The Blogging Boon

2011-03-23T09:55:00.001Z

Employee Productivity Vs Facebook

2010-05-13T17:55:00.001+01:00

Here's an interesting article on employee productivity Vs Facebook !

It's easy to believe that in the UK 6.5 billion pounds is possibly lost in employee productivity to social networking sites like Facebook (according to a story on MyDL this week).

While I'm not totally sure the research is accurate because a lot of these kinds of studies are conducted by companies that sell systems to block said websites, and scare tactics work for sales, I need only look at a former colleague's facebooking habits to see how easily precious company time can be wasted away in cyberspace.

Facebook has to be one of the major buzz words of 2007 and not more so for one certain individual- we will call him Dave. Picture Dave. He has just turned thirty. He has, until recently been living with his mom and his last girlfriend was in primary school.

Dave likes to think that he is cooler than he is, but cool is never a word used to describe him.

Enter Facebook, a wonderful tool to connect with the girls who broke his heart in years prior and to scan the depths of cyber space for hot chicks he can randomly message. He spends whole days on Facebook, looking at pictures of pretty girls and sending them corny one liners. Dave is the king of the corny one liner you see.

But less about Dave's ickiness and more about his Facebook habits. Shortly after the Facebook craze hit our office, there was talk of it being banned in our company. Dave was crushed. The following week, Dave's worst nightmare became reality. The IT department had banned Facebook, mostly because of bandwidth concerns, but access was allowed for one hour in the morning and one hour after work. Dave took to arriving early and going home late. He looked like the model employee. But alas, even this glimmer of hope was soon to fade and Facebook was permanently banned-unless one could prove one used it for work purposes.

Dave was the first to be unbanned- having added several work related contacts as friends and creating a group which related to his actual job.

So while most people in the organisation have either lost interest, or just never got Facebook access, Dave has been happily wasting away the hours. Facebook is continually open on his computer and while he may not always be using it, I can at any time, check my "online friends" and Dave's smiling face will be in that list.

At one stage he complained he had too much work. Work was taken away from him, and happily, Dave's Facebooking could continue.

Dave is not alone though- a quick search of keywords in the Facebook search thingie reveals hundreds of groups named along the lines of the following "Facebook rehab society", "I am completely addicted to Facebook", "Facebook cuts my productivity to about 23%" and my personal favourite (parental guidance advised here) "Fuck you work, I'm Facebooking".

Facebook's complete membership is hard to pin down, but some November 2007 figures indicate it to have been around 55 million members then. Provided half of these are of working age- that's around 27.5 million (we'll call it 28 for the sake of being brief) and another half of these spend half an hour on the site each day- we are talking about 7 million global manhours lost each day. (Please note, these are my own guestimations and are by no means even vaguely accurate!)

Some companies and individuals and"experts" will say Facebook is useful and increases productivity because a happy individual is a productive individual-yada yada yada. This may be true, some companies even use Facebook for their own marketing, which is all very well.

But productivity is not the only worry with such sites (and its not just Facebook, its myspace, its Bebo, its Youtube and a host of new ones that mushroom up every week)- its bandwidth. I'm no tecchie- but I know what bandwidth is, and I know how posted videos on a funwal,l and constant watching of Youtube videos, of Britney Spears' admission into hospital under armed guard, can eat at that bandwidth.

Facebook wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt for those god-awful applications on some people's pages. Again, I refer to someone in my own friends list. We will call her Roxanne (after the prozzie in the song) because essentially she is an application whore. Of the 249 application requests I have received and denied recently, 89 of those were from our girl Roxie. A count of her actual applications, puts her at around the 125 mark. That's a lot of bandwidth being wasted on such gems as "what sex toy are you?" the "carpool" and "orgasmic" applications, the "bathroom wall" and several valentine's day applications (around seven or eight!) Her profile takes a full minute and a half to download on my pretty fast chinese ADSL connection. Yes, I counted!

