Contrary to popular opinion, Is Porn making a come back via Social Media?

Everyone who is associated with Internet marketing probably is aware of the buzz created last year when Porn sites seemed to have lost it's # 1 status to Social networking sites on the Internet. A while back, Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, announced in his book, "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters", that porn was no longer the #1 activity on the Internet.  According to Bill, porn has been replaced by social networking, but a year later, could the data read a bit different, because i am getting the feeling (i have no data to back it) that Porn is actually making a comeback ironically via Social Networking. And now it's back in an even more dangerous form where it can go undetected and barriers of entry for woman and men who are in economically desperate situations are even lower. If you spend a fair bit of time on the popular social networking sites you will see the mass proliferation of Porn profiles that probably never existed before. And what's even more concerning is that many of the profiles are not large scale aggregaters but private individual profiles and sites which could be a one person operation. The last one year of economic meltdown has i think propelled many first timers to experiment with this form of income. For example Twitter, If anyone has an open networking policy on Twitter and use third party tools like auto follow will know that Porn profiles on Twitter seem to have benefited by this, where someone auto follows them without checking them out first. If an open networking strategy is right or wrong is a discussion for another post but it most definitely makes you aware that the Porn industry has learned to improvise their biz model and jump on the social media bandwagon. The Twitter example is just one of them and i am sure there are many more that needs further study and analysis. I believe with this new trend parents will have to be even more vigilant about their kids social networking profiles and check on the friends that their kids are following and interacting with. It would be interesting to see the statistics on how much of Porn related traffic is actually now coming from social media and what size of the social networking profiles are porn related. Any thoughts?

A lifetime to explore and understand

"For all those who think that they can slot and categorize India in a box, this is a must watch, it's diversity and richness is so broad and deep that it needs a lifetime to explore and understand"

Have you reached your home?

This weekend ended on a mixed note for me and off course the rainy weather magnified the pensive mood. Yesterday a good friend of mine performed on stage and I was so happy for him, not because he sang so beautifully, which he did, but because I knew he was now at home. All of us at some point in time in our life search for our home, a home where you are most comfortable in your skin, someplace where you are treasured and valued, where people love and respect you, some place where you could let your weary head down, a place where you completely fit in like a missing jigsaw piece. Oh the joy that brings to a searching soul to find destiny. And then I couldn’t shake of the feeling that I hadn’t found my home. Some people find it so effortlessly early in life and some of us take a life time to find our place in this world.

Both sides - Good intensions but bad leadership and attitude?

I put up a status update on Facebook today that goes like – “Public sentiment and the actual truth can be 2 different things, a good leader knows this and would either lovingly try to change the sentiment of his or her members or back off till an appropriate time to effect the change. Change no matter how truthful it is can't be stuffed down peoples throats without love and understanding. Quoting the movie Gladiator "You win the crowd you win your freedom”

No points for guessing what inspired this. It’s the sad turn of events that occurred this weekend in Singapore where two groups clashed to wrestle control of a well meaning NGO focused for welfare of woman. In my opinion none of the 2 groups really won. And I am really curious how many of the new members who put an end to the anarchical attitude of the new committee will come back to do service to this organization.  Does it take a crisis like this to boost an organization’s recruitment? Or should the recruitment be driven on growing needs of the woman in our society. Shouldn’t these new members have signed up before this political storm hit, when children and woman were falling prey to abuse and injustice? So much energy to fight ideology on both sides but so little consideration to service the community. Will we continue to react to situations only when our interest as a group is in jeopardy? or will be more proactive in serving people, assuming that is the whole reason the institution is established for. As for the style of leadership of the new and now old exec committee, the lesser is said the better. Even if your values may be well placed this is no way to enforce it on others. Assuming people know how secular democratic NGO’s function where people are convinced and won over before any directional changes are implemented. We aren’t talking about a hostile corporate take over we are talking about an organization with a mandate to serve people. And as per my belief in our God, I believe that God provides us with his guidelines in his word to live our lives but he leaves the choice to us to follow. God would rather have us follow him out of love and conviction rather that coercion and force. I don’t believe that he has given any fellow human the right to judge another human being; that right is with him and only him. Nor has given the right to anyone to ban or condemn any other person who thinks any different than his word. He welcomes all his children to come to him with varying opinions because he knows when they genuinely connect with him he will set their hearts right.

