Thursday 8 May 2014

How social is social media ?

There was a time in our lives that going for a party or hanging out with friends actually involved having fun, exchanging meaningful information or simply just hanging out. In those days, making new friends actually involved speaking to someone about a topic or idea and being able to understand if you need the person in your life as a friend. In those days, you would need to pick up the phone to call a friend just to check up on them and from the tone of the person's voice you would know if he/she was okay. In those days, children were engaged in learning and developmental activities which included writing on a chalk board or playing fun games such as Hide and Seek with other children in their age group. Do you remember?

Beautiful Social Media Heart Collage by Kathleen Donovan on Flickr.com
According to Wikipedia, "Social media is the interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks". 

Some of us spend the entire day behind the laptop only to wonder where time went. Many of us find it difficult to have meaningful face to face conversations. Some folks are very interesting and inspiring on Facebook or Twitter but are the opposite of their online persona when you actually meet them. Can you still look a friend or stranger in the eye when speaking to him or her without flinching. I came across this video titled 'Look Up' - A spoken word film for an online generation written, performed & directed by Gary Turk. The message of the video is very clear. It talks about the need to drop that smart phone and look up. Don't let your life pass you by. It is a very inspiring video and it was the stimulus I required for this post. Ironically, the video has been viewed by over 27 million people on Youtube and I hear that it has also gone viral on Twitter but I am not going there....lol.

Facebook Connection Social Network Media by Simon on Pixabay.com
The effect of the surge in the use of social media platforms can be construed as both beneficial or detrimental to personal interests. However, the degree of satisfaction or detriment perceived from social media should be self assessed. Please do not assume that I am against social media. I am not a hypocrite. Without social media, I would't dream of blogging neither would you be reading this post at your convenience. I am of the school of thought that everything should be used in moderation.

This is an advanced age and social media helps one to become aware of activities happening worldwide without actually leaving the four walls of your room or office. For instance, the ongoing case of the teenage girls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno state, Nigeria by Boko Haram. The use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has helped spread the word especially the #Bringbackourgirls campaign. The united voices of concerned Nigerians are being heard on a global perspective through these platforms and hopefully these girls would be found and rescued soon. We all have these girls in our prayers. It just occurred to me that Boko Haram claims to be against Western education or Westernisation but how come the leader records videos to send out the group's messages? I know that the first video tape recorder was invented by Charles Paulson Ginsburg (a Westerner). In addition, how come these so called videos are created in a form that is compatible with Youtube and other social media platforms?

To be continued.

Photo Credits

Kathleen Donovan created the beautiful Social Media Heart Collage Flickr.com
Simon on Pixabay.com


Wednesday 26 February 2014

Oh for crying out loud; were you born a Pathological liar???

Courtesy Quickmeme
The moment we met and became friends, I thought I had finally found that special friend. I felt you were full of life and interesting. I had so much fun listening to all the stories you had to share about YOU. I even thought we shared the same values and interests. Besides, I wanted to know more about you, hence I saw nothing wrong with you having a lot to say all the time.

Eventually, I realised you cared little about my experiences and you always sought to be the centre of attention. Now for someone who spoke a lot about yourself, you seemed to have a lot of stories and life experiences which were not commensurate to your age, status and appearance.

My feelings had drastically changed from fascination to suspicion and then to revulsion. What goes on within that little head of yours? Has your inferiority complex mutated to superiority complex? Or perhaps you have watched too many Hollywood movies and you are now living in your fantasies which explains why you not only deceive others; you also deceive yourself!!

Well, liar liar pants on fire.....were you born a Pathological liar or is it your alter ego?

Saturday 22 February 2014

My favourites things: Number One

I woke up this morning with a melodious tune on my mind. It was the song "my favourite things" performed by Julie Andrews on The Sound of Music. Interesting movie. Wonderful song. The first verse goes like this:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens 
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Well, this is not a music blog so if you want the complete song lyrics, check here.

My favourite things. This song has given me the inspiration to start writing about some of my favourites. Yes, Diamonds are every woman's favourite. I love Chanel No. 5 parfum, Christian Louboutin shoes, Armani jeans, Louis Vuitton hand bags.......

Monday 17 February 2014

Newton's Laws of Motion applied in LIFE......




Physics hmm. It was and has never been my favourite subject. During my school days, I realised that having a sound knowledge of the laws of Physics or even memorizing them was never enough. The funny thing is that when you are presented with an exam question, you look at the question carefully and in your mind, you think you understand the question. Besides, you are fairly conversant with the aspects of the physical law on which the question is based. Cool. Okay. Why haven't you solved the question already? lol. The poor results in physics were as a result of students inability to apply the laws during problem solving. Anyway, thank God I didn't not fail Physics.

Some days ago, it occurred to me that I haven't heard anything of Newton's laws of motion, Ohm's law or Coulomb's law in a very long time. So...erm...why did I study physics at school when I obviously do not need it to earn a living? (I am only speaking for myself o) It's not like my manager would ask me why payment has not been received for an invoice and I will respond to her by quoting Newton's Third law of motion. Maybe my response would be thus,  "Ma'am, according to Newton's Third law of motion, when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body. Therefore, we would follow up with the client with a force that relates to the amount of money owed and he would certainly pay for the invoice". LMAO. That would be disastrous to any career!!!

Anyway, what I intend to do with this post, is to bring some of the popular laws of physics to life. FYI, I am not trying to be Miss Smarty Pants. I am just trying to have FUN by proving that knowledge is power and learning something new is never irrelevant.