Every item on the list looked impossible then, but every item on the list could change my life, so I gave it my best shot anyways. In the end, I couldn’t tick off even one item on the list, but I came close in many cases, and the act of publicly sharing what I wanted and going for it did change my life.
Over the last year, I have been asking myself the same question that prompted me to make my 30-by-30 list: what should I do with my life? This time, I am a little older, and a little wiser, and the answers are a little different. But the main difference is that every item on my 33-by-33 list looks possible to me.
So, here are the thirty three things I want to do before I am thirty three, arranged in groups of three – >> Read More >>
Carr’s main argument is that the internet is hard-wiring our brains for short-form information-snacking and endangering long-form “deep reading” that leads to comprehension and retention.
I said that, perhaps, the internet is indeed re-wiring our brains, both in good ways and bad ways, but it seems that the good outweighs the bad. Since everything we need to know is one search away on Google, or one question away on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, we need to remember less. Instead, we can free up our minds to explore connections between ideas (so that we can use the right search queries) and between knowledge and people (so that we can ask the right people the right questions). So, we are replacing the skill to retain facts with the skill to form associations between ideas, which looks like a higher level skill to me. >> Read More >>
Brand want to be both loved and respected, become Lovemarks, but are finding it increasingly difficult to do so in the 21st century.
Two years back, I went off consumption for a year to understand what happens to brands in a post-television, post-advertising, post-materialism world.
I learned that most brands are pre-occupied with the wrong question — “how to maximize the reach and frequency of the brand message?” — that was important in the 20th century, but is no longer relevant in the 21st century.
If brands were to ask the right question — “how to organize and energize our evangelists to help them scale their passion?” — they will discover a simple three-step answer: find passion, ignite passion and spread passion.
They will learn that creating a Lovemark is similar to getting a fire going, or an epidemic. You find the right conditions, add the right catalyst, provide a little push, and sit back and watch it spread.
To transform their brands into Lovemarks in the 21st century, brands will need to embrace the Social-Squared Manifesto: 21st century brands are driven by social-squared: the intersection of social as in connecting people and social as in benefiting the society. >> Read More >>
I saw that how people communicated with each other, entertained and educated themselves and defined their identities as citizens and consumers was changing and marketers had no clue, at least in India. So, I tried to understand if it’s possible to build a brand in a post-television, post-advertising, post-materialism world and started sharing what I learned on my blog.
Since then, I have spent a year without buying anything that I didn’t need, to understand why we buy and why we don’t; a year studying how corporates, non-profits and governments in emerging countries can connect with citizens and consumers via online communities; and a year running a high-end agency and consulting firm helping Indian clients benefit from social squared, or the intersection between “social as in connecting people” and “social as in benefiting society”. >> Read More >>
I was recently quoted in a Hindu story on mobile marketing in India.
I said that mobile marketing is small in India, with most marketers allocating less than 3-5% of the marketing budget to digital and less than 1% to mobile.
Mobile marketing can cover the full spectrum from outbound SMS and voice campaigns to game-like loyalty programs on location based social networks.
SMS and voice have high reach in India, but outbound SMS and voice campaigns are often spammy. Large players like SMSGupShup are trying to add value to SMS marketing by adding CRM-like segmentation features and two way engagement. SMS-based response via short codes is already a popular method of participation in brand contests.
Downloadable or bluetooth-delivered mobile advergames and branded content haven’t really taken off because they need to be customized for each type of handset.
I’m particularly excited about mobile marketing campaigns, especially branded games and game-like loyalty programs, based on augmented reality and location based social networks like FourSquare, MyTown and Gowalla. As of now, Foursquare is small in India with about 80000 users, but its growing fast and I’ll expect brands to start including it in their marketing campaigns by this time next year. >> Read More >>
I was recently quoted in a Mail Today story on identity theft on social networking websites Facebook, Orkut and Twitter.
I said that Facebook and LinkedIn identities are more likely to be real than identieis elsewhere, as they are real name identities validated by real social connections. Online identities are also increasingly interconnected — my blog and Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, SlideShare accounts are all interlinked — and therefore difficult to fake.
As more websites support log-ins using Facebook IDs, our online identities are becoming more real and persistent. Since our actions are now visible to friends and family, we are behaving more responsibly, like in real life. Already, more than 150 million Facebook users engage with Facebook Connect on more than 1 million external websites every month.
However, there’s a real need to verify identities online, especially on more discovery driven social platforms. So, Twitter and Ibibo have verified profiles for celebrities. Facebook has differentiated official Pages from fan-driven Community Pages. Couchsurfing verifies identities by asking you to make a small payment via you credit card and sending a verification code to your physical address via a postcard.
Here is the full text of the Mail Today story – >> Read More >>
Audience Matters recently quoted me in a story on web reality shows.
I said that web reality shows are an important piece of the underexploited social entertainment opportunity in India. The reality show format is social by design, even on TV, as it’s built around active audience engagement. The internet creates new possibilities for reality shows to develop multiple non-linear narratives, engage audiences in innovative ways and create virality.
