Stop promoting yourself. Seriously.

I’m not one to shy away from self – promotion as I find that it works well- especially professionally – as long as it’s done with style and discreetness. Yet every single day I see examples of self promotion that is done in a vulgar, in-your-face, intrusive manner. Naturally what counts as legitimate advertising . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Some negative thoughts on Facebook

No – this is not about money, or stock options or marketing and online advertising budgets. This is actually about friends and networks of friends and how I find Facebook to be a huge challenge at the best of times.

I reserve Facebook for personal contacts – in direct opposition to say LinkedIn where . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Social media can help 'old media' get better

With the monitoring and analysis of social media by the journalists and analysts of the ‘old media’ we are seeing a vast improvement in the coverage of international news – especially when it comes to understanding the cultural, economic and political background.

There is a very good reason why. ‘Old media’ either have a . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Greeks use social media to organise protest

The Greeks have been using social media like blogs, twitter, friendfeed and facebook as well as e-mails and SMS messages to organise a peaceful sitting protest in front of the Greek House of Parliament today.

The Greek social media scene has been boiling for days now. The blogs started by discussing alleged police brutality . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Exarcheia: Lament for a city

I lived the first years of my adult new found independence in the Athens area of Exarcheia and I have some of my best memories from that time and that area.

Contrary to some reports, Exarcheia is not “a district of central Athens long associated with lawlessness and drug abuse” (via). It is an . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Why I still love books (of the printed variety)

There are so many people singing the praises of the Amazon Kindle and all the latest e-papers that I’ve started feeling like a weirdo. Here comes my admission – like as exasperated hero in a lame comedy, I can shout – “Yes, I still love books damn it!”.

Don’t get me wrong, I would . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

How I present myself when I am presenting

People often think that their appearance doesn’t matter when they are giving a presentation but nothing could be further from the truth. Over the years I have found that no matter how well prepared I am and how exciting the subject is, the way I am presenting it and my appearance are half the . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

What Mumbai taught me: Twitter is not the answer to everything.

On the day the Mumbai terrorist attacks were unfolding I was sitting at my desk at home, trawling through my RSS feeds. I was drinking some coffee and I was reading blog posts somewhat idly.

The first news of the events reached me via Twitter. Asteris was updating on what was going on and . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

Motivating people to get online

I was browsing Chris Brogan’s 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write and no. 23 “My Mother is on Facebook” was just too delicious to pass up. Actually, my mother is on Facebook. She also uses Gmail and MSN Messenger, she has her own account on Flickr and she knows how to comment on . . . → Read the rest of this entry…

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