To end no hateful comments please! Let’s talk like self respecting adults.          

Protect what’s yours

When i was a kid my mom used to frequently bring us to the beach. An outing at the beach meant horse rides, sand castles, eating by the beach stalls and walking along the water. There is this one particular day i distinctly remember, i was sitting by the beach and watching another kid build his sand castle. This kid over the last one hour had put in a great amount of work in defining details like windows, doors, a chimney, a garden and a dog house. Then suddenly out of no where there was this teenager who came up to the boy and kicked at his sand castle destroying it completely. Seeing that i was so upset that i ran to the bully and asked him why did he do this but he just ginned at me and walked right past me with no answer and no reason. I remember thinking to myself, wow this boy took over an hour to build something so wonderful only to be ruined in a matter of seconds by another person. The reason why i remember this incident now is because over the last few months i have come to realise that there many such people out there who never manage to build anything good in their life but they take pride in ruining things for others who have things going for them. Seeing so many instances of people ruining other people’s marriages, driving others to financial ruin and sabotaging other peoples careers. All these people only know one thing that is to destroy in a instant what other people took many years of toil to build. We need to guard our hearts, marriages, friendships, relationships and finances from these destroyers who just look for that weak link in us to strike us down with their deception.     

25 Randoms

The 25 random chain that’s happening at Facebook i thought i should repost mine on the blog. 
1. I don’t like mangoes and the first and only time I had a mango in my entire life was on my first date with Chris as I was too shy to say no.
2. My first ever published article was wrongly attributed to a professor of mine and they issued an erratum the next week and gave me credit for it.
3. My favorite drink now is ‘Milo’ and I had my first ‘Milo’ just 4 years back when I visited my friend in Shanghai.
4. I pinched my teacher’s butt when I was in Kindergarten.
5. During my hostel days I was known as the banker and the lender. Anyone who wanted money would come to me. My hostel mates even gave me money for safe keep as they thought it was safer in my hands. No I didn’t charge any interest and probably made some losses out of all this.
6. I have a heart condition called ‘Wolfman Parkinson White’ syndrome which essentially makes my heart beat faster and no that’s not the reason why I feel that I am in love always :)
7. My favorite musicians are Annie Lenox, Whitney Houston, Sade, Cold Play, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Gun’s & Roses, Pearl Jam, Bee Gees, Eagles, Bryan Adams, Moby, Paul Van Dyk, these are just some that come right to my mind.
8. My favorite song is “Secret garden” by Bruce Springsteen. I just feel it illustrates well the depth of a woman’s heart.
9. I am inherently an introverted person but over the years I have forced myself to be a bit more open. But I would still classify myself as a bit stuck up.
10. Yes I am very aware that I am anything but cool and my favorite line on this is from the movie almost famous. “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool”
11. What hurts me most is ‘Racism’ and i just hate it when people pretend that it doesn't exist. The only thing I want to say about this is ‘if you don’t understand a culture, don’t hate it’.
12. I have had 2 surgeries done on me till date and no it’s not plastic surgery.
13. 13 is my lucky number.
14. I consider myself as a person who is 100% in touch with my feelings I know exactly how I feel and why I feel that way. Because of which I never have any excuses for myself when I behave bad.
15. My earliest memory is from when I was 3 years. It’s still as fresh in my mind.
16. I love to play the role of a DJ. One of my childhood dreams is to have a house that’s big enough to have a disco room.
17. I have had more woman bosses than male bosses. My preference is …. (it’s an easy guess)
18. I have problem with clannish behavior. I don’t like anything that is forcefully synchronized or choreographed to be similar. I am of the firm belief that we all have our unique strengths and it is this uniqueness that makes us a pretty picture. How would a family look if they wore clothes made from the same fabric? Weird right?
19. Please note again in pt 18 I said forcefully. There are things that flow together with free will but those are rare and you will know when you experience something like that.
20. My favorite movie is ‘Jerry McGuire’
21. My favorite color to wear is blue but for everything else it is ‘red’.
22. I have learnt how to be patient around superficial conversation and I know that there are places you can’t avoid it.
23. I get my short temperedness from my grandpa.
24. I have an ambition to be an author of a best seller one day.
25. There 25 more things that I don’t want to pen down :)