There are literally thousands of these crappy, useless applications being run on precious, company bandwidth. Another search of applications using some of the most common search words known to man- sex, money, God, and love- yields nearly a thousand apps. It may be more because when there are over 500 (as was the case for the word Love), it is just written as 500+

I am not anti-Facebook. I use it. I am not pro-Facebook either, I often wonder how many of my "friends" would actually know what I looked like now if it weren't for my profile picture. I just think its over-rated and over-used and in a lot of cases- over-abused.

Source:- http://www.mydigitallife.co.za

This weeks Glassgow 7

2010-05-02T16:02:00.009+01:00

1.Weather is very mild. Still hoping for some sunny days this week!

2. Still the weather wouldn’t stop our drive around the woods and the country side

3. Nature at its best making it even more wicked with

4. Poor visibility as we go up the altitude

5. Not really sure about breakfast on Tuesday morning :P

6. Enough of time pass now – get back to work

7. Different places to go – lots of unfinished business – bag packing ! India see you soon :)

You gonna miss when am gone....

2010-03-22T18:41:00.004Z

I've gone wordless.........not that there's nothing to write..but by choice! sometime's one just wonders - so many words? like everyone's in a hurry, a hurry to voice their opinions, feelings,emotions and so on...thus a lil break! This post just comes to share a wonderful song I've been humming..hope you'all like it :-)

Quote of the day

2010-03-10T14:58:00.004Z

I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not having lived.

-Melina Mercouri

Do good just with a click - Feed the hungry

2010-03-10T02:27:00.003Z

Did you know?

1.02 billion People across the world are hungry.

Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.

Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food.

Do good just with a click. All you have to do is visit this site Web MiracleFeed The Hungry With Just A Click and click on the "Donate Free Food" button. When you do, a sponsoring corporation will make a donation to feed a starving person for one day. You can do this once in a day, and it costs nothing to you personally.

This is a form of public relations for the sponsoring company. It gets their name in front of you and associates it with a good cause. It does not cost you anything to make this donation.

Help change lives – Service to Humanity is Service to God

HR exec's and professionals use social media for professional collaboration - Global Survey Reveals

2010-03-09T21:33:00.002Z

The inaugural Toolbox.com/PJA Social Media Index survey of more than 900 HR executives and professionals reveals that social media is key to problem solving and strategy development in the workplace. In addition, these professionals recognize the advantages that social media offers in helping build their personal brand, increase expertise in their current job roles, and advance their careers.

The results show that active participation in social media is an important component of the HR job role and serves as a substantial resource for experience-based knowledge in the workplace. Respondents named staying current (78%) and networking with peers (71%) as the most popular uses of social media. Additionally, more than half have responded to a question posed by a peer in an online community, while nearly 50% have built their personal knowledge network by making connections with peers.

The results of the survey revealed:

1) Among HR executives and professionals, social media consumption outpaced editorial and vendor content consumption. Respondents consumed social media at a rate of 3.77 hours per week, compared to 2.77 hours of online vendor content and 2.13 hours of online editorial content..

2) Social media represents 43% of total media consumption among HR respondents (compared to 32% for editorial and 25% for vendor content).

3) HR respondents named staying current (78%) and networking with peers (71%) as the most popular uses of social media.

Other results include:

A) More than half of HR respondents have responded to a question posed by a peer, while nearly 50% have built their personal knowledge network by making connections with peers.

B) Deep experience is seen as the most important attribute in a social media expert, followed by thoughtful and detailed responses.

C) Nearly half of respondents say that a social media presence greatly increases or increases their value as a job candidate, while more than 50% claim that social media is important or very important in building their personal brand.

D) Respondents agree that social media’s biggest impact on career is to increase their level of expertise in their current job position.

Access the full report at click here

Source:- Toolbox.com

35 Great Social Media Infographics @ Pamorama !

2010-03-09T20:50:00.000Z

35 Great Social Media Infographics @ Pamorama ! Here’s a collection of terrific social media infographics that might come in handy. As you probably know, infographics are visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form and they act as a kind of visual shorthand, making information easy to understand and consume. They are driven by the same information as charts, but they’re often a better form of communication because of their pleasant aesthetics — charts and graphs can communicate data, but infographics turn data into information.

