Facebook turns 10

My journey with Facebook began five-years back. That makes me a part of half of Facebook’s journey since it began in 2004.   That makes me thing, how old was the creator Mark Zuckerberg when he gave birth to Facebook. Not even 30 yet, Mark Zuckerberg was only 19-years old when he started off the company on February 4, 2004. He called the company The Facebook then. He designed the www.facebook.com website to help people share information about themselves with their friends. And what is more shocking is that this website was originally created for people in Harvard University to connect with each other (McCracken, H. 2014). But this idea became so popular that Zuckerberg built a fortune with the company that simply allowed people to connect with each other.

Facebook brought the world closer to each other. News became easier to follow. Sitting in front of our PC or Mac enabled gadgets anywhere in the world we connected with the rest f world by sharing photos, anniversaries, life events, achievements with friends, family and also acquaintances. We liked our friend’s wall writings and things they shared on Facebook and in turn hope that they too will like the things we do post. 

All this is good, real good. But critics argue that the very same juggernaut that enabled people to connect with each other is responsible for eradicating the face-to-face connection between people. Critics cite various research studies to prove their point. In a new study from the University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross shows how online media contributes to loneliness and reduces overall life satisfaction (Greig, A, 2013). Eighty-two people participated in this study. These participants were text messaged five times a day over a two-week period with a link to an online survey about their Facebook use, their feelings of well-being and the amount of face-to-face social interaction they had engaged in. The research team discovered that the more time participant had spent on Facebook, the less happy they felt over time.

In an interview to IB Times UK, Daria Kuss of Birmingham City University said "Depressive symptoms of excessive Facebook use are likely to relate to the overemphasis on weak ties between individuals which are propagated online and the substitution of real life friendships by online friendships." In his interview Kuss concludes that the relationships today are more superficial made by a click of a button. He justifies his claim saying in the bargain many social media users then make these online friendships more importance at the expense of deeper and stronger ties with friends in real life.  (Charlton, Al. 2014).

Well while we analyze whether Facebook is good or bad for mankind, many say that it is soon going to be the end of the Facebook generation. Or maybe Facebook will evolve. Just got to wait and watch. 

Measuring Social Media ROI

Everyone is talking about social media today. Every organization, individual, and non-profit uses social media as an important tool for branding themselves to millions of people who are out there on the internet. But the question is, have we measured the effectiveness of the social media tool? Is the organization or individual simply on social media because the rest of the world is out there or are they on social media because it is profitable.

In an article in PRNews Author Matthew Schwartz suggests three tips to help monetize social channels. Schwartz says companies should align social platforms with financial goals (Schwartz, M., 2014). The three tips Schwartz suggests are to look at the social data more closely because it can help generate new content or shift company focus if needed. The second tip that he suggest is to look at social media costs and analyze the percentage spent for social media work done. The third tip that the author suggests is to ask clients some business information about their social media service and based on their feedback drive the company focus toward it. 

Even the biggest music award that happened on 26^th Jan 2014 hired only one social media person, Lindsay Gabler, to handle the entire show on social media for the Grammy's. Gabler says that she doesn't only focus on the overall strategy but also focuses on how to integrate the partners and sponsorships into messages and content (Hernandez, A. 2014).

An interesting thing that Gabler says is we as social media professionals don’t have to educate our artists to share their thoughts on social media. They already know how to do it and hence as a Social Media person for the Grammys she has to only share that information that artist make available over the internet (Hernandez, A., 2014).

A recent white paper from the Adobe company states that despite social media is used by everyone and has become a thing to be used by every company, it has become difficult to measure driving website traffic, engagement and revenue generation (Souza, J. 2012).

Adobe had conducted a survey of 750-marketing professionals in 2011 and asked them whether they could measure the effectiveness of social media. Eighty-eight-percent of them feel they could accurately measure the effectiveness of campaigns, with 52-percent citing problems with determining a true ROI as their biggest frustration. This only goes to show that social media is still a new phenomenon and it is going to be some time till we actually are able to measure its effectiveness. 

Pope Francis, the official pop star!

