary. Now it is a part of my school assignment. Whatever it may be, it is as interesting as it was and I am happy to revive my blog all over again.

A very short brief on myself- I am a Journalism graduate and a Corporate Communications & Public Relations student. I like writing, watching movies, social media scanning and net surfing.

For the next two months, you can expect to see some posts on anything and everything of random interests and some related to Corporate Communications and Public Relations.

So that's about it at the moment....Have a happy reading and of course commenting!!!

Man peeing at a road side: A common sight, still fascinating just for the message it carries...So please check out the video!!!

2008-09-25T04:18:00.011-04:00

We had our departmental fest called 'Journo Junction' on 23rd and 24th September. The last session of the last day ended with a workshop on Mobile Filming, in which we were supposed to go out n shoot a 30 sec-60 sec film (based on any issue) in a duration of an hour.
I am attaching the video or film our group made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvtZ16cbDD0

It catches A MAN PEEING AT THE SIDE OF A ROAD.

Its a bit blurred and perhaps not proper as it is made at the spur of the moment and by using a mobile phone.
Though i agree its a pretty common sight, yet i feel its worth viewing as many times as possible, just for the social message of keeping our city clean. And as it raises a very relevant question- of the dirth of public urinals in the the capital of India. In a nation where population is in billions, we seldom find urinals even at significant public places like markets, big bus stands like that of Dhaula Kuan, etc. We blame the govt and the system ceaselessly for umpteen reasons, still its ironical to see an issue as important as the nature's call going unseen and unheard.
So please check it out and send your comments.

How much more can I cry over the scarred world?

2008-09-15T00:25:00.000-04:00

Cant 13th September take the form of the last straw?

13th September 2008, my mum stepped in the 46th year of her life. Quite an ocassion of celebration for us, or was it? We had decided to spend the day shopping and eating out in Cannaught Place. To be more specific, Central Park. We were strolling on the streets when we saw a blood donation camp erected by Blood Bank. Not that we were less interested in the cause, but in my mother's presence it becomes inevitable for me and my dad to go for it ( just to mention, she cant donate blood owing to her high blood pressure tendency), as she feels its the best thing we can gift her and to the humanity as a whole. Anyway, it so happened that the whole thing took around 20 minutes and we came out of the camp at 6.30 PM.

Many things happened in the spur of a single second- an ear deafening noise from a short distance, may be across the road; scary screams of the crowd; people running everywhere in chaos; terror in every eye (perhaps mine also), and last but not the least torn-scattered body parts and blood. I am not pasting any pics or putting any link for the pics on my blog as I believe that is too trivial a thing to embody my blog in such an instance. Its reported in newspapers that 'Grass turned red at Central Park'. The only addition that I can make to that is indeed it had.

It is suspected that Indian Mujahideen SIMI cell led by Abdul Subhan, the techie jehadi from Mumbai and one Qayamuddin are the master minds behind the multiple blasts that rocked the capital. The email confirming the responsibility of the blasts were signed by them. The hate mail is captioned 'Eye for An Eye, The Dust Will Never Settle Down' and says "To dreadfully terrorise you this time, by the Will and Help of the Almighty Allah, we are about to devastate your very first metropolitan center, your most strategic 'Hindutva hub, your green zone-yes! Its your own Capital'". It also boasts of the capacity of the group to strike anywhere.

I dont feel like hitting them hard, nor does my blood boil on such frivolous and worth-laughing-at justifications. I just feel a gelid frustration that- are these minds termite infested to such an extent that they in no way can make out that this can never be an answer to whatever injustice and opression that has been meted out to them? This can never be 'Jihad', as they term it. "No, it's not perpetual war against non-Muslims, but the struggle to do good on earth for the sake of God. Jihad literally means “struggle” or “striving.” It is not, as some have claimed, the “sixth pillar” of Islam." An eye for an eye and so on can never be a solution to any problem. It is just a handy way of injecting animosity in each heart, soul and in many cases the blood of innocent people. It is a vicious cycle that has no end, no goal, just terror and hatred and propaganda. That's what it is.

