So, what is Facebook? September 16, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Social Media.Tags: Facebook, Michael Arrington, PackRat
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Facebook T-shirt, originally uploaded by BeFitt.
Is it a social networking website or a social utility?
Facebook says it’s the latter and not the former.
The recent controversy over the Facebook application PackRat had a company spokesperson say in an email to a deleted user that “FB accounts are meant to reflect mainly “real-world” contacts rather than mainly “internet-only” contacts”. (Let your Facebook friend list decide what side of this policy you are on). The mail went on to say that Facebook’s mission is to help reinforce pre-existing social connections, not build large groups of new ones.
In a response to Michael Arrington, Facebook later played down its earlier statement and clarified its stand by saying that it encouraged users to maintain single accounts only for authentic usage and expected users to add people that reflects their real-world connections and create trusted networks, and not indulge in unsolicited contact.
I’m totally against unsolicited contact on FB, and using it just to accumulate a mass of “friends”, just for the sake of collecting them. But what really makes me wonder is Facebook’s smart play of words between “social networking website” and “social utility”. How is a social networking website distinct from a social utility? Doesn’t the utility of Facebook lie in the networking capabilities it offers?
May be Facebook really doesn’t get it that for a lot of users it is a social networking website that is a utility by helping them connect with friends, acquaintances and strangers in both real and virtual worlds, with different engagement and involvement levels.
It’s kind of dumb to call the elephant a hippo just because it likes to wallow a lot in the mud pond, right?
Finally, Golden Glory for India August 11, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, India, Pot Pourri.Tags: Abhinav Bindra, Beijing, India, Olympic Games
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Abhinav Bindra today became the first Indian to win a Gold medal in an individual event (10m Air Rifle shooting) in the history of the Olympic Games. It was such a heartwarming feeling to hear the Indian national anthem being played at the awards ceremony.
No doubt, his success is the fruit of supreme persistence, dedication and commitment, including a comeback from back injury. His victory is the perfect gift for a nation that is celebrating its 60th Independence Day on Friday.
Abhinav’s win will definitely inspire cricket-crazy India to devote more energy to other sports as well. It’s about time the snoozing tiger woke up.
The Secrets of Leadership – Nelson Mandela July 27, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Pot Pourri.Tags: Leadership, Nelson Mandela, Time
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As Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday, Time magazine had him on its cover and featured an excellent story on lessons of effective leadership, based on Mandela’s life.
In a very compelling read, Times Managing Editor Richard Stengel, who has also worked on Mandela’s biography Long Walk to Freedom, gives us 8 powerful lessons of leadership from one of the most iconic leaders in contemporary history.
What makes this article more interesting is that we gain an insight into the singular events and experiences that shaped Mandela into a leader par excellence over the years.
One might be familiar with Mandela’s life, his struggle against the apartheid regime and his other accomplishments, but I found it very interesting that the author took each lesson of leadership and tied it to a specific experience or hitherto unknown episode from Mandela’s life. Thus, the article gives us an insider edge and delves more into the workings of the mind of a great leader.
The 8 lessons focus on defining courage as inspiring people to move beyond fear, leading from the front as well as behind, knowing opponents better, keeping friends close and rivals closer, maintaining appearances, accepting that not everything is black or white, and believing that quitting is leading too.
I felt that Mandela dedicated a good part of his life to groom himself into the mould of leadership, and was always mindful of his strengths and weaknesses in his public role. It was a huge but worthy investment he made. His prison years played a key role in his transformation – he apparently went in emotional and headstrong, and walked out balanced and disciplined. In his own words: “I came out mature.”
One sees a brilliant image of Mandela as a master tactician, who always played to his strengths, understood gray areas like no other, compromised without giving much away, adapted well at every turn life took and read his opponents very well.
And that is a very interesting insight, because a good leader is really, really smart at the core with a genuine shell of humanness. While the humane qualities endear him to the masses, the smartness ensures that he does well in the leadership position.
Nelson Mandela’s life is an excellent example to a lot of people who aspire to lead people, especially when they have no chance of leadership being thrust upon them. Being a leader is certainly hard work, but there are many lessons one can learn from the greats. Read the story on time.com here.
Savour the world’s most expensive burger June 30, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Advertising, Conversations, Healthy Living, Pot Pourri.Tags: Burger, Burger King, McDonalds
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burger king IMG_2850, originally uploaded by Damien_Toman.
Indulge in the world’s most expensive burger at $190 every Thursday at Burger King’s Gloucester Road branch (near to Harrods where the high and mighty shop).
You have to pre-order the burger by telephone, before you are ushered through a red velvet rope and up some steps to a more upscale dining experience than the regular diners. You are treated to crisp table linen and free-flowing 2003 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz from the Whalebone Vineyard in South Australia. And then,you are presented a free limited-edition bottle of Coca-Cola, supposedly worth $300.
