Egypt protests with new media

The world is reeling from the shockingly quick descent of Egypt into chaos and destruction as the country implodes with riots and violence, with many of the Egyptians calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

New media platforms in the likes of Facebook and Twitter have been added to the heady mix of volatile politics in the region. Often seen as tools for democratisation that give voice to the everyman, Facebook and Twitter were used by the Egyptians to stir up sentiments against Mubarak, and garner supporters to organise anti-government protest marches. This resulted in the government shutting down the Internet, adding much fuel to the already raging fire of hatred and discontentment.

To add to all this is Kenneth Cole’s infamous tweet: 

Millions are in uproar in #Cairo,” the tweet read. “Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC

Kenneth Cole angered many, who saw him capitalising and trivialising the Eyptian political crisis. Cole has since tweeted his apology. An obviously offended person actually put up the tweet on one of the store windows. Cole has tweeted that it was a prank and that he was not responsible for the inappropriate store display.

Looks like Kenneth Cole’s new media faux pax serves as important lessons in new media PR for all. On, what a twit, er, I mean, tweet.

We can continue to follow the unfolding situation in Egypt through tweets: http://twitter.com/#search?q=egypt%20protests and http://twitter.com/#search?q=egypt%20. Youtube is also full of videos showing angry protests in Cairo. The political struggle is also one played out in new media.

The End of Char Kway Teow & Other Hawker Mysteries – alternative form of ieatishootipost

Any true-blue Singaporean would be familiar with the food blog  ieatishootipost.sg. We have no doubt drooled countless times over the amazing food pictures and delectable descriptions of tasty morsels highlighted in the blog.

Now, the founder of the local food blog, Dr Leslie Tay has turned author with the publication of his book “The End of Char Kway Teow & Other Hawker Mysteries”. Dr Leslie Tay is a doctor and also a foodie (very Singaporean!) and he set up the blog in 2006.

His wish is to recommend good hawker fare, based on his motto of “never waste your calories on yucky food”. I totally agree with the philosophy! That’s why it’s wonderful when others can do the tasting and provide us with info on what ‘s worth the calories!

Dr Leslie Tay also believes in giving back to society and proceeds from the sale of his book will go towards www.goducate.org to raise funds for building a school for displaced children in Sandakan. 

What’s also amazing about how far his blog has come! What started out as a blog on a new media platform is now being published into a book!

I’ll be attending a talk this coming Thursday by Dr Tay – looking forward to a yummy session with food for thought, or frankly, I’ll settle for just good food!

The Digital Story of the Nativity

Christmas may be over, but then there are 12 days of Christmas, and it’s never too late to look at this interesting video!

Actually, I see it more as a Christmas story for Digital Natives! While the format has been updated with new media, the traditional values and message still remain and are important.

Have a blessed Christmas and happy new year, everyone!

Is Social Media Making Students Dumb?

I just read this interesting article about how social media and cellphones could be making students dumb!

It cites some examples from a recent report about how growing up digital could be wiring young people up for distraction.

• 14-year-old girl sends and receives 27,000 text messages a month. The girl texts every spare moment she can. Yet believe it or not, sometimes she “forgets” to do her homework.
• David Reilly, a high school principal in California, moved the start of classes to 9 a.m. Reason: Too many students coming into school “bleary-eyed” from texting and surfing the Web all night.
• 17-year-old student spends hours every day playing video games and surfing social media sites. His teachers think he’s gifted. Yet he’s carrying a 2.3 grade point average. Instead of finishing the short novel “Cat’s Cradle” this past summer, he read Facebook.

Is technology and social media breeding a generation of restless students with short attention spans and abilities that at best can be for superficial analysis?

What do you think? Do share your views.

Richard Branson’s ‘Project’ iPad

Sir Richard Branson has done it again – got himself in the limelight, that is.

He just unveiled his latest project, Project yesterday. Branson calls it “a paperless revolutionary multimedia publication designed specifically for the iPad.” It will feature entertainment, travel, culture and business articles. You can download it for $3.

