ingridmak.net

If I were a Swede…

Food for Thought : If you were a Swede living in China and looking at the countries around you, how would you communicate across national, cultural, linguistic and technological boundaries?

Looking at this question from a personal perspective, as a ‘partial-foreigner’ myself in Singapore (I came over in primary 2), I understand the pain that one has to deal with when it comes to a new environment. To put it simply, let’s break them down into 3 main challenges.

Speak thy language

Interestingly, the very first obstacle that comes to everyone’s minds is probably the language factor – which I won’t deny that it’s going to be a huge issue if you can’t even utilize the language that the country you’re residing is using. However, I believe that language can be easily picked up and with the help of technology and tools such as NJStar CJK Viewer and Firefox plugins that makes things easier.

Power of Weak Ties

We’re lucky that Singapore is a country that supports multiculturalism. China is known for its strong nationalism which unified the people and its culture. It is important to understand one’s culture, be it via blogs that fellow foreigners living in China share or researching via travelling sites from a tourist’s point of view or even finding fellow Swedes in China via social networking sites. Do your homework ! At the same time, it is important to keep an open mind to other’s opinions as it may differ from your own experience. Embrace and respect one’s culture and you’ll learn that it is not too difficult to be welcomed into the community.

The Great Firewall

As much as censorship is concerned in China, I won’t say that China is not open up to technological advancement but perhaps in their own ways. Looking at the list of ’60 Best Blogs on China in English, it may seem like Google-China case is not going to affect the social media scene as much as the outsiders would assume. Who are we (or Google) to claim that China is wrong ? Instead, I think we should start exploring their internal networks and reach out to the various target audience from there. It’s all about connecting with the right people.

From a business pespective, in several decades to come, China or just in general – Asia will emerge as the primary growth market for the world. Looking at this economic reality, how do one or a company position himself/itself better in Asia? I believe that there’s no tailored solution or template to follow as how Professor Dan Ryun Chang puts it and having a Pan-Asian Strategy might hurt your business in the long run.

To sum it up, it is about an open mind, basic respect and mutual understanding.

Find out more about communicating across Asia, click here !

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Note : If you’re wondering why the sudden post after annoucing a ‘Time Out’, this is an assignment for my Digital Media Across Asia Module. Thank You !

Tags: blog, boundaries, censorship, challenges, comm215, community, connection, cultural, firefox plugins, foreigner, google, great firewall, iammyy, language, linguistic, national, njstarcky viewer, pan-asian strategy, swede living in china, synotrip, target audience, technological, travellerspoint, weak ties, wetpaint, wiki

I tweet.I blog.I tell my story.

Social network being a very potent force in communication, I think the only way to continue being anoymous is not to get involved in the first place. With all the various platforms, it was certainly overwhelming when I first started. However, being on these social media platforms really allowed me to engage in (almost) real-time learning opportunities and a chance for networking. Not a single bit of regret !

There are times when my parents would ask who on earth will read my blog or follow my tweets. I asked myself the same questions and came to a conclusion. In this sea of information, people (including myself when it comes to choosing who to follow) are looking for 3 main things within the content :

Entertainment

People likes to be entertained – be it youtube videos, music, comics, funny sites that can help to keep their days easier to get by. I certainly hope and prefers to fall under this category, to be a provider of entertainment value. That probably explains why I really enjoy looking for my AOTW features and sharing them with the rest of the world. Getting positive feedback and exchanging words with the various (wonderful) artists really kept me going.

Information and Opinions

I love to follow people who can provide me with great articles that feed me with facts and trivia. I think I’m quite an information junkie, I like having data and interesting insight to keep my mind active. Twitter/Plurk, in specific, is like a social community which allows users to interact and seek for assistance when you need to do some problem-solving. It is much quicker to sift through responses and source for what you exactly need. For example, I tweet and ask my followers to recommend a dining place instead of searching all over google for various reviews. Not forgetting, that’s how I usually get my latest soccer match updates via twitter too ! (Go #MUFC!)

Personal Touch

I have read in a couple of articles that recommended online presence should be professional aka ‘no-nonsense’. I beg to differ, I think my online presence should also give people a sense that they actually know me. It is all the ‘insignificant things’ that defines me to how others view me as. Maybe it is not important to anyone whether ‘I really love Glee’ and thinks ‘Johnny Depp is the most gorgeous man on earth’ or ‘prefers my steak to be medium rare’ – But I think being myself is what draws people to listen or draws them to my ‘social circle’ because they either can identify with you or like you for being you !

At the end of the day, with each virtual update, I am sharing my life story with someone else – almost like an 140 character autobiography each time. Therfore, I take it like a step in developing a relationship or a connection with my readers/followers.  Hopefully to widen my social circle with like-minded people who shares my interest or opens up the door to other exciting opportunities in the future.