Ravi argues that niche social networks often have a tight-knit community with higher engagement, and therefore get higher ARPUs for similar social games, as compared to Facebook. So, niche social networks should build a partially open platform with a site-wide currency, develop a curated portfolio of social games and other applications that appeal to the network’s core community and promote the behaviors that are central to the network’s appeal and promote these applications as core features.
I think the underexploited sweet spot in ‘social’ is the intersection of social entertainment (film, TV, music), social gaming and social commerce. Many niche social networks are seeing this opportunity and pivoting to benefit from it. However, they will need to do several things right to truly tap into this opportunity – >> Read More >>
White label enterprise ideation platforms like Salesforce Ideas and Lithium Ideas have been popular for a while now and big brands like Dell, Starbucks and Best Buy have used them to crowd-source ideas from their customers.
Almost all white-label ideation platforms follow the same submit-comment-vote format. While the format is useful for collecting a wide range of ideas and highlighting popular ideas, it doesn’t work in a context where you want more structured input on problems you are trying to solve.
Finally, I decided to design a platform that combines the best of social Q&A services and white label ideation platforms.
My first-cut solution is CrowdQuest: a white label platform for crowdsourcing Q&A. The platform will be ideal to crowdsource structured solutions for specific problems.
For instance, in the Bill Quest use case I designed for an Indian parliamentary research think tank, citizens contribute their inputs via a four-step process –
1. Select a bill that is about to be debated in the parliament and read the background brief. >> Read More >>
BBC News has an interesting story on how we are replacing our physical possessions with digital possessions –
Many have begun trading in CD, DVD, and book collections for digital music, movies, and e-books. But this trend in digital technology is now influencing some to get rid of nearly all of their physical possessions – from photographs to furniture to homes altogether.
Many of us are already living our lives “up in the air”, across continents, and carrying our most valued (digital) possessions along with us. Becoming a “technomad” is a small leap from here.
tI was quoted recently in a Global Post story on the role of social media in the Kashmir protests.
I said that Kashmiri protesters seem to be using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in fundamentally different ways from protesters in Iran or Myanmar.
The conversation on Facebook and Twitter seems to be dominated by Kashmiris and Indians (and a few Pakistanis). Unlike protests in Iran and Myanmar, which were targeted at an international audience, Kashmiris seem to be speaking to a predominantly Indian audience.
Indians, in turn, seem to be responding with sympathy for the situation in Kashmir and outrage at Indian citizens being killed in the Kashmir protests. The usually vocal right wing Hindutva extremists seem to be uncharacteristically quiet, and so the narrative on Facebook and Twitter hasn’t assumed an India versus Kashmir arc.
The volume of the conversations itself remains relatively small and groups like ‘I am a Kashmiri Stone Pelter‘ and ‘I Protest‘ have relatively few members. That’s partly a reflection of low internet access in Kashmir and partly a result of the Kashmir issue being too complicated for the typical American armchair activist to become agitated about. >> Read More >>
First, divide the world into ideas. Take a sharp knife and cut the world into a trillion thin slivers of ideas, into a trillion IdeaSlivers.
Then, find an IdeaSliver. Find one that is so thin that it is invisible to everyone else but you, but so deep that it can change the world.
Then, own the IdeaSliver. Woo your IdeaSliver, make it your first love, even your obsession. If you love it enough, your IdeaSliver will let you own it.
Then, share your IdeaSliver. IdeaSlivers love attention. So, share your IdeaSliver, give it back to the world, as a gift, help the world see it through your eyes.
Your IdeaSliver will change the world, a little, or a lot, and the world will be grateful, and the world will remember, both you and your IdeaSliver.
IdeaSliver Labs is my laboratory of ideas that can change the world, a little, or a lot.
Here, I share ideas so that you can steal them. I typically share the logo, the domain name, the wireframes for the main pages, and initial thoughts on the business model. All you need to add is an ace developer. >> Read More >>
I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2010 World Summit Youth Awards. WSYA recognizes young under-30 creators who are using digital media to advance one of six causes: Fight Poverty Hunger and Disease, Education 4 All, Power 2 Women, Create your Culture, Go Green, and Pursue Truth.
WSYA is a “young judge the young” award and I am part of the 18 member WSYA jury which selected the winners from 630 entries from more than 100 countries.
I’m looking forward to meet the WSYA team, jury members and winners in NYC for the WSYA Winner Events (September 18-22, 2010), where I’ll lead a workshop on how activists can use social networks to build a community around their cause.
Here is the complete list of the 2010 World Summit Youth Awards winners –
Audience Matters recently quoted me on a story on women and social networking in India.
I said that I am not surprised that, globally, women spend more time on social networking sites than men, as women tend to be more social. Women also outnumber men in social gaming and, as social gaming becomes a bigger part of the social networking experience, I would expect this trend to deepen.
The reason? Internet use in India is dominated by shared use in offices and internet cafes and highly correlated to education and income. In India’s conservative social context, the inequalities offline also show up online.