It is difficult to find a person who hasn't heard about the Pope of the Catholic Church. Less than a year old in his papacy, Pope Francis is a well-known pope not only among Catholics but everyone irrespective of faith, religion, race, seems to be talking about him. He is the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, but the only one who joins the ranks of pop star icons like Janet Jackson, John Lennon, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, who featured on the Rolling Stone magazine cover. But does Pope Francis set the stage on fire like people who normally are featured on this magazine?

Rolling Stone is a magazine known for its musical coverage and for political reporting. So what made the magazine have Pope Francis on its cover page? Did Pope Francis’ millions of Twitter followers draw the magazine to have him on his cover or is it the five magic words - "Who am I to judge?" - that did the real magic. 

"Who am I to judge?" said Pope Francis when he was asked by a reporter about the status of gay priests in the church. These five words uttered by the pope undoubtedly surprised the catholic world, but in the bargain the respect for him increased a thousand fold (Carroll, J. 2013).

The Catholic Church for long has been known to impose a set-of-dos-and-don't on Catholics around the world. These set-of-rules has made many Catholics move-away from the church. But the septuagenarian Pope Francis seems to have changed this by becoming the youth icon of today. The young and the old love him. Like Pope John Paul II, Catholics might not nominate Pope Francis to become a saint, but would want to emulate his style and personality. 

Pope Francis is featured smiling and waving in the Rolling Stone magazine. But I won't be surprised if very soon we'll have a fashion magazine feature him sitting on his Harley Davidson. A pope owning a Harley, I mean really? I don't mind going to mass everyday if the head of the church comes riding on his Harley. Isn't that cool!

It’s not the first time that the pope has featured on the cover of a magazine. A few months back Pope Francis was named 'Person of the Year' by the TIME magazine. The TIME magazine justified its cover story looking at the way Pope Francis captured the imaginations of millions of people in a matter of few months since he took office (Dilts, E. 2013). TIME magazine official say Pope Francis was selected by editors of the magazine who considered suggestions and inputs from the magazines more than 2-million Twitter followers. The magazine believes that pope has given hope for a million of people who moved away from the church. 

Social Media finds its new meaning

Social media which began as a thing for entertainment and for simply having some fun has now found a new meaning. It is no longer a platform just to greet your friends. Organizations, professionals, individuals, political parties and politicians have taken on to social media as a platform to communicate with people.

I didn’t even in my wildest of dreams think that politicians would take on to social media. But they did. Today, a 140-character tweet has a power to reach-out to millions of people in a matter of a few seconds. So why not use this powerful platform. And to sum it up with Mr. Bill Clinton's tweet, "Where else can you hear from @BillGates @PaulPierce34 @SenJohnMcCain @TheEllenShow @Usher in one day?"

Look at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who has effectively used Twitter to communicate with people across the globe. The people of Iran may not be allowed to access social media sites but that has not stopped the nation's president from tweeting almost every hour. The world has been suspicious of Iran's nuclear ambitions. For over decades, the United Nation has imposed sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear enrichment ambitions. But President Rouhani seems to have managed to convert these sanctions to diplomatic talks.
Social media has played an important role in making this happen for President Rouhani. Twitter made Rouhani look like a moderate politician who was serious about talking with the rest of the world. Unlike his predecessor President Ahmadnejad who was a non-negotiator, President Rouhani comes out like this warm and friendly negotiator. And Rouhani certainly needs to thank social media for playing an important role in building his brand.

Social media has the power to make politicians win electronic campaigns. Social media has a key role in President Obama's 2012 presidential win. President Obama spend $47million in the digital campaign spending in the 2012 presidential run vis-a-vis Mitt Romney who spend only $4.7 million in digital campaign spending (Rutledge, P. 2013).

Social media gives opportunities to people to get involved and participate in a discussion. It is not a one-way-communication. Everyone has already started to talk about the 2016 presidential election which is less than two-years ahead. And the most talked about presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has recently joined Twitter. In her bio Clinton has signaled that she is a “glass ceiling cracker.” 

Reference list
Rutledge, P. 2013. The Media Psychology Blog. How Obama Won the Social Media Battle in the 2012 Presidential Campaign. 