It’s very helpful to use infographics in presentations, reports, articles, etc., to convey concepts. Instead of poring over figures and long reports to decipher data, an infographic can immediately explain what the data actually means.

Most of these have been scaled down or cropped. Each one has been linked to the original, so please visit the links to view them full-size.

Mexico residents use social media to fight organized crime

2010-03-08T23:53:00.000Z

Mexico Residents are using social media to fight organized crime. According to an article reported by CNN Residents in Mexico are using social media to share information about street violence. People are using twitter for advice on when it's safe to come outside.

Read the full article here

If you see it happening report it!

It is evident that social media is helping create a better informed society that can take appropriate actions.

Social Media & Women - What has changed since last year !

2010-03-08T12:24:00.002Z

A few highlights from a research conducted by Q Interactive

1. Top three online activities for women : Check emails, look for coupons, update their social network status message

2. 75% women more active on social networks this year than last year

3. 54% women visit social networks at least once a day. Facebook is the favorite

4. Top 3 activities on social networks : Sending private messages, updating photos, chatting

5. 45% women have given up TV-watching time for social networking activities - Unbelivable isnt it?

Read more here

Pentagon authorizes use of social media

2010-03-08T11:09:00.001Z

The Pentagon announced on Friday it has authorised the use of Twitter, Facebook and other so-called “Web 2.0” sites across the US military, saying the benefits of social media outweighed security concerns.

To Read the full article click here

Happy International Womens day !

2010-03-08T03:48:00.000Z

Science may have just restricted it as a biological phenomenon - but the source of our existence is a Woman. She's the most beautiful architech that builds and decorates our lives as a mother,sister,a freind, or as a life partner.No womens bill passed in a parliment can be worthy enuff to mark the diffrence she makes to our lives. Love n Respect them! Wish all the lovely ladies a happy womens day - Thank you for being there!

She makes your world beautiful just by being in it! :)

Best Business Quote of the day

2010-03-05T22:12:00.001Z

Do something. Either Lead,follow or get out of the way

- Peter Drucker

When Finances are tight

2010-03-05T17:07:00.001Z

...ask yourself - How much fun we can have without spending any money?

If winter comes - can spring be far behind ?

2010-03-04T00:25:00.002Z

A good bye to “The BIG freeze” finally! This year Britons faced the most severe weather Sub-zero temperatures after heavy snow falls causing disruption on roads, airports and schools, but it failed to dampen my or any of my mates spirits. We still enjoyed our rides around the city - chilling with some good COLD drinks on week ends :)

It is all about making choices; you can choose to be happy, or not to be. To me snow ushered in new hope, - a hope that there is sunshine not very far.

"There is no way to Happiness. Happiness is the way"

Start the Journey, Love the challenge, and never give up :)

Quote of the day

2010-03-01T20:29:00.000Z

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof.

- John Kenneth Galbraith

Fill your life with colors - Wish everyone a Happy Holi

2010-03-01T14:56:00.004Z

Bright colors, water balloons, lavish gujiyas and melodious songs - missing the desi holi celebrations from back home :( Nevertheless, London will celebrate holi in its own special way. I wish you all a very colorful Holi, the festival of radiation. Fill your water guns,enjoy the rain dance & hug your enemies and enjoy!

Do play Holi with a lots of water, don’t worry about “wasting” it..lool :-) Wish you all a very colorful n safe Holi

Love
Siddharth

Quote of the day

2010-02-26T11:07:00.002Z

This is a pick from a speech made by the CEO of Mind Tree. Could'nt resist from posting it here.

"It is not about what you create for yourself, it is about what you leave behind that defines success" - Mr Subroto Baghchi, CEO Mind Tree

And the RaT RaCe Begins!!!

2010-02-25T16:22:00.004Z

One thing about keeping up with the Jones' - is that they have their own Jones’ to keep up with! So, they will always be ahead of you. People are constantly striving for the next thing. For greener pastures. For better. For more. Infinite wants versus finite resources.