Catch the digital front cover of Project.

Branson’s efforts beat Rupert Murdoch’s bid at iPad publications. Murdoch has planned to launch an iPad-only newspaper early next year.

Whoever beats whom to get iPad publications to the public, it’s iPad that wins, as many publishers start launching their iPad versions.

In Singapore, Style Magazine has launched the country’s first interactive digital magazine, Style, on iPad. And it looks that there are more on the way.

With Google Books making inroads into the e-book market, we could expect more people curling up with their e-book readers and iPads!

Digital Media Across Asia

Just a quick post to share with you a comprehensive wiki devoted to Asia’s social media:

http://comm215.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

Farmville Death

Just a few months back, we were horrified about how a Korean couple ended up killing their real child when they spent too much time on their virtual child.

Now, there’s another game-related death of a child. We are once again horrified by how a mother’s obsession and addiction to the Facebook game, Farmville, has led to the death of a baby.

The 22-year old mother from Jacksonville was so incensed by her 3-month old baby’s cries while she was playing Farmville that she shook him hard a couple of times, which probably caused the baby’s head to hit against something and he died as a result. Who would think that an innocuous site like Farmville could have such a devastating and deadly impact!

According to Mashable/Social Media site,

FarmVille, named one of the “worst inventions” in recent decades by Time magazine, has more than 60 million members, most of whom access the game through Facebook. Some players have found it so addicting that they’ve lost their jobs and racked up debts north of S1000.

Someone once told me that her brother was so addicted to the game that he would set his alarm clock to wake him up to harvest his crops, and that could even be at 3am in the morning!

Well, I guess losing sleep over a game is one thing, but killing a life…that’s something else all together.

Stop letting such virtual games get in the way of REAL LIFE!

Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2010 Report is out

Just a quick post to let you know that Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2010 report is now out.

According to the report, “bloggers’ use of and engagement with various social media tools is expanding, and the lines between blogs, micro-blogs, and social networks are disappearing” and “the significant growth of mobile blogging is a key trend this year”.

Read more about it at http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/#ixzz14J3fDIe6

Philips Bear Ad Goes Viral for the Wrong Reasons

Having an ad go viral on new and social media is any advertising agency’s dream. However, for The Secret Little Agency who came up with the video clip of an ad showing a bear rummaging through a dustbin at a bus stop at Ulu Pandan, it became more of a nightmare.

The agency’s tagline “We are in the business of creating exceptional advertising” could not be more apt when it hit upon guerilla marketing tactics of using a bear to advertise Phlips electronics new razor.  The clip first appeared on Youtube, and it was even mentioned in mainstream news, which of course helped to fuel the general public’s fear and curiosity.

Fearing for the safety of people living around the Ulu Pandan area, the police, volunteers from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) and zoo personnel combed the area for signs of the bear. Obviously, they are not amused to learn that the whole incident is one marketing ploy. The video has also gone viral not because of its link to the razor but due to the bad press it has received. No one made the link between the bear and the razor and the agency has come under fire for its tactics and the police are even probing if the video clip has violated public nuisance laws.  But then again, in the world of advertising, is there such a thing as bad publicity?

The other time there was a guerilla advertising tactic gone bad was the one by SingPost where the postal boxes in Singapore were apparently defaced!

Advertisers and advertising agencies will need to think twice before they start such campaigns again.

A more engaging and memorable bear ad would be this one by Tippex! Enjoy!

Sermons on demand

I have written previously on New Media Faith and how religious organisations are using new media to reach out to their flocks.

In Singapore, many of such organisations are indeed using the Internet to post their teachings to the masses. Elsewhere too, of course new media has also been heavily used, and I have benefited from listening to the sermons of Joel Osteen via his podcasts and online video streaming services! All these can be found on the Joel Osteen Ministries website.

If you time it right, you can even catch the live video streaming, and it’s like you are almost there with the congregation at the Compaq Centre in Houston!