Warner, Stein and Literary Spaces

So many interesting developments and discoveries – I hope I get to explore in detail at least some of what came by my path this week. I hope you get to investigate some of these places, articles, thoughts, concepts and what have you…here is this week’s smorgasbord.

Image courtesy of Matador Network

Lovely Libraries: Does the sight of rows of books give your goosebumps? Do you go into raptures when you enter beautiful libraries and book stores. You will enjoy this phot0 essay in Matador Network on the Amazing Libraries of the World. This essay is not from the last week but this is information that surpasses time and I wanted to share the joy of these inspiring literary spaces.

Facebook for Films?: Warner Bros has started a program to use Facebook for renting movies. The payment will be via Facebook currency which has so far been used mainly for online games. This experiment may well re-orient the way we think of online entertainment, e-commerce and F-commerce! It is an app for Facebook developed by Warner and may well be indicative of the path forward for Hollywood studios.

Image courtesy of Time Magazine

What kind of online profile do you really have?: Time Magazine has a thought-provoking cover story by Joel Stein in the March 25th edition. We spend thought and effort creating our public profiles on various social media sites. But is that all the world sees of us? The data that is mined from sites we visit and things we buy offer advertisers a real insight into who we are. The profile that emerges can seem very invasive in that everything, from what we like to eat to which side of the bed we sleep on, can be part of our data profile. Stein makes the interesting point though that advertisers are not really interested in getting to know us as individuals. They are only interested in bits and pieces as it can be used for targeted advertising. Do you like sports? Here are some tickets that may interest you. Do you enjoy good deals? Here are some coupons that you may like to buy. Stein uses his inimitable style to explore the idea of privacy in the age of social media. The data mining companies may have our most private information but they are not really interested in the whole person behind it all. So, ultimately it is nothing personal!

Vacationing – Going Away, or Not?

 

Image courtesy of The Washington Post

 

People talk about how smartphones and laptops have made it possible to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and how this has made all of us workaholics. We never seem to switch off entirely. I have a slightly different question on the same theme of switching off. What does vacation mean in the context of social media? Do we ever really get away on a vacation? As social media remaps our world, it raises interesting questions about here and away.

In days gone by, in the time before Twitter and Facebook and Foursquare, we went on vacation and took a break from the rituals of everyday living. This meant that we also took a break from friends and family while we explored new places and things and then we came back and shared what we had found. Now, thanks to multiple ways of staying connected, vacation does not have to mean suspending contact with friends or family.

You can sit on a beach and text your mom or walk through Louvre and tweet you friends. People start blogs about trips before they leave and update it ever so often with pictures and posts and I have enjoyed posts such as these hugely. Some folks do Twitter updates of new restaurants or landmarks and some others keep their friends posted of their every move via Facebook. All this makes for entertaining reading and I enjoy receiving these updates. It seems like we are getting a mini-vacation ourselves through our network, right?

But when I was on a short break last month, I decided not to check-in electronically. It was a decision that I struggled with especially given that I have committed to blogging every day. But if I had to focus on checking-in, posting and responding on different social media platforms, I felt I would miss out on the joy of being away. ‘Away’ had to mean away from work and the regular rhythm of life and I chose to unplug from everything from texts to blogs. I came back refreshed and recharged. I may not have had a chance to share every observation, but I have brought back some material from the trip that has infused my blogs.

How do you handle vacations? Do you stay connected with work? Do you check-in with friends? Do you share immediately via Facebook? How often do you let your friends know your location?