Like the thousands of other full time MBA students out there, I am not without some anxiety about what and where my next job will be. The universal MBA assumption is that the degree will lead to a career boost. Or personal fulfilment. When I was at work, each promotion brought about a much needed rise in income……….and a corresponding increase in expenditure.

What is about with the rat race. You want a better job so you can get on the property ladder, or so you can buy a bigger house, a better car, a better lifestyle. But then you spend so much time working for those things that you don’t actually have the chance to enjoy them. Wikipedia, the academics favourite (and most reliable!!??) information source defines the rat race as an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. Surely there is more to life!!

MBA Logic!!

2010-02-24T11:46:00.001Z

Ramsingh decided to write the MBA exam. He could understand every
thing except for the LOGIC part. One day when he was reading, Rajiv came
home.
Rajiv: Ramsinghji How is your MBA preparation?
Ram Singh: Every thing is fine, but I could not understand Logic.
Rajiv: Logic is very easy.
Ramsingh: Can you give me an example, so that I can understand.
Rajiv: OK. Do you have fish pot in your house?
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: Logically, there will be water in it.
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: Logically, there will be fish in it.
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: Logically, someone will be feeding the fish.
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: I take a guess that your wife will be feeding the fish.
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: so, logically, your are married.
Ram: YES.
Rajiv: So, that means U are a heterosexual.
Ramsingh was very glad and he understood logic. Next day he sees
Shyamsingh and he was also preparing for MBA.
Ram: How is your MBA preparation?
Shyam: Everything is fine except for the logic.
Ram: Oh, logic is easy.
Shyam: Please, give me an example.
Ram: Do you have a fish pot in your house?
Shyam: NO, I don't.
Ram: Saala HOMO!!!

Why should men not write advice columns!!!

2010-02-23T23:31:00.005Z

35 Musicians get together for the noblest cause - Just Amazing !

2010-02-23T19:01:00.004Z

Roger Ridley singing “Stand By me” This song was an inspiration that transformed Playing For Change from a small group of individuals to a global movement for peace and understanding. This track features over 35 musicians collaborating from all over the world. They may have never met in person, but in this case, the music does the talking.

About Playing for change
Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for the project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in their minds, they've set out to share it with the world.

Finally ! completed my research

2010-02-18T13:56:00.001Z

I know it has been a while since my last post. Last couple of weeks have been extremely busy finalising my research findings, compiling them and putting all bits and peices together. A complete version of my research is now available and I shall be happy to share it once its accepted and approved ! A Big thank you to everyone who helped and supported me thoroughout the process.

Siddharth

50 Free Business eBooks

2009-12-08T21:38:00.000Z

I was just surfing and twittering while I stumbled upon this site. Here are 50 free business e-books you may want to read. I haven't read all of them, will pick and choose though.

Free blogging guide for businesses

2009-12-08T16:19:00.001Z

A free white paper on guide to business blogging by SEOptimise. Worth a read for businesses who are planning to set up a blog but are not very clear of how to go about it. Click here to download a free copy of the white paper in PDF format.

Strategies & Tools for Corporate Blogging

2009-12-08T15:05:00.003Z

Strategies & Tools for Corporate Blogging. A Excellent resource for busineses / corporations and newbie business bloggers. John highlights the importance of how blogging can improve help firms improve their relationship with customers, how blog marketing fits into the marketing mix, developing guidelines for employees, etc. John also highlights examples of what companies have done in the past and what they could do as the blogging revolution advances further. Definately, a must read for businesses who plan to incoporate blogs as part of their business / marketing strategy.

Buzz Marketing with Blogs

2009-12-08T13:41:00.000Z

The third edition will be published in January 2010. This book is for business professionals looking for advice and solutions for business blogging by Susannah Gardner.Do check out previous version at Amazon.com

Social Media here to stay ! latest study reveals

2009-12-08T01:06:00.000Z

A recent study on social media usage in INC 500 conducted by Barnes & Mattson. INC 500 continues to increase on their use of social media. Spanned across the use of diffrent technologies, it is evident that social media adoption and use continues to grow rapidly.

Some highlights from the report

Blogging has grown rapidly after the use and implementation of social networking tools.

