Formula for a Viral Post on social Media

 You thought only Hindi films have a formula? Or Hollywood? You are quite wrong. Social media posts have one too- or more than one.

One that is surefire hit, and will go viral.

X had a job. Or nothing. He/she makes/made Y crores by doing Z.

Or, his/her parents sacrificed everything to put X through college, or supported her dream. Tears streaming down their eyes, they celebrate the kids' success.

How X climbed a mountain, when everyone gave up on him/her, but with great self-belief, he/she achieved his/her goal of being Y- an IAS officer, an athlete, or a Golfer.. just kidding, Golfers are super-rich as they are born with a Silver Golf Club in hand.

Any more that strike a chord with you? You can always make up a new formula that works- if it does.

Superlatives- Use and Misuse

 I'm the best, I'm the best.. so goes a song. No, I didn't create the song. Some Hindi film lyricist writing in English did.

Super cool? Awesome? Maybe. But what's this fascination for the superlative? Being good is no longer good enough? You have to be the best? And what about the rest?

Cricket commentators on radio in the good old days (before television happened) had this urge to call any good shot a "brilliant" shot, any good catch a 'superb' catch, and a good fielding attempt "incredible".

Now, social media rule the roost. And therefore, we have people describing an event as incredible, without any basis. Attending a conference? Incredible opportunity. Attending a faculty development program? Incredible. Listening to a speaker from industry, or better still, a startup? You guessed it- 'incredible.'

At this rate, nothing would remain credible anymore. You would be lost in an awesome wave of an 'incredible' ocean swallowing you up, and coming back on land would be impossible. Ever think of that?

Linkedinese

 It's not Chinese, or Japanese. It's just a new way to use English, like Journalese.

An example. A professional Fly-swatter may post - "Grateful for the incredible opportunity to swat flies in an extraordinary Convention of Fly-swatters from around the world... " 

Or, a pole-dancer may post- "From North Pole to South Pole, I have now danced around poles everywhere. Except in Poland. Hopefully that dream will be achieved soon.."

Or, a no-gooder up to no good may advertise himself thus- " Finally, everything that you do results in no good. Come and learn from one who has done it his entire life.. been up to no good since I was a toddler. My parents can provide references."

Or a blogger (resemblance is purely coincidental) - " You, incredible readers of my blog, have saved me from utter helplessness, depression, anxiety and provided me with a will to live. I promise to continue to bore you as long as my pen (metaphorical, of course) has ink in it." 

Amen.

How to Build Your Presence on Social Media

 These are learnings over about 10-12 years, because I am no social media guru.

Be yourself most of the time. Intellectual, argumentative, funny, sarcastic, innocent, curious, engaging, or some combination.

Use visuals wherever the medium lets you. 

Be original, and don't rely on forwards alone. Though forwards also help you establish an identity. Caption forwards too..

Comment on your friends' posts, rather than only liking them.

Use the medium regularly, so people can track you and know you better. 

Explain more. Where you were, what you were up to, or what the occasion was.. memories are shorter than you think.

Edit photos to make them more attractive, without losing their essence.

Teachers Can Make a Difference

 I have been into teaching for as long as I can recollect, and I have also been a student a long time. Based on these many years, I would say that students are influenced by teachers-some of them, at least. The reasons may vary, but a strong human connect is usually one of these reasons. I often meet past students that I may not even have taught, and they share stories, opinions and views that echo these thoughts. You may be the cat's whiskers in your subject, and that awe initially may overwhelm a student. But what remains after distillation is a welcoming, supportive attitude towards the student, is what I think. In other words, a human connect and interest in their life.. and career.

Many students express what we couldn't in our generation. That is a great feeling- to receive a message on Social Media (got one from far away in Dubai yesterday), or a meeting set up in quick time over facebook (happened two days ago!), or just hearing them talk about bygone days on a forum somewhere.

I am in touch with many from IMT Nagpur, IIM Indore and Kirloskar Institute, for some reason. And some from IFIM and PESIT (now JagSoM and PES Univ). A couple from XIM and Vignana Jyoti too. Without exception, they are warm and chatty whenever we meet. Hopefully, this will go on forever!

I have also had a few students of Golf, including faculty and Doctoral students who were not in my area (Marketing).

Cheers to all students everywhere!