Recently I watched 2 movies- Mumbai Meri Jaan and A Wednesday. Both of them deal with similar issues. I had a question burning in the gut of my heart. Isnt it really time we actually clean our home off cockroaches? Religion is redundant. Every living being who plays with the laws of nature is a cockroach in this case. Anyone and everyone who kills for his/her own vested interests is a non-believer and someone who defies the rules of the Almighty. That is BLASPHEMY, I believe. I am not a social worker, nor am I some religious fanatic. I am, as Naseeruddin Shah states in the movie A Wednesday, a part of the crowd which consists of the common man who is angry and engrieved to the extent of being gelid, actually. Who is the one who suffers such collateral damages, irrespestive of his religion, caste, color and every ugly distinction which divides and takes over the soul essence, that is HUMANITY.

Unchained Desire

2008-09-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

"Unchained Desire , like melody, flows ceaselessly, irrespective of the 'dynamic' time....still with two beautiful differences....that it does so silently and yet reverberates..."

Someday, somewhere......he would be with me

Let the world be anywhere, he would be with me

Where I'll be, there he'll be

And where there would be..... just our feelings

Where dawn will break, where sun would shine

In the flashes of your eyes

Where I would sleep in your arms

Under the sheath of pale moonlight

Dont know where this world of ours is

Dont even know if it exists (or not)

A world where this life of mine

Has not turned its back on me.....

Somehow, somewhere.....there is an intoxication in our unity

Like the the life gliding from your lips to mine

Yet our thirsty hearts cry, moan and pine

For that singular world

That nests our esoteric oneness......our UNCHAINED DESIRE

There the sky burns, and the land screams

Where are you ...... my joy, my smile, my life?

Someday...... somewhere......somehow......

He'll be with me..............

2008-01-23T13:19:00.007-05:00

Those Days Are Gone

Those days are gone
When the blue swan
Sung a sweet song
At the break of dawn.

Those days are gone
When noons were spent
Weaving tales of
Fairies and friends.

Those days are gone
When dusk was seen
Through the rickety branches
Of the Holy Green.

And now I pine
To trace the notes
Of that silent song,
To bathe in the rays
Of my faded childhood dawn,
To see my time fly away
In the charms of fairylands,
To cherish the betrothal
Of the pink and amber horizon,
To discover the hidden treasure
In the old, abandoned church,
To breathe for once, a fresh gust of air
Bereft of all the worldly despair.

As I gather the fallen leaves
The foliage that adored my childhood tree,
I try to fill the emptiness that says
Those days are gone.

Crying over scarred world!!!

2008-01-18T11:37:00.001-05:00

It makes me lament to see What Man Has Made of Man!!!

I am supposed to write something about something. And I have tried my level best to trace that something, but in vain. Today when I was watching television in the afternoon, all of a sudden an advertisement captured my attention and I felt that is SOMETHING to write about. It was the Airtel ad, which shows 2 boys from neighboring countries playing soccer, even when they do not share a common language. Apart from being a brilliant piece of imagination to increase sales of the company, I feel it is a fantastic portrayal of human gesture, which is not confined to the concept of boundaries. The advertisement says – ‘there is no boundary, no wall, which can keep us apart, if only we talk.’

Communication is something that knows no barriers and has the immense power to break all boundaries, created by the evil politics of human beings. Both the boys in the commercial come from two different countries, two drastically different backgrounds and speak different languages. Still they are able to convey the simple emotion of accepting each other and being each other’s playmates in the game of soccer.

At this point, I recall an incident that one of my friends happened to tell me. Her father is employed in the Indian Army, so she had the opportunity to live in many places. This incident took place when she was staying in Ladakh. Many Indian soldiers used to live in bunkers near the fencing that separated India and China. There were Chinese bunkers on the other side of the fencing. My friend told me she often used to find soldiers from both the sides talking to each other in a most un-foe like manner. This used to amaze her. One day she went to an Indian bunker and asked a soldier the secret behind these unusual greetings. He simply said, “We talk, share food and laugh together when there is peace both the sides. But the same ‘WE’ slay each other at the time of war. That’s war!”

These lines seem to be so hollow but they say so much. They say that God gave us the supreme power of speech, hoping us to take the process of communication to undefined heights, so that we could talk and reconcile the issues that happen to emerge between nations. They say that God desired us to live in harmony and share the essence of love and humanity, but we erected walls to fragment the common humanly soul and paint the pieces in the dark hues of caste, religion, color, race and what not…in short hatred.

At the end of this very usual piece, I am unable to draw any unusual conclusion. It just reminds me of a poem written by Wordsworth. I don’t remember the words exactly but it expresses the pain the poet felt when he sees the disfigured and tarnished world created by the humans. And it makes him laments to wonder ‘What Man Has Made of Man’.