At the top of the pyramid 44% businesses that do not currently use social media plan to incorporate blogs.

43% INC 500 companies 2009 reported social media as very important to their business / marketing strategy.

The full contents of the report is available at the University of Massachusetts website for social media studies.

A Corporate Bloggers Manifesto

2009-12-08T00:34:00.000Z

corporate weblog manifesto...excellent read for all business / corporate bloggers by Robert Scoble's. Excellent pointers for newbie's who are looking forward to incorporate blogs as a part of their business / marketing & communications strategy.

Business Blogging for Newbie's

2009-12-07T14:29:00.000Z

Blogs are -a Web 2.0 outcome, but are also excellent tools in an integrated organizational context, for the dimensions of-

Interactive Marketing: as an instrument in the value chain, specifically in terms of communication of value to the customer. The term 'Interactive' Marketing can most aptly be associated to blogs because it contradicts the term marketing in typical sense that Marketing is considered to be a uni-directional approach. Marketing through conventional channels has hardly had any scope for responses from the audience.

The traditional mediums of marketing such OOH, Television, Print, and Online Adverts never involved or allowed the audience to participate. Its incidental that the blogging and interactive marketing are neck to neck in terms of age and the realization of its potential. No wonder we see a great deal of Contests , Games, SMS campaigns which specifically intend to involve the consumer in every possible way. Customer’s association level with the product is important as the consumer is attached to the brand and the product at a subliminal level.

How 'Blogging' then is so effective in fulfilling multiple purposes is yet to be seen by the industry. The primary reason for its no bound growth can be validated by the fact that it is a low cost medium with high customer engagement. It incorporates feedback, responses, criticisms which are critical for gauging pre-launch market conditions for a wide range of products. This all is under one roof of Blogging and since it asks for feedback and users comments pro actively, this can be seen as never before feat where the maker of the product can make changes to the product within days of the product launch based on the feedback and initial reaction or sometimes even before the product is launched. Another very important factor is its limitless reach geographically, so for a product with a global reach like a automobile, mobiles, movie, music albums. The needs and should best be understood by understanding perspectives of potential consumers from different regions. Blog Marketing can very suitably achieve this.

Consider a mega budget movie like Avatar , traditional media like theatrical trailers and print campaigns, and OOH can provide a very generic over view of the initial response from the audience. A blog on the other hand single handedly can integrate Video, Print and other tid-bits like interesting moments while making of the movie. This can generate huge amount of interest from audiences across. The responses that the blog will have are directly from the viewer and can give very important cues to the producer even before the launch of the movie. Web being so much cheaper than the other media is another factor that adds to its credibility. The one factor, which can put blog in a very exclusive league, is its ability to convey the message of 'being heard' to the consumer in quickest and most seamless possible manner.

Getting back to Business

2009-12-07T01:01:00.000Z

Dear Readers

I am currently pursuing an M.B.A (Information Management) from the University of Wales, Lampeter and have undertaken business blogging as my research topic for my thesis. My research aims to investigate the effectiveness of blog based marketing to small businesses. Through this study I intend to investigate the perception, attitude, and motivation of corporate / business bloggers that drive individuals / businesses to incorporate blogs as a marketing tool.

Ive created this blog to serve as a resource bank for this project. I'd like to invite all Business / Corporate bloggers to participate in this study and provide their valuable insights to this project.

Thank you for reading

Siddharth

All modules cleared

2009-12-06T18:44:00.000Z

I got my final result today – I have passed all of the modules from the MBA!

Now just the dissertation to be completed.

Be the change u wish to see !

2009-12-05T03:55:00.000Z

A formally - informal Intro !

2009-12-04T22:57:00.000Z

Well..! Finally I've done something that i always wanted to do ! Although it aint by accident...but it has been a forced "Academic Purpose" :-) As the content might already suggest. For people whom i do not know and for those who have forgotten me :P you may wanna take the pain to click here . I had no intention of being philosophical but I thot these lines would be gr8 to start with ! (BTW - Da snap was clicked on a amazin snowy mornin couldnt resist postin it up !)

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not..it moves us not...

Love

Sid