Last week, I met Beth Becker and she gave me a useful tip while we were discussing the use of Twitter. She said that Retweets are perhaps more important than the number of followers you have. I tend to agree because if you have large numbers of followers who don't engage with you then perhaps you are easily forgotten. However, if you have small number of followers who think your tweets are worth re-tweeting, then it shows that they consider it interesting enough for their followers. This cascading effect is probably much better than broadcasting to large numbers of followers who glance at your tweets and dismiss them. Therefore, it is perhaps worth noting which of your tweets are re-tweeted and who is tweeting them. This way if you have something to say on that topic again, you can engage with those who re-tweeted. Having a real time interaction with your followers can also increase your recognition value in the eyes of your followers. So pay attention to your re-tweets and respond. Followers are only important as long as you engage with them. 

 

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.”

 

 

 

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

 

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

 

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

LinkedIn has 12 million users in India, out of its 135 million members. 

On Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, I will be moderating a roundtable on the use of social media by non-profits. These roundtables are sponsored by the MA in Communication program, Johns Hopkins University and are free and open to the public. To get more info. about the roundtable and RSVP, click here http://advanced.jhu.edu/calendar?ContentID=3421. We will be live streaming the event, so if you can't attend in person but want to watch the webcast, you should RSVP and you will be sent a link via email. 

The Google Transparency Report shows that from January to June 2011, Google India received requests to remove 358 items of which 255 items were identified as criticisms of government. 

So, I don't know what was about this weekend, but I ended up watching documentaries and films about rock climbing. Yesterday, I watched two documentaries that had a great impact on me, "Farther than the Eye Can See" and "Blindsight". The first documentary chronicles the remarkable quest of Erik Weihenmayer, who became blind at the age 13, to climb the The Everest, highest peak in the world. The second one shows him leading a group of blind teenagers on an expedition to climb one of the peaks in the Himalayas. The fact that despite becoming blind, Erik not only continued to climb mountains but have successfully climbed the seven highest peaks in the seven continents, is quite remarkable. This made me think, that sometimes having sight is probably not enough, because although we can see the physical world around us, we are not able to see our own inner vision. To me it seemed that Erik is guided by his inner vision which is probably much more powerful than the physical world our eyes can see. Just like he can't experience what we can see, similarly we will never be able to experience what he can feel while climbing those mountains without an eyesight. The second documentary "Blindsight" is equally precious because it not only shows the young teenagers getting ready to climb the mountains, but the fact that they enjoyed every single minute of it. And despite failing health they wanted to continue to ascend. It was quite heartening to see how their teacher, Sabriye, the blond German lady who started the school for blind Tibetan children in Tibet is concerned about the children, as if they are their own. And when one child fell sick, she decided to abort the expedition because according to her there is no triumph in reaching the highest peak, if we can't take care of the weakest. All I can say is that these films are a must watch, because it's not only about reaching the highest peak, but it shows the importance of trust and team work. Better still, these films celebrate the human spirit, which is guided by inner vision....   

It's one of those days. Life is still and silent. Sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea I look outside from the window in the backyard. It's white and quiet. The green vines lending color to the grey fence. The ground covered with snow create an illusion of being amidst the clouds unless I look out the windows facing the front. The asphalt streets washed with last night's rain and flanked by steel grey cars, tell a different story. Which view should I believe in? The one that I look out in my backyard or the one that lies in front. The view in the backyard - the clinging vines, the grey fence, the tall dark green trees and the fluffy snow all remind me something of my past. In some form or the other they have been my friends and enemies. What I really miss in this scene is the koohoo bird, the kids playing in the garden. All that will change as the winter comes to an end and the flowers bloom bringing the spring. As the spring approaches this white-grey scene will be dotted with colorful escapes. But until then I must learn to respect the stillness of the snow which gives me an illusion of living among the clouds ready to transport me in a fantasy world.   

First day of the year is always filled with anticipation, hope and resolutions. It's a time of the year when we review the year that we leave behind. We think about what we did right and what we did wrong. We count our triumphs and lows. While we rejoice over our good times, we make resolutions to not repeat the lows. We hope that the coming year will bring more happiness and we will have more occasions to smile.