And here’s a gastronomic description of the sinful burger:
“Made from Wagyu beef, topped with white truffles and Pata Negra ham (which owes its nutty flavor to the fact that the pigs are fed on acorns), the burger nestles in a bun spread with organic-white-wine-and-shallot-infused mayonnaise, plus pink Himalayan rock salt, and dusted on top with Iranian saffron. It is served with Cristal champagne onion straws (inspired by the “angry lobster” dish at David Burke & Donatella Manhattan restaurant) and a garnish of lamb’s lettuce.”
Apparently Leo Burnett sent its 2 henchmen there to check out competition on behalf of McDonalds. Ahhh, the joys of being in advertising!!! And the cherry on the burger: All proceeds go to a local children’s charity.
Rail-fanning at Bharathapuzha June 30, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in India, Indian Railways, Travel.Tags: Bharathapuzha, Indian Railways, Kerala, Shoranur
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Bharathapuzha or Nila is the second longest river in Kerala. Bharathapuzha means River (Puzha) of Bharathamba (Goddess mother of Bharath – India).
The allusion behind the name is that the river feeds people like their own mother – (the water is pure and can be used for drinking, irrigation or other purposes).
Bharathapuzha originates in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and flows west through the three districts of Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram and finally meets the Arabian Sea at Ponnani.
Nila is very close to hearts of the people of Kerala, owing to its historical and cultural significance. Many of Kerala’s greatest creative geniuses such as Kunchan Nambiar (a satirical poet and founder of the Ottamthullal art form), Malayalam writers M. T. Vasudevan Nair, M.Govindan, V. K. N. and O. V. Vijayan have been inspired by her beauty.
Kerala Kalamandalam, a major learning center for Indian performing arts is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy on the banks of Nila. The famous Ayurveda treatment centre of Kottakkal is adjacent to the Nila. It is also home to several famous Hindu temples as well. Legend goes that those cremated on the banks of the Bharathapuzha achieve salvation.
A train journey over the Bharathapuzha is a very nostalgic experience for Keralites. Many times I’ve seen travelers gaze out of the windows admiring the river that embodies the soul and spirit of North Kerala. It is not uncommon to hear travelers give impromptu lectures about the history of the river and berate the recent man-made ecological problems that have led to its drying up.
The river flows to its fullest only during the monsoon season in the last few years, and this year Kerala has had a particularly bad monsoon and you can see the river much dried up.
The British laid the current railway track parallel to the course of the river from Parli in Palakkad through Shoranur (a major railway junction in North Kerala) and up to Tirunnavaya (the last station on the line). The railway line is thus an inseparable part of the contemporary history of Nila.
I recently went on a rail-fanning trip to Bharathapuzha. It has been one of my greatest wishes to visit the banks of the river and check out the trains gliding over the majestic rail bridges over the Nila, ever since I was a kid.
Highlights of the trip included up and down rides on the Bharathapuzha railway bridges on the Ernakulam-Shoranur Passenger and Shoranur-Trivandrum Venad Express (check out video), a dip in the river beneath the bridges where I had oodles of fun waving out to passengers in the trains, a visit to a local toddy shop and finally some action packed rail-fanning at Shoranur Junction and Bharathapuzha (check out the videos of the diesel and electric action).
Needless to say, with the sun playing hide-and-seek, intermittent showers and constant rail action, the atmosphere was simply enticing. Indeed, one of my best rail-fanning journeys ever!
Enjoy the videos!
Here are a few pics from a journey over Bharathapuzha in December 2006.
Express trains on the Bharathapuzha Railway Bridge
Freight train (push-pull) action at Shoranur Junction
Parasuram Express at Shoranur Junction
WDM3D action at Shoranur Junction
WAP4 action at Shoranur Junction
Here’s to 25! June 23, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Healthy Living.Tags: 2008, 2009, Birthday
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Lullaby, originally uploaded by musicmuse_ca.
Are you “That Guy or That Gal”? June 4, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Social Media.6 comments
This is inspired by Greg Verdino’s post: The “you test” for social media agencies.
Greg delves on “that guy and that gal” – those who are social media mavens in every right. Those who walk the talk and talk the walk.
In his words, the real experts are those who have “a true passion for social media and have made it a personal mission to ‘live’ in the space and experience new social channels as a consumer first, marketer second”.
He also gives a 5 point “You Test” to separate the wheat from the chaff.
I’d define the mavens as those people who are not only using social media tools such as blogs, Twitter and podcasts in their own work and building brands through conversational marketing, but are also building knowledge communities, espousing social causes and in general advancing the “age of conversation”.
So who are “those guys & those gals?”
Here’s a little fun project to identify them. I’m creating a Mavens Directory which will identify leading social media gurus and their organizations, along with a link to their blogs.
You can join in the fun by nominating your recommended “those guys & those gals” and I’ll put them up in this page. To do so, by either writing a comment on this post or naming them on this editable wiki http://socialmediamavens.wikispaces.com/
The idea is what I’d call the aggregator effect. If I know 5 mavens and you 10 more, let’s put our heads together and see how far and wide we can go.