Linkedin Posts and Numbers

 A simple vintage pic of IIM Bangalore got 67,000 impressions in a day on Linkedin (now, 116,000 at last count- update). Lots of current students were amazed by what they saw- a totally different, young campus in the making. Our generation must have felt nostalgia. 

Making me nostalgic, was this pic, the view from my room - G 10. Where I spent 2 beautiful years.

Another post that recently got a lot of views was a pic of a pile of books that I have authored/edited. That was gratifying.

Best Friends- Part 2

 Some more- Gopal Mahapatra, Manoharan, Vijayakumar, Dhanapal, Himanshu Manglik, Rajan of India, Harish Chaudhry, Alisha Thomas, Nisha Verma, Vrinda Khanna, Pallavi Bajpai, Anushka Mishra, Divya Sisodiya, Chaithu Gunapali, Pooja Varun, Roshni Chhabra, Bhavana Daga Sonthalia, Bhawana Moondra, Anusha Ramakrishnan, Saumyaa Sharma, Nikita Kumar Ray, Shruti Sharma, Aditya Naag, TK Chatterjee, Prerona Baruah, Ekalavya Barua, Aditya Deshbandhu, Venugopal Reddy, Nagarjuna, KS Murthy, G Sreenivas, Sreenivas Garudachar, Sanjana Rao Yarram, Sohni Roy, Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Gowri, Sreeram, Anusha Mamidanna, Meenu Mynam, Arvind Joshi, Usha Narayanan, Padmapriya, Jogeswari, Ranjana Rudra, Jaya Jha, Devapriya Roy, ...

The list will continue..

Posts on Social Media and Oscars

Luckily (for me and my audience), social media did not exist in my days of graduation. Else, you would have been subjected to some such messages-

I thank my brother, sister, maid who fed me regularly without fail, and my parents who woke me up in time to catch the school bus, friends on the bus who kept me amused on the long ride, and my teachers at school who only chose the best age-appropriate nursery rhymes for my class,.... for my successful completion of Class 1. I have graduated to Class 2 with flying colours, and I hope to replicate my success there.

.. and so on.

And of course, eulogies to your spouse, to add some spice to her/his life, and that of the readers..

Thanks, my love, for your unlimited patience in dealing with my whimsical behaviour. You always believed in me, and took care of my smallest needs, not once complaining about my numerous character flaws. How you did that, I don't know. Without you, I would be lost, a speck of insignificant sand in the Universe. Thanks for being my guiding light.. love you forever..to the Moon and back!

Oscar thanksgiving speeches have lost their sheen, for a reason..

Fair weather Friends

 These are usually because of some position you hold. That they may want to benefit from. So if you happen to lose that 'position' as a potential benefactor, the friends go away in the blink of an eye.

Could happen anywhere, in any profession, because brown-nosing is an eternal pastime, and has been.

On the other hand, it's a joy to have friends who don't give a damn about who you are in terms of your position, job held or anything else other than the real you. I am grateful for many such friends, from among colleagues, or classmates, or past students from classes taught years ago.

Sometimes, just random meetings from social media connects have developed into friendships that are hard to define. 

Of course, professional friends who are, well, professional, are fine too.

AI ML IOT and All the Rest

 Jargon has a way of perpetuating itself, and going viral. One year ago, many of us wouldn't have heard of ChatGPT, only GST. Now, everyone uses it in conversation as if it's been around for 20 years. It's besides the point whether anyone has actually used it.

Earlier, life was simple. People were only experts in a few things. Now, all of a sudden, you see experts (mostly self-certified), giving us gyan about everything under the Sun, Moon and the Milky Way. They sprout faster than sprouted lentils, and are, like the almighty, everywhere. God may not be happy with the comparison, but...

If you want to become an expert, all you need is a social media account. You can spout eloquent on any topic under the sky (Sun, Moon included), and you will have a few people acknowledging you as the Master (of the subject, or the Universe as the case may be).

Then you just bask in all that attention, and come back with renewed vigour, putting the Yohanis to shade. Dhinchak Pooja did that for a while, too, but the experts remain. They cannot be erased so easily from the ether.

Jhund- A Brilliant Play

 A Hindi play I saw at Rangashankara. I am glad I did! It was absolutely brilliant. 

