Social Media Activity - A Ravan's Conspiracy!!

It has been a while that I've been asked by my friends and colleagues that why I waste my time in updating blog, using LinkedIn, tweeting, using Facebook, and other social media tools. They strongly believe (since they are hardcore techies) that it’s a waste of time and there are no results out of it.  I face this question almost daily in different ways and every time I give them same answer.

Today, I came across an article from Alok Kejriwal, who actually answered these questions in a best possible way. He clubbed all his answers as conspiracy of RAVAN (pretty much inspired from Ravan, an ancient King of Lanka, currently known as Srilanka).

I was so overwhelmed to read his answer that I couldn’t stop myself and re-posting his conspiracy (err...Ravan’s) to my own blog, with few changes and his permission :)

Below is the interesting RAVAN Conspiracy:

Ravan

R - Reality

Facebook, Twitter is REALITY. Alok gave his own example based on his vast network, however for me – I faced this reality when few of my contact have reached me out to help them in something. I remember getting lot of calls looking for my expertise through my blog, LinkedIn profile etc.

We go to ANY CITY in the world and we can have a real friend to MEET - with whom we can share some background, post etc. Don’t you think it’s a huge thing?

A - Ask

Personally, these social tools have been very useful in getting answers on any topic, no matter how stupid you perceive it is. No matter what you ask, there is an answer available to it. It opens a window wherein you don’t feel shy and have power to ask anything – Kind of RTI (Right to Information) stuff.  You get connected to industry experts, get new ideas etc.

The more open you are, more information you can collect and share. After all, this is what we need to grow.

V - Voice

Social Networks are our VOICE. You can share what you know, what you think with everyone.  I have seen many people looking for answers on many topics which I am aware of and based on my experience I can say that there is no single forum where you can get them.  I know using these tools, I can help these people to understand what they are looking for – after all what could be better than that if you can help someone with your knowledge when it’s required.

Take a current example – Mr. Anna and our civil society was able to create awareness using these tools only. Mango man (aam aadmi – general public) was able to share their voice through it.

A - AWARE

Same example which I quoted above, Anna team was able to create awareness on Lokpal bill issue through social median networks. General public was not even aware of that bill, but in a short span – entire India was aware of it.

These tools create awareness; however it depends on what you seek. Alok has wisely quoted that We SEEK to be AWARE.

We spend maximum time in office or at home, our social connections are not the only source wherein we can be Aware of things going on outside our 4 walls.

N - NEW

Every time we connect with someone, learn about something new or spread awareness on something – we get a different feel – which matches to the feel of getting reborn.  You get connected with old mates, college friends, colleagues, new business ideas, opportunities etc and also can increase your reach through it.  Something NEW is always there for us.

I believe all the above points answers the questions that why I am addicted to Social Media and what results I get from it.

Social Networking Trends in Q3 of 2011

Q3 2011 Social Media report from Nielsen shows that its popularity continues to grow, allowing people to connect with just everything which they can watch and buy. Like always, tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook played a key role in expanding its popularity and concept.

The latest report from Nielsen shows how powerful this influence is on consumer behavior and how they are educating consumers with various options both offline and online.

The value of the time consumers spend online and on social networks and blogs continues to grow, most visible through the influence on purchase decisions. For instance, 60 percent of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site. Forty-eight percent of these consumers responded to a retailer’s offer posted on Facebook or Twitter.

The Key Findings from the report are:

Social Media Around the World

1. Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet.
2. Social media has grown rapidly – today nearly 4 in 5 active Internet users visit social networks and blogs.
3. Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other U.S. website
4. Close to 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone
5. Social networking apps are the third most-used among U.S. smart phone owners
6. Internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking through the Mobile Internet
7. Although a larger number of women view online video on social networks and blogs, men are the heaviest online video users overall streaming more videos and watching them longer
8. 70 percent of active online adult social networkers shop online, 12 percent more likely than the average adult Internet user
9. 53 percent of active adult social networkers follow a brand, while 32 percent follow a celebrity
10. Across a snapshot of 10 major global markets, social networks and blogs reach over three-quarters of active Internet users
11. Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago

Few other interesting facts from the reports are:

Social Networking is a global phenomenon and in Nielsen reports which collected samples from 10 countries/markets shows that social network and blogs are the top online destination in each country accounting for majority of the time spent.

