Communal Cricket

The Match yesterday gave us a chance to watch it together, on social media. We hollered audibly, and made sure we were heard by our friends on Facebook and Twitter. Although many status updates were an expression of our excitement, they also gave us a chance to do something other than twiddle our fingers while the boys in blue did their part.

Games watched at home in childhood, in college in common rooms, and at work in conference rooms all melded together, as all the people we shared these moments with were on social media. We could exult over a stylish shot, groan in despair when a catch was dropped, and pray together when times were tough.

Otherwise, the internal energy would have no outlet and may have resulted in more heart attacks :)

The Vicious Circle of Social Media

Social media is logically the best way to learn about what’s happening in social media. There’s something constantly happening in this field. We feel like we always need to be plugged in, otherwise we may miss out on something important.

Just like poets are often the audience for other poets, social media too is populated with social media experts, who advise techniques for blog creation, for instance. Voila, there’s their blog. It’s a bit like the only people who get rich from self help books are self help authors.

This also remind me of college classes, where we analyzed texts. It’s a cottage industry, producing material to criticize works, by past products of the system. The consumers are the current students of these courses.

I’ve learnt many useful tips regarding social media, from social media enthusiasts, who I found on social media platforms. But, too often I come across posts for the newbies. So sometimes I feel these are to make sites content heavy.

We pick and choose who we track on social media. On Twitter, it is an effort to stop following someone, once you start. You only do it if the volume of tweets is too much, or the quality dips significantly.

Let’s only write what we would like to read?

All I Really Need to Know, I learn on Twitter

The other day, someone asked me, “Which class are you in?” I smiled, explained that it had been a while since I finished my education. But that interaction got me thinking. Does learning stop when we leave school? Is education ever really over?

Now we have a tool to help us through life. Search engines can seem impersonal, and sometimes we may question the veracity of the information. On Twitter though, you can find answers to most questions. And since they are by actual people, you can follow up with them for clarifications, supplementary questions, or hand holding

Why not use Facebook? I feel that is our comfort zone, because we are particular about who we add as our friends. They may know as much as we do, particularly if the subject is esoteric. Tapping experts on Twitter is a better bet.

Facebook reminds me of a swimming pool, where groups of friends do their own thing. You smile, wave, laugh with each other. It’s for the good times. Twitter is this vast ocean you can drown in, or learn to swim in.

Good luck.

IWD

Happy Women's Day. The argument has been that if women want equality, why do they also want a day set aside for them? The fact remains that women are still exploited all over the world, so I think in this context, if initiatives around these women are helped by this day, then we should definitely mark this day.
Wikipedia informs me that this was originally International Working Women's Day. Originally a Socialist event, does it still have teeth, on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day? Let's not limit it to wishing each other, celebrating womanhood, and meeting galpals.
When I was a child, it was a distinct mental jump to watch women in managerial roles on cable TV- Star World soaps and the like. Gradually, as I saw women achieve more, be as good at tasks which were considered male, I internalised the fact that we've arrived.
Womanism still resonates more with me than feminism. Sometimes, catfights prevail over better sense. But I still think we've come a long way. I still don't like the fact that #bootyappreciationday is trending on Twitter worldwide now. Let's get it off the charts!

Note to Myself

I've learnt a lot from the Open Forum on Saturdays (1-2 PM) at Kornash. It's fun connecting it with Psychology classes in school. Heat and tempers rising are related, so need to be careful now:)
Acceptance- the past is past. It can't be changed. Accept that, and move on. Don't let it poison the present, and worse still, the future. Although it is important to vent, once that's done, it's time to move on.
Internal chatter- read an article in Femina on how music helps drown it out.
Karma- if people have forgiven you in the past for similar incidents, return the favor. Even if they haven't, you can pay it forward.
Depending on others for help can only be temporary. It's important to internalize lessons, so that you don't repeat mistakes.
I still love the definition of learning we studied in psychology class in school- Learning is any relatively permanentchange in behaviouras a result of experience.