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SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS

Reem Abeidoh's reflections on social media

Are Social Media Users Anti-Social In Real Life?December 22 2008

My fiance posted the following status on his facebook profile Friday morning: Howard McAuliffe is wondering if social media people tend to be anti-social when not on media. I am sure many people have asked this question before, and bloggers have addressed it at some point or another.

I think the first point to address is the term “social media people.” I have participated in many sites this past year and have yet to see an average Digg member or a Tweep referring to himself as a “social media person.” I think marketers coined that term to easily identify users who engage in the space. That term has gained traction where “online users” is now synonymous with “social media people.” A user can be engaged online but not be social with others. I think this is an important distinction to make.

Having made that distinction, I believe Howard’s question was with regards to users who are social and have conversations with one another. They are naturally participating in the space, providing content that they consider valuable/funny/intelligent/silly and sharing their opinions with the masses. When looking at it from this angle, it makes me wonder - is socializing online equivalent to being social offline?

Constant Connection Affecting your Offline Relationships?December 3 2008

When friends convince you to join a social network, they mention all the positive aspects of being connected. They tell you about reconnecting with friends or how sites can assist you with finding a new job. Some only want you to join these sites just to have you on board. But they usually forget to mention that the sites can be addictive and time-consuming. If you aren’t careful, it might even impact your offline relationships.

Social media can impact your communication with offline friends. It is easy to get distracted by the hubbub that occurs online while hanging out with a friend. If you are logged on while talking to a friend, you may be distracted by the email alerting you to a new message and the IM anxiously blinking. Although we are accustomed to juggling several things at once, it is still quite challenging to have more than one conversation simultaneously. It seems like one always gets the short end of the stick.

How many of you have even experienced dialogs like this:

You: I have this hilarious story to tell you.
Friend: Oh? Tell me!
<Twitter message for you pops up>
You: Hmmm <as you quickly type a response>
Friend: …
You: So, I was out shopping and I r

5 Goals I Set Before Attending a ConferenceNovember 19 2008

Every time I attend a conference, I give myself a list of goals to meet. This ensures that I spend my time wisely and that my attendance isn’t in vain. If I meet these goals, I will be more likely to attend the conference the following year. Below are a list of my goals that I make sure to meet every time my company sends me to a conference.

Evangelize: Conferences are a good place to share information about your company and to brand yourself. They allow you to share your expertise with fellow industry colleagues and potential customers. As an employee, you represent your company and what it represents. If you effectively demonstrate your capabilities, your company will benefit by 1- recruiting talent, 2- marketing its services, and 3- generating new business leads.

Bonding with Colleagues: Often times, you have the opportunity to attend a conference with colleagues from work. Although you should venture out of your group to do a little networking, it is also important to develop a rapport with them. This will enhance your work-related experience when you are back in the office. Try to meet at least once for dinner or drinks and have non-office related conversations.

Networking: One of

Keep Your Sticky Fingers Off My Content!June 6 2008

Bloggers spend a lot of time coming up with ideas, authoring posts and contributing to the discussions that occur after publishing. Understandably, they are often disappointed to find their original content copied onto other blogs sans attribution or links. Their hard work and intellectual property has been ripped off by some random person attempting to make money from the advertising on their own site. Content theft can be hard to track, control or manage.

This has actually happened to me many times. Each time I’ve found it was by pure coincidence. The latest incident was discovered yesterday. While checking my Google Analytics, I noticed that one of the popular keywords used was “Derek Onstott.” I decided to search for the keywords on Google to see if my post was visible in the results page. My blog was number 7 on Google for that keyword. I glance at the 8th result and what did I find? The first two lines in that description were a carbon copy of my own content.

What attracted my attention was that the URL to this blog was not mine. It was directed to Inter Alia. I open the link and real

Restaurateur Tries To Censor Yelp Review: EPIC FAILMay 20 2008

While checking my twitter feed, I noticed an update by a friend* that really concerned me. She had received an angry call from Derek Onstott, Beso Mexican Grill & Cantina’s owner, about an unfavorable Yelp review she authored. According to this Yelp user, her review discussed everything she witnessed and heard in the restaurant. During her visit, Onstott disclosed to her that he funded his establishment using money obtained from illegal activities. An even worse observance was when a police officer came to the restaurant to serve Onslott with a warrant. The Yelp User also mentioned the sub par service and food in her review. After a quick search, it was evident that this isn’t the first time Onslott and Beso have received negative reviews.

Once Onstott discovered the review, he contacted the Yelper. He threatened to harm her and file a lawsuit if she did not immediately remove her review. She removed her initial review and replaced it with the following:

1 star rating

I am re-writing this b/c i had a post about this place, then the owner called going off on me b/c he was pissed at