 

Social Networking blogs are the top online destination where most of the users spend time. They attract almost 22.5% of traffic compare to online games who does only 10%. 

U.S. Internet Users Spend More Time on Facebook than Any Other Web Brand. Almost 53% users are on Facebook, followed by 17% on yahoo. Facebook became a synonym not only with Social media but also with Web use for general use.

 

 

Females and 18-34-Year-Olds are most Active Social Networkers.

There is rise in number of users who are accessing Social media through mobile for different purposes.

Men are more likely to Visit LinkedIn and Wikia compare to females, check one image from the report.

Influence of Social Media

Report shows that out of 5, nearly 2 users access services from their mobile which can be for either downloading Music, Social networking or just for browsing.

Active Social Media Users are Influential Offline. Consumers trust the reviews or recommendation from peers on these sites. Almost 60% social media users create reviews of products and services.

Get New Clients with Social Networking...

Recent global survey of business from Regus business shows that more and more number of companies, brands are relying on social media practices for their expansion, new client acquisitions and winning new businesses.

Results shows that companies worldwide are achieving greater success with social networking compared to traditional practices.

Few of the key findings from Marketing Profs site are:

• 69% of US businesses (74% worldwide) say social networking is an essential activity for business success.
• Single-channel campaigns are less successful: 64% of US businesses (61% worldwide) say companies that only use social networking and online campaigns, and ignore traditional media/techniques, will be unsuccessful.
• 50% of US businesses (52% of businesses worldwide) use social networks to interact with and to inform existing customers, virtually unchanged since 2010.

Few interesting facts:

1) Experienced profit increased in past year:

2) Countries using successfully to find new customers: China, India are supposedly using social networking in a better way and are attracting lot of new business. Check the facts below:

I believe this study and facts will help companies to think about how they are targeting to get new clients and what extra value they can offer to maintain relationships. No wonder, there is a huge scope in market for social marketing and networking.

My Blackberry Is Not Working - Funny Comparison with Apple!!

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Top Technologies which will define Year 2011

Year 2011 started with lots of speculations related to new technologies. Everyone company, individual is exploring options related to it and trying to bring something new to the market which can define and shape this year. We have seen Hybrid cars, blossoming of 4G, new mobile technologies, PS3 on mobiles, Android etc. I believe it’s worth looking for the technologies which are in market and are in demand. Below is a quick synopsis on different new technologies:

Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc.

1) Tablets: With the start of year 2011, different new and unknown players came to the market and tried to eat the share of Apple – which is ruling entire market in this category, especially with the launch of their iPad2 with iOS 4 (The world’s most advanced mobile operating system). HP, Samsung, Olive were trying hard to capture this market, but they are too small (except HP) to compete with Apple when it comes to innovation. After all you don’t want to spend your money on something which can’t pay you back.

2) 4G: We heard lot about it during the end of year 2010 when 3G was exciting users about its advantages, but 4G is something which is now taking over discussions related to this technology. I don’t have any doubts that 4G technology which is fourth generation of cellular wireless standards will provide far better experience. 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based mobile broadband solution to laptop computer wireless modems, smart phones, and other mobile devices.

Cloud Computing

3) Personal Clouds: One of the best thing happened in the world of software industry. Highly demanded by everyone, Cloud is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture providing Agility, reliability, scalability, security and last but not least improving ROI. Who cares about the physical location and configuration of the system, all we want is our stuff is available to us when we want and wherever we required.