Eventually, I see this page as a one-stop resource for any social media enthusiast or marketing blogger who wants to connect, network and identify with “those guys & gals” who are rolling with the social media juggernaut.
Have fun now! Feel free to nominate your mavens on this post or on this wiki. Watch out for updates as the list grows. For starters, I’m listing few mavens who commented on Greg’s post.
Update 1: Wow! The list is slowly but steadily growing. Thank you folks for tuning into the conversation. While there will be quite a few people out there using social media tools at work and helping communities grow, it’s Peer to Peer recognition / nomination that will help us identify the true mavens. Interestingly, people have used social media tools such as LinkedIn and Facebook to let me know about mavens and to connect with me after I put up this post. Hey, the list is not done yet, I know a lot of mavens who need to be there – just waiting to here from you first. Greg Verdino (who sparked off the whole “who is the maven?” thingy has written a post on my wiki endeavor. Thanks Greg!
THE SOCIAL MEDIA MAVENS (name & organization)
- Greg Verdino – Crayon
- Jon Burg – Digitas
- John Carson – GCI Canada
- Jane Quigley – Zeta Interactive
- Geoff Livingston – Livingston Communications
- Lewis Green – L&G Business Solutions
- Mack Collier – The Viral Garden
- Jennifer Laycock – Search Engine Guide
- Doug Meacham – IBM
- Jeremiah Owyang – Forrester Research
- Robert Scoble – FastCompany TV
- Jason Alba – JibberJobber
- Guy Kawasaki – Garage Technology Ventures
- Darren Rowse – ProBlogger
- Chris Brogan – CrossTech Media
- Jason Falls – Doe-Anderson
- Cam Beck – ClickHere
- Tom Clifford – Moving Pictures
- Terry Starbucker – SOBcon
- Steve Woodruff – Impactiviti LLC
- Shama Hyder – After The Launch
- Michael Seaton – Thornley Fallis
Welcome to AOC 2.0 May 25, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Digital, Social Media.Tags: Bloggers, Book, Social Media, The Age of Conversation
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Happy Sunflower!!, originally uploaded by Melissa_A.
The 2nd edition of “The Age of Conversation“ is in the works. Editors Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are once again spearheading this path-breaking project.
The benefits are aplenty. More conversations. New perspectives. An innate understanding of conversational marketing and social media. Publishing opportunities. More value for readers. Community building. Networking. Supporting charity.
This year, AOC is bigger and better, in terms of authors and content. 275 bloggers from around the world, mostly with media and marketing backgrounds, are writing a 1-page chapter on the theme “Why Don’t People Get It?“.
To lend greater depth to book, the theme has been divided into the following sub-topics:
- Manifestos
- Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation
- Moving from Conversation to Action
- The Accidental Marketer
- A New Brand of Creative
- My Marketing Tragedy
- Business Model Evolution
- Life in the Conversation Lane
My chapter “The Smart Beast in the Creative Jungle” focuses on the new brand of creative required in the age of conversation.
“The Age of Conversation: Why People Don’t Get It?” will be on sale on Lulu.com from 21 August. All proceeds sales go to Variety, the children’s charity.
Meanwhile, fellow authors are promoting the book in various ways. Blogger-pal Ryan Barrett is offering a sneak preview of 1-line snippets from various chapters here.
Meet my fellow authors:
Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem
Join us in the Age of Conversation 2.0.
The world’s never short of amazing people May 24, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Pot Pourri.Tags: Amazing People, Jamie Livingston, Mental Floss
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IMG_5957, originally uploaded by OsbieFeel2001.
Come to think of it, the world is never short of amazing people. Hat tip to Mack Collier (via twitter) who led me to Jamie Livingston and his inspiring work.
In a ‘viral’ post (8000+ diggs), Chris Higgins at Mental Floss tell us the amazing story of a man who took a Polaroid one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997 – the day he died. That’s 18 years!!!
What inspires me most is not only his passion for his art, but also the great pains he took to preserve his hobby for the world. Read more about Jamie Livingston on this blog. Too bad that Polaroid does not have a blog or a social media channel to share this story.
And then I met this young man in the cab to work this morning. In the simmering Muscat heat, the guy had an air of effervescence about him.
He started off by asking: Do you have any English music on that iPod? And I was like: No. And he replied: I wouldn’t mind listening to it if it had English. I couldn’t help but smile. Next, we were talking about our jobs. And he told me: I run an IT company. He said the name – really didn’t catch it. And he said: Cheekos (that’s how I heard it). The best after Apple. I somehow liked that, being told that to a copywriter. Made me think about the way he saw his own company, the way he positioned it. The best after Apple. He must be deriving a great deal of positivity and confidence to consider his work in that league. How many times do we look down upon our own little accomplishments, our work?
Which brings me back to what I started off with; the world is never short of amazing people who can inspire us. We just need to look out and listen.
Arun Rajagopal 