The writing and direction is great. The story, in a nutshell. Two strangers running away from a crowd (Bheed) meet in a strange place, that remains undefined. It has two lockable doors though. Then, strangely, their cell phones stop working, except for incoming messages from an unknown entity. Having no choice, they follow the directions as received, parting with their belongings for unseen powers to take them away. They wait, totally controlled by this entity, who makes them a member of another online group called Jhund. 

They also get new names/identities, and there are online views to be expressed. For each 'like' in support of their views, they get points. Online wars are fought between trolls of two major thought leaders. 

Ends in an interesting manner! Every line of dialogue is either meaningful, or humourous or both. Only two actors carry the whole show for an hour. 

Hats off to creativity that is contemporary, and has a message, though not overtly conveyed. Understated, but a satire brilliantly done!

More, or Less?

 Should we do more of something, or less of it? That's more or less a perpetual dilemma, ain't it? Some people say Less is More, not sure what that means. 

Right from putting sugar in your tea..should I put more, or less? There is a problem with answering this question, because each has its consequence. More sugar means a temporary high, but a subsequent low. I understand brain function needs sugar- in some form. 

But look at time spent studying, say. Should I study more, and if yes, how much more? Should I sleep for 6 hours, seven, eight, ten? Or walk three kms., four, or six?

Play Golf 3 days a week, or all 7?

Practice an art-say, music, for how many hours?

You can see there are no clear answers. That makes things confusing, and we abandon good sense at times. For example, to do something useless when we could be doing useful stuff. Like shopping, to help the economy. But we don't. We simply forward stupid things on social media...how useless can you get?

Or read fiction-where's it going to get you, knowing who was the murderer? So what?

Interesting Business Ideas - Virtual Holidays

 Do you really have to go somewhere to prove on social media that you went there? The short answer is No. Basically, you have to have a few pics of yourself superimposed on those sight-seeing marvels. That a company can do, apparently. I heard about this line of business (on social media, I think- ha, ha). 

For a price, you can visit Bhutan, Alaska, Bali, New Zealand, or whatever place catches your fancy on that day. The price may differ, depending on whether you are (virtually) visiting Bhedaghat with its wonderful Marble Rocks, or Gulmarg's ski slopes. Or Yash Chopra's favourite, Switzerland. If you are feeling like a foreign visit, you can choose between the Great Wall of China (ok, not now, maybe), or Disneyland in USA. Or Japan's Mount Fuji.

The simplicity of this idea is striking. Armchair travel, anyone?

The Art of Getting Offended

Of all the skills needed to survive today (2020), the one of paramount importance is knowing how to get offended. You don't always have to lead a riot, though that can grab headlines in national media for a few hours to a few days. But you must do it right, and therefore, there is a market for Skill-building courses involving this skill. Entrepreneurship, e-commerce and food delivery are passe.

There is no need to impress upon you why this skill is important. If you don't get offended these days, you are a nobody. You may think you are something great like a Social Media Influencer with thousands of followers, but if you don't get offended regularly, you will lose all those followers. The only other way to get loyal followers is to get into scandals regularly. But getting offended is easier. Let me explain.

You can get offended by almost anything. That's a huge advantage. If the name of a new film is not to your liking, you can get offended. If the film shows your profession in a bad light (even if fictionally), you can still get offended. If the director does not apologise for the imaginary slights, you can get offended. Even if he does, you can get offended by his insincerity in apologising. You get the point?

If someone tells a joke involving gender, ethnicity, nationality, eating habits, accent, what-have-you, you can get offended. Humorists and cartoonists (the ones that are out of jail) will have a tough time because of you too- an added plus for getting offended.

If you are offended by this blog post, it would have served a purpose-of educating you as to the importance of the whole thing.

Artificial Governance- A Satire

Why we need a politician to govern us is beyond me.

Bureaucrats can run the show with the help of AI. All you have to do is load the AI machines with all the important functions of the functionaries.

Online auctions can be performed after every election to find out who wants to change parties at what price-that takes care of government formation.

Digital signatures can also be used to clear any files, and regular attendance can be changed to optional in any office. Imagine the reduction in vehicular pollution levels, and the savings in petrol.

Social media can be used to conduct a referendum on all important ideas- if only Britain had asked me for consultancy, they'd have been saved an election, and lots of confusion- and Pounds (or Euros).

If AI has gone for maintenance, it can be called a Chai break/Lunch break- an indefinite one.You get the drift, I am sure.. you are intelligent, naturally.