4) Windows 8: Fear of Chrome OS and iPhone has made Microsoft to launch Windows 8. We know about windows 7, which has saved Microsoft brand image when they goofed up with the launch of Vista. I hope there will be something real there in Windows 8, except UI changes and non user friendly updates/logics. Hype is good for product promotion, but it kills the brand if there is an overdose of it – let’s see what Windows 8 comes up with.

5) IE9: IE9 which is currently in development is already making news about its features with its beta launch. It has been claimed that this browser will support several CSS 3 properties, loads faster JavaScript’s and supports new HTML 5 video and audio tags. It is also claimed that IE9 browser is a first fully hardware accelerated browser for graphics and text rendering. I can bet, Mozilla and Google Chrome are going to have tough competition from this.

Hybrid Future

6) Electric and Hybrid Cars: Best thing which can happen to human race where they can save natural resources, reduce negative impact on environment and make the earth more favorable for coming generations. There are several models in the market, including Pirus, REVA however as per news in the market – few better brands are coming in which will remove the fear of dead batteries etc. Hopefully, with the help of these innovations our ecosystem will recover from the loss which we created!!

7) APP Stores: Few months back I only remembered using iTunes and Apple stores, however now we have different stores for different companies. Google got its own, Microsoft started and now different mobile players like Samsung opening their own. This is a revolution in the market and is definitely going to change our shopping behavior.

8) AMD Fusion: AMD makes a comeback with Fusion reducing the difference between CPU’s and GPU’s. We have seen and reviewed many blogs, comments sharing the fact that Fusion Laptops provide long battery life and high definition graphics at reasonable cost.

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Learnt new and easy way to update my blog

Despite of my curiosity to explore new things, I always think twice to use anything which is technology related – due to a fear of loosing privacy and then also due to misuse of my information. The day I purchased my laptop, I wanted to try windows live writer – however considering my experience of using Microsoft products, I always postponed it.

Today, I finally decided to use this service and frankly – found it useful. Its easy to install and also easy to use. You don’t need to stay connected always to write a blog, draft it and publish it later whenever you get connected and add watermark, which is a cool feature.

I am sure, this tool is going to help me a lot in updating my blog regularly – at least I hope so since its not supporting my lazy thoughts to wait till I connect with internet.

Funny Situation...

I came across one funny incident few days back when I went to shopping and landed in small building which has couple of shops there. The market is one of the most known area where mostly a paradise for women.

Since I went with my family, I was roaming here and there and suddenly I noticed a door in front of a shop with a sign “Ladies Toilet” with a lock and no one to attend it along with charges and a FINE print “You Will Get Keys at Gents Toilet”

What the FCUK – why will a girl go to gent’s toilet to get the keys - especially when it’s on the other side of the building and with no direction markings?

I can only imagine a chaos when there is urgency – God knows what the complex maintenance team is thinking!

Struggle to Survive!!

One fine day we took a small break from office work and went out to grab a quick refreshment to fill our energy levels. As usual the place was crowded so it took a while to capture a corner at that place – adjacent to which a road construction was going on. While sipping the tea, we noticed a group of guys working there. In between them there was a handicapped person– most probably suffering from Polio whose legs were not working. He was looking confident, full of life and happy. To our amaze, he was actually one of the most active guy in that group who was carrying the construction material over his head and making sure that work won’t stop for any reason. He was carrying out all sort of jobs which a normal man can do however with a difference that he was having a smile on his face.

It was quite an experience to see him working since in today’s economy where managing a food for those who are below poverty line is like winning a war especially when your body is not supporting you fully. He was independent and I am sure he must be taking care of his family.

He sat an example for those who take advantage of their physical challenges and look for simple way out of struggle. I also appreciate the team who allowed him to work with them - Hats off to them for believing in his abilities and I am sure they are not disappointed.

I’d like the world to recognize such talent and help them to understand the meaning of life. Begging is a curse, don’t encourage it – instead give them opportunities to prove them.

I URGE you take responsibility and help such warriors who fight daily to survive in this cruel and mean world to win respect and peace.

BE HUMAN!