Mumbai i write this with a heavy heart

Its taken me over a week to gain some composure to write a post on the terror attacks that happened last week in Mumbai. Probably after a very long time I experienced unbelievable anger, sadness and a sense of hopelessness watching the heinous acts unfold for so many days. Being away from Mumbai which is my home city made me feel even more helpless and alone in it. And as I went through a range of emotions that at some points were hard for me to contain, all that comforted me were my silent conversations with God seeking his answers and comfort for me and people who were going through the ordeal in Mumbai. The entire time I was just glued to my TV and computer, switching channels and watching online streaming video getting both international and local coverage. I even kept a tab on blogs, twitter and social media sites that were reporting about it. As I watched the terrorist vandalize those great land marks of my city, my mind raced back in time when I had many joyous occasions with family and friends in all those places. It was unbelievable how 10 men could hold the city of Mumbai at seize for so many days and all we could do was helplessly look on. What was even more unbelievable was the way the politicians on both sides of the divide behaved and reacted. Some stooping to lowest level by trivializing the events and making irresponsible remarks. As like everyone I had questions - how could our intelligence agencies not detect such a huge operation? who was behind these attacks? and what we as a nation need to do that this never happens again? We have many of those answers now but again the same deadlock with a neighbor who refuses to take responsibility of the happenings in their country and our political leadership that never seems to rise up from their petty bickering. The people of India have unanimously spoken 'Enough is Enough', no more of this terror. Our government needs to get its act together to protect its citizens. Some learning's have emerged very clearly and if we don't learn from them, then history will repeat itself. Lastly let us never forget ever the heroes who gave their lives for the nation in this.

My prayer request to God

Dear Almighty,

Bring your healing and comfort to all the families of the lost ones. May the souls of all the men, women and children that died rest in peace. We do believe that they are all now with you in your loving kingdom. Awaken the minds of the people who are responsible for administrating nations all over the world so that they realise that they have responsibility to their citizens and to the world that they live in. May they be freed from all their greed for power and money and may they understand the seriousness of their duties that they have been instated for. May all those who want to fight in the name of religion realize that the only religion you want them to follow is the religion of love and brotherhood. We all hope that you will be besides us in this hour of need when the world stands at brink of self destruction. May you inspire each and every heart to make positive changes in our lives and in the lives of others. 

Amen

A day to remember

Today will go down as important chapter into future history books of our children as a day of great encouragement. A day of encouragement for all those who may have given up on their legitimate demand to have a fair shot to life. A day of encouragement to all those people who live in societies full of prejudices where people are judged by their skin color, race or ideology and not judged by the content of their character and their skill to bring about change. It gives us hope that we can dream to be anything and achieve anything, if we think we have what it takes to get there. It’s also signals the beginning of the end of an era for all the gatekeepers out there who decide unfairly on who deserves an opportunity and who does not. Barrack Obama deserves every bit to have a shot at this great opportunity to lead the most powerful and influential nation in the world. History will not only remember him for this victory but will also judge him with what he chooses to make of this opportunity. What can I say? Hope rings in my heart and makes me believe in my dreams again.

I will keep coming back to look at this screen shot whenever i feel i have hit a roadblock.