Here is a recent report on Indian women and mothers on the internet from Trendsspotting –
Here is the full text of the Audience Matters story – >> Read More >>
David Griner at AdWeek (@griner) says that “smartphones have transformed the real world into a giant game board, allowing users to interact and compete in ways that were science fiction a decade ago” and goes on to share three great examples of marketing campaigns that leverage location-based reality gaming –
GoSmithsonian Trek
In June 2010, America’s premier museum kicked off a high-stakes scavenger hunt called The GoSmithsonian Trek, which allows visitors to compete to solve puzzles based on clues hidden throughout the Washington, D.C., complex… The winner on opening day received a $500 iPad, with two more to be given away to top scorers at the end of this month. The challenge was built using SCVNGR, a location-based game that can be customized by almost any business and played through free apps on the iPhone and Android.
Jimmy Choo Trainer Hunt
High-end fashion house Jimmy Choo went local in the spring of 2010 when representatives took a $600 pair of sneakers around London. The reps would post Twitter hints, Facebook updates and Foursquare check-ins, giving fans a brief amount of time to show up and claim the trainers at a city venue. After a month of playing hard to get with more than 4,000 online participants, the trainers were found and claimed. Jimmy Choo reported its own reward: a 33 percent increase in sneaker sales. >> Read More >>
Ilana Gershon’s new book ‘The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting Over New Media‘ looks at the trend of college students breaking up over text messages, IM messages or social network status messages.
In important ways… new media are actually making college-age love affairs more traditional — that is, more governed by strict etiquette, and more accountable to the judgments of peers. Is it rude to break up with someone by text message? If you text your boyfriend that you want to break up, does that itself constitute a breakup, or is it just an overture to a longer process? If you do break up, do you change your Facebook status to “single” right away, or should you tell your best friends about it first, so they won’t find out on their Facebook news feeds? If your IM away message quotes dark or cynical lyrics, does that mean you are depressed about a breakup, or just that you like the song? As Gershon discovers, college students have very definite views about all these questions—just as Elizabeth Bennet would have been quite definite about whether an unmarried woman is permitted to dance several times with the same man at a ball. (Salon) >> Read More >>
Sydney-based musician Christopher Kelaart is giving away all the things he owns but no longer needs –
I’ve developed a disdain for unnecessary ownership of things I’ve accumulated over the years, and the purpose of this blog is to give these things away – pass them on – as opposed to selling them off.
Books, clothing, furniture, whatever. I aim to post new (old) items weekly.
All you have to do is answer a question in response to whatever I’ve posted, and my favourite answer wins the prize.
I’m hoping these things go to people who really want them, as opposed to people who want to re-sell them.
Two years back, I ran a similar experiment and gave away (almost) everything I owned. Twenty odd people asked for my things. I chose the six who wanted them the most and needed them the least, because I wanted them to enjoy my things, and I didn’t want to fool myself into thinking of an act of ennui as an act of nobility. [Hat tip: PSFK via Manu Prasad]
Last Sunday, the hostess at Hard Rock Cafe exclaimed as she guided me to a table: “I remember you from last time! You were wearing the same black kurta pajama!”
Well, I am sure I was wearing black on my previous visit, because I always wear black. It’s even possible that I was wearing the same kurta pajama, because I only own three sets, apart from four pairs of blue jeans, a dozen black shirts, half a dozen black t-shirts, three black track suits, four black jackets (one each in denim, leather, linen and cotton), two black suits, and one black winter coat.
If you only own about three dozen clothes, all in one colour, life becomes simple. You have one less decision to make everyday (“what do I wear today?”). All your clothes fit into a small wardrobe (or a single bag, if you are moving). You can put all your laundry in one wash load (because it doesn’t matter if the colors bleed). You don’t have to buy new clothes just because everyone else is wearing the new Spring stripes (because you only wear black). You don’t have to check in a bag for a week long trip halfway across the world (because all your clothes fit into your laptop bag). And, finally, people start thinking of your quirky wardrobe choice as timeless signature style (you even get compared to Steve Jobs, who only wears black). >> Read More >>
New York Times reconfirms what I already know: the secret of happiness lies in spending money on experiences instead of things.
Researchers… have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff. Unlike consumption of material goods, spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness.
One reason that paying for experiences gives us longer-lasting happiness is that we can reminisce about them. Another reason that scholars contend that experiences provide a bigger pop than things is that they can’t be absorbed in one gulp — it takes more time to adapt to them and engage with them… People quickly become used to changes, great or terrible, in order to maintain a stable level of happiness. Over time, that means the buzz from a new purchase is pushed toward the emotional norm. And then, of course, we buy new things. >> Read More >>
My name is Gaurav Mishra and I help global brands benefit from social squared, the intersection of social-media-gaming-design-technology and social-good-change-innovation-activism.
In my previous avatars, I have studied at IIM Bangalore, held senior marketing roles at the Tata Group, taught social media at Georgetown University as the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow, launched crowd-sourced election monitoring platform Vote Report India and co-founded social media agency 2020 Social. For more, read my bio.