Tags: anoymous, aotw, artists, autobiography, blog, comics, communication, community, content, data, entertainment, feedbacks, Glee, information, information junkie, ingsight, johnny depp, MUFC, Music, online presence, opinions, personal touch, plurk, problem-solving, professional, relationship, soccer, social circle, social circles, social media, social network, twitter, videos, youtube

More reasons for stay home weekends..

Simply can’t wait to glue myself to the screen !

Glee is like mature version of High School Musical meets the geek world – typical normal boring kids finding their talents and discovering themselves in this journey together through the Glee club in high school, letting their voices be heard. Can’t exactly identify myself with the show but the songs are pretty catchy and I’ve always like the broadway/musical kind of show. Looking forward to the performances and I have to say the casts have pretty good voices !

How I Met Your Mother last season ! Will be interesting to see Barney and Robin get together actually ! They were nominated for Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series too !

Looking forward to catch Community as well !  By the directors of  “Arrested Development”, it should be quite good as well ? Yet another college-based show.

Of course there’s alwasy CSI as well !

Gee, I guess now you know the reason if I turn down any events or gatherings ! (Haha.Just Kidding!)

Tags: Arrested development, Barney, college, community, CSI, Emmy, fall, Glee, high school musical, HIMYM, How I Met Your Mother, NY, outstanding comedy series, Robin, season, tv

#sgtweetup- All Twisted Up ?

I had an interview earlier on this afternoon and my interviewer was asking where I’m heading to after the interview.

I told him about #sgtweetup, like how it is supposedly the first/official  meet-up for Singapore Twitters. He chuckled and mentioned that he went for the “official” one last week (which one ? That’s one !?!) but anyways, I have to agree with him that there are just way too many people claiming that their event is the “first”/”official”/”exclusive”  – which is the real thing ? And does it really matter ?

I personally don’t really give a damn about it, I’m here for the content/meeting more (new/old) friends -  not so much about being “in the scene” or “active” in the community. Let’s just say I’m more of a passive user of the social media platforms. (HAHA)

Back to the topic – I was half expecting a bunch of geeky people, whipping out their gadgets and twittering away while being in the same room (Sorry, anything related to technology is just being stereotyped as “geeks”/”nerds” with no life ! HAHA) To my surprise,  Geek Terminal was filled with people – mostly high on alcohol and laughing away in small cliques, nothing like what I’ve imagined. We were actually following #sgtweetup while on the way there and the word “models” popped out from nowhere.  So what is the relationship between “models” and a sg twitter event ?

Apparently, the “hidden agenda” behind this event (not very hidden afterall) was to introduce the girls from supermodelme.tv !  Since we were late, the main “show” was already over and people were just mingling around while the models had to break into the small cliques in order to introduce themselves, giving away their “name cards” which has their Twitter ID and the show’s Facebook group+website address on it.  I mean, I’m fine with checking out the show+girls and I’m quite sure the guys in the room were not complaining either. But is there a need to keep this as a “surprise” ? It certainly was not a pleasant one for most of the attendees, as you can see from the -ve feedback on twitter.

To keep things short and simple, here’s my own opinions about the event :

1) It is #sgtweetup, right ? I was expecting more than just a “hi-bye-here are the models” session. Where’s the social media/Twitter element ! But yea, it sure did create a buzz on Twitter.

2) They are models for a reason – they don’t tweet. You don’t go up to a person at #sgtweetup and asked if they are on twitter or not *roll eyes*. And I noticed they do not approach the girls first – but the guys instead ! Way to go,  very clever and *duh* ! (HAHA, I’m NOT acting jealous here)

3) It was a “neither here nor there” event. I am ok if it’s like a “sponsored” event by supermodelme.tv and the models are introduced as part of the marketing campaign but it was not stated ? In the end it felt like a nightout with random people with bad alcohol breath, happy hours after work huh ? I won’t mind if it is like how plurk outings are being organized – purely chill-out sessions.

4) Kudos to the organizers who planned this – but it could have been (much) better ? Not easy to plan an event I must say, but next time – clearer agenda needed please. Felt alil “cheated” in a way as a participant.

I really pity the girls who are being bombarded with negative feedback because of this “surprise” twist to the event – they are definitely the innocent victims here. BUT I don’t think I’ll follow them because this is just part of the marketing stunt for the show and to be honest, I’m not exactly blown away by this tactic/the girls.

Sure, it was a “successful” event because of the attendance but I’m not impressed (by the quality and motive).

P.S : Happy to put some faces to the names I’ve been following/followed ! If you were there tonight…”Hi,I’m @iammyy on twitter/plurk aka Ingrid”

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Links :

Daryl – Singapore’s “First Ever” Tweetup (#sgtweetup) : Shill Or Social ?

(and he added in why the “surprise” may not be a “surprise” like what @sgbrands tried to explain to me after reading my entry)

Claudia with some event pictures  and Ian with his views on the event too !

Tags: community, facebook, geek terminal, marketing, marketing stunt, models, official, sgtweetup, singapore, social media, supermodelme.tv, twits, twitter, website