 

Best of my Twitter updates (So Far)

· I am quite positive that there is an inverse correlation of a person's success in life to the number of self help books he or she has read.
· Felt I heard another confession "we are afraid to let foreigners into our lives, what if we don't like them, worse still what if we do?"
· Jamshed felt he heard a confession today - "I don't know how to be honest, maybe that's why I like metaphors"
· I love watching people's expressions when they run out of money on their bus card it's like 'what's wrong with this damn card'
· Jamshed feels life would be more peaceful if people focused on bettering themselves rather than pulling others down in order to get ahead.
· Let’s give people the smiles we never get in the hope that someday it would come back.
· I like this quote "if we don't win their hearts today, they will break our hearts tomorrow"
· Noticed a man on the MRT wearing an interesting T-shirt that said 'Searching for an Aspirin and also details of what happened last night' :)
· When genuinely nice people come along, people begin to question their motives & search for hidden agendas, but in reality there are none.
· Just saw a funny bumper sticker 'I drive like this because I want to piss you off’
· It’s important to have clarity before ambition; you wouldn't want to land up on top of a wrong mountain.
· Nobody really cares if you are right all they want see is how you react.
· I pointed out to my girl friend at dinner that her favorite word is ‘No’, and she said.. 'No, I don't think so' :))
· Jamshed just realizes how much he dislikes indecisiveness, people take a stand, make a move, have an opinion, live your life.
· To see yourself in a younger face, there is no better joy.
· People are like metallic springs the more you contain them the more they jump.
· Collaboration is a key skill to have in world where people have diverging views and less authority. Mantra for Life 2.0 is to collaborate.
· Ladies chase a good man not a good ring.
· Leading someone needs courage, but following someone needs even more courage
· Should we seek answers to questions that are not ours to ask?
· It’s either right or wrong, you can't be half pregnant.

Why i love Twitter

I have been using twitter since June of this year and i just love it. I don't use twitter too much to update my status in terms of what i am doing or where i am headed. I use it more as a tool to quickly capture a fleeting thought that previously would go uncaptured. I have always been hit by these thoughts in the most inconvenient of times, like when i am on the bus or at lunch etc. But now all i need to do is get out my PDA and tweet away from m.twitter.com. I also like the feature where anytime i make a blog post it sends a tweet on my behalf with a tinyurl of my post. In recent month's this has boosted the traffic on my site. I can see that there is even competition of incoming traffic from twitter and linkedin where i am active also. I recently also hooked my facebook status bar with a facebook twitter application that updates my status bar whenever i tweet. This is great as i no longer need to seperately update status bar in facebook. I won't be surprised if Twitter becomes the default status update tool that feeds other status bars in other social media tools like facebook, linkedin, msn etc. Whoever said twitter is dead got it so wrong. But i did notice that my frequency of blogging has reduce ever since i micro blog at twitter. Next post is best of my twitter updates. Cheers!!

Corridor Conversations

Last night (rather early this morning at 5 am :) ) i made my finishing touches to my new blog 'Corridor Conversations'. I intend this to be my professional blog where i can talk about marketing, branding, internet, technology etc, basically anything to do with corporate life. I have been wanting to set up a professional blog for the longest time because bloging on reflections (which is this blog) always made me feel that i was missing out all the business related stuff i wanted to talk about. So for now it is one personal blog and one business blog and the on the roadmap is 'Let's blog for God', but not yet ready for that, URL is booked though :)

I hope you all like 'Corridor Conversations'. Please do give me your candid feedback on the look and feel and of course the content. Thanks ... Jam
P.S. Thanks Joy for helping me brainstorm on the new title.

An appropriate quote for our current economic crisis

"Bud, bud I like you, just remember something, man looks in the abyss, there is nothing staring back at him, at that moment man finds his character, and that is what keeps him out of the abyss."

From Wall Street movie (1987). Bud Fox taken under arrest by SEC.