When PR agencies get entangled in political scandals

The nation is criticizing Governor Chris Christie’s administration for being involved in a traffic scandal to punish a Democratic mayor who had refused to endorse Governor Christie's reelection bid. The social media world calls this scandal a #Bridgegate.

Governor Christie clarified his position in the scandal and came out clean saying he didn't know anything about it. He went on to say that he fired the executive involved in the scandalous bridge closure. For now the New Jersey Assembly has set up a committee to investigate Gov. Chris Christie’s administration in the bridgegate scandal.

But in the midst of the bridegate scandal, Gov. Chris Christie is facing another federal investigation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development over allegations that he misused Hurricane Sandy relief funds. The investigators claim that the governor used the Sandy relief fund for an advertisement on the "Stronger Than the Storm" campaign during his reelection run.

The public relations agency MWW has been dragged into the probe initiated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. MWW made the "Stronger than the Storm" campaign for the now embattled Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The total cost of the campaign was a whopping $25 million.
MWW has however welcomed the probe. The PR agency executives say that their ad campaign proposal has no mention to include the governor and his family in the paid advertisement campaign. And that the decision to include the governor was made after the PR agency was awarded the contract.

Well there’s no problem with the campaign if it was only meant to increase tourism and for economic recovery of the Jersey shore. But the inclusion of Governor Chris Christie and his family in the campaign made it look more like a reelection campaign than a tourism campaign and there’s where the problem lies.

MWW is also dragged in a controversy of winning the ad campaign because of its political muscle in the state. The Park Press revealed that MWW has a history of making donations to both Republicans and Democrats. The paper also revealed that MWW hired a former state Republican official just before making the bid for the Sandy campaign. Governor Chris Christie's spokesperson said that these revelations were not true and that MWW won the contract purely based on merits.

Well while investigations of these never-ending probes made on Governor Chris Christie’s administration goes on, it appears that there are many more skeletons that are waiting to fall from the Jersey shores. But one thing is for sure whether you are a politician, a PR agency, or an NGO, it is very important to play a fair game. Because dishonesty in business might not land you in a mess when you are committing it, but some day down the line when it unexpectedly shows-up it can ruin not only an individual’s image but also the brand of the organization will sink with it.  

So while the federal investigations are on, why not just enjoy the parodies and jokes made over the whole scandal. Governor Chris Christie is the topic of discussions at every talk show. You name it – Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart or Jay Leno – Chris Christie seems to have beaten even Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s record today. Even Bruce Springsteen poked fun on Gov. Christie by singing a parody song on Jimmy Fallon’s show.

Well if you ask me, whenever I’m stuck in a traffic jam these days, I start thinking and discussing Governor Chris Christie.

Stop-question-and-frisk

The recent spat over frisking of an Indian diplomat in the United States was uncalled for. What difference does it make if she is a diplomat. Stop-question-and-frisk is certainly a tough policy on New Yorkers but then what is law for one is law for everyone else. What makes India’s deputy consul general, Mrs. Devyani Khobragade different?

Stop and Frisk is not a regular thing in other cities in the United States but in New York City it is a policing strategy where an individual can be stopped, questioned and frisked without any warrant. The practice was enforced in New York way back in the 1990s to reduce crime rate and is still active. Many New Yorkers have expressed discontent with the law and there have been many complaints of harassment of the minority community. Besides New York’s stop-and-frisk practices has been criticized over racial profiling and privacy rights. So if Mrs. Khobragade is upset about the way she was treated, she should join these protestors and make her voice heard. It is absolutely ridiculous to be asking for immunity because of her status in society. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled stop-question-and-frisk procedures constitutional and so until it is reversed there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Above all underpaying her nanny less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is unpardonable. The Indian diplomat should remember that if the accusations are proved true, it’s questionable and punishable. She will join the chorus of many similar employers who exploit minorities to get their work done within a meager wage. 

Stop-question-and-frisk will always be remembered as a legacy of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Right or wrong it is one of the most controversial practices that the Mayor Bloomberg’s legacy faces. Even one of the reason the new mayor elect Bill DeBlasio won in the recent New York City elections is his campaign promising that he will reform the stop-and-frisk practice. His election to the mayoral seat with a landslide victory further reinforces what New Yorkers want when it comes to the stop-and-frisk practice. Come January 1 2014, the city folks hope that their brand new Mayor De Blasio will either completely thrash the stop-and-frisk practice or at least reform it. 