Book Review- Wise Guy

Guy Kawasaki has a new book mainly about his own life and career. He is the son of Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and grew up in a modest Hawaii neighbourhood. His life changed when a school teacher spotted his potential and talked his dad into sending him to a better school.

It was not all smooth, there were a few wrong steps along the way, but then he took the chances life offered him, and went on to become an Apple employee (he had two innings there), an evangelist for their products, and then a consultant, author and so on.

I already use his other book (co-authored), The Art of Social Media, and consider him one of the original thinkers (Thought leader?) of today. Immensely talented and articulate, he shows you, among other things, why the U.S. has evolved to be the Mecca for talent from anywhere in the world. More than Europe in recent times.

He also has a chapter or two on his family and raising kids (he has adopted two), and why it is the most important thing in life. Worth a read! There are boxed "wisdom" items (life lessons) in each chapter too, if you like that kind of thing.

Social Media Posts With Feelings

It's confusing. I don't know whether to feel good or bad any more. Whenever I go to my favourite social medium, there are feel-good posts, on these lines.

A poor boy/girl made it to the IAS.

He conquered disease/disability/parents' insistence on careers to  achieve success.

His friends at the bachelors' party ditched him, but he found happiness in marriage.

He managed to eat a full biscuit without it breaking in a cup of tea that he'd dipped it in..



And then, there are feel-bad posts..

The world will end in a big ball of fire next Wednesday, when a meteorite/asteroid will crash into it.

The glaciers will enter your home in Chennai in 5 years..

MBA programs to close down soon, and everyone will have to keep doing whatever they are doing now.. coding for life, and so on..

Engaging With People- DP Awards

Engaging with people on social media and real life may have some similarities. You have to think like an advertiser who fights the clutter, particularly on social media where there are a zillion distractions, and you have to cut through them.

An experiment that I started a couple of years ago, was to select Nice DPs from among my Facebook friends- note, these are not called the Best DP Awards-just Nice DP Awards. There is a difference. You can have a nice DP without it being the best on any one parameter. Of course, my judgement is what counts, as in any list, but many of my nice friends from around the world have been winners.

I am asked often by some friends when I meet them in person, what the criteria are for my selection. I don't have any specific criteria, but just an overall impression- sometimes it's the look, the location, the quality of the smile, or the humour inherent in the pic, or just creativity that grabs attention. So there's no formula to it, you gotta just keep trying out different things.

It's been a great success (52nd edition running), and though trawling through 3000 DPs is not exactly easy once every 3-4 weeks, I enjoy the process of looking at what people are up to, in terms of presenting themselves.

Social Media- Misuse and Dangers

I was reading an article yesterday about a Youtube celebrity (female) who went to meet her fans offline. One of her admirers took out a gun, and shot her, and then shot himself at this meet. This is an extreme case, but illustrates that you really don't know too much about online connections, particularly when they are of the "celebrity-admirer" type. Of course, confidence tricksters from around the world have also made their online friends part with money in many cases, some of which have come to light.

An interesting case of a big amount being asked for (and given) by some random person who promised big returns in a short time has happened to someone in my friends' circle, and may not be an isolated case.

There is worse, and one reads about stalkers and predators doing nastier things globally. So it may be wise to be careful, and allow some regulators (not necessarily government, but including govt.) to exercise control, and make privacy laws stringent, so that at least you are protected to an extent. Of course, be careful whom you befriend online.

50 People Who Messed Up The World- Book Review

 

The authors, Alexander Parker and Tim Richman are South Africans. Aided by a cartoonist, they have compiled a pretty good list that contain some surprises. I won't give it away, but it includes a musician, a couple of magazine editors, a big sports cheater, a social media founder, and a good number of mass murderers. The musician (a teen heart-throb) is accused of spoiling our taste.

Written in a humourous style, it makes for an easy read, one or two chapters at a time. The chapters are well-researched, and show more than just a passing acquaintance with the history of the places and people they write about. The lessons to be learnt are also summarised well, to caution us not to let History repeat itself..but of course, it always does.

Naturally, they excel at the African dictators and Diamond merchants, being so close geographically. But the Pol Pot and Mao chapters are no less instructive. So is the Father of the Atom Bomb, Oppenheimer. Ponzi king Bernie Madoff is also given pride of place in a chapter. And Kim Kardashian. In other words, they are unsparing, and don't talk about political animals alone.

A great read, and I am glad I bought it. Worth every penny.