Withdrawing diplomatic ID cards of US consular officials was an explosive over-reaction and not a sensible response by the Indian government. The tit-for-tat kinda reaction was naive. Worst, all hell broke out when the government got the Delhi Police to remove the barricading outside the US embassy in New Delhi. The question is was this reaction a political campaign toward the 2014 general election? 

Well there's some good news for those you say that stop-question-and-frisk is an invasion of privacy and that it leads to racial profiling. The New York City's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman published a report in November 2013 questioning the effectiveness of the policy. And the new mayor elect De Blasio is another hope for change of the policy. Until then, everyone in New York ought to abide by the practice, whether you like it or you not. Or else attend the "Know Your Rights" workshop conducted by a few New Yorkers in the city. This workshop teaches people how to defend their rights without making the situation worse.

Although I defend the stop-question-and-frisk practice, I also believe that it should be carried out only if there is real suspicion. I don’t support it if it is done based on the color of skin, religion, or nationality. If there is a practice that can safeguard my safety and the safety of the city as a whole, there is no reason to oppose the policing practice. And as long as it is done with respect and without intimidation, I see no point to resist or oppose the stop-and-frisk practice.  But then since I have never been stopped-questioned-and-frisked, it’s really difficult to say what it feels like to be at the receiving end.

Drone on

The Merriam dictionary defines a drone as a stingless male bee that has the role of mating with the queen and does not gather nectar or pollen. That one lucky guy who gets all the good things in life without slogging his butt. If you ask me to define a drone, I would rather describe it as that unmanned aerial vehicle loaded with arms. I would go on to say that these unmanned armed flying objects are made in particular to kill terrorists. Why me, ask anyone today what a drone is, and they would give you a completely different definition that has nothing to do with bees.

However controversial the use of drones will always be, these unmanned aerial vehicles only seem to find a wider and different usage. The CEO of the largest American international electronic commerce company Amazon.com recently spoke about his fantasy to deliver packages to customers using drones. Packages that ideally took a day-or-two to reach its destination will take only 30-minutes if the company’s vision becomes a reality. And you never know very soon our ordered packages will reach us even quicker than pizzas. And like pizzas if it doesn't reach within the promised time, it could be free, free, free!

Of course Amazon CEO's fantasy can come true only if the federal authorities facilitate a widespread use of drones. Today it is Amazon, tomorrow farmers may want to use drones to spray fertilizer over their crops, the search and rescue team may want to use drones to find people stuck in a catastrophe, film makers may want to use drones to document a film, and worst drones will be used as spy robots to keep a watch on the content of our calls and our whereabouts. Everyone would want to use it. Even individuals who have the money to buy a drone will have one in their backyard to help them walk their dogs, buy groceries, pay their bills, and do all the personal jobs they can think of.

So while the rich, famous and the powerful use these unmanned drones to fulfill their dreams, visions and fantasies, the people in the middle and lower class of society either become victims of these robotic flying machines or remain spectators of complicated and controversial foreign and internal policies.

So if authorities pass the use of drones for commercial purposes, we'll not only be cribbing about road traffic but air-traffic will also become a thing of concern. Traffic rules would change. We will have to stop at a red signal warning us of an approaching drone. And then, what about our beautiful birds? They will curse the human race for encroaching into their territory. We talk about saving endangered animals like the Bengal Tiger, the African Wild Dog, American alligator and many such species. But with drones getting a green light for commercial use, we will have to worry about our colorful birds too. Many of them will not only remain endangered but will become extinct.

Recently hundreds of world leaders got together in Johannesburg to be a part of Nelson Mandela's last journey. Many of these leaders delivered speeches about the greatness of Mandela. They called him a hero. They said how important it is to live by Sir Mandela's teachings of non-violence. But then, how do drones fit into his teachings?

There are many advocates who swear by the tactical advantages that drones bring. Some call it the best modified robotic machinery bringing in a revolution to mankind. What do you think, are they really the best thing that happened to us?

Well, I like the bees that make my sweet honey!