Twitter Lists

I have been a Twitter user for the longest time. I like the fact that I can express myself in 140 words but at the same time would rack my brains on how to 'really' express myself in 140 words?!

Over time, I have followed and unfollowed a lot of Twitter users because some end up ranting a lot that it's not healthy, others ended up being a tweeting advert of the products being promoted while some just do not tweet at all (I guess they got tired when the post button does not work if you go over 140).

I like Twitter because you get creative on how to say what you mean in that word count! To date, I think I am following about 200+ Twitter addicts and it is beginning to be difficult to keep track of the people you follow. Because aside from their usual tweet, you will also be getting the tweets they have retweeted and they have marked as a favorite.

That is a good thing too but at times, I feel that most of my timeline now is just about retweets, favorites and adverts :( No real person really tweeting about what they think or feel.

At times, I don't open my Twitter app anymore because no conversations are being made there anymore. While browsing through my page, I decided to explore the lists that I have made. Lo and Behold, I had a light bulb moment, I can use those to keep track of the things I want to read or know about. I decided to reinstate my "Twitter Lists" and updated the users on it too.

This got me excited that I have now found a new way to connect and re-connect! :)

You can see more of me at Twitter again! In case, you just want to chat or have a conversation, tweet me at @rach_alarcon.

Life in the Blogging World

I usually go through my blog every week (when I say "go through", I check who my audiences are, where do I get link back, my top posts, etc).

What I do notice whenever I check my blog is that I never have any comments in. From the time I have started this blog, I only have two comments - one from a friend and the other one from me (because I answered her query).

I am not sure if this is because most of my posts are personal and not a lot are into reading what I have to say or it could be because there is not a lot of substance?

Years back, blogging was all about personal things. Most of my friends saw this as a venue where they can vent out, tell a story about their relationships and more. After reading the posts, we would comment endlessly about it until we forgot what the topic was really all about. I wasn't sure if this was because we were all just starting out and everyone needed all the support you can have. Fresh out of college, the real world is sometimes not kind to newbies.

The blogging world was a friend - a network of friends for that matter. It can be someone you know or someone you just met through a friend or a total stranger.

I guess this platform was left behind due to a more advanced way of socialising - Facebook and Twitter.

from www.topnews.ae

It has kind of put blogging behind, same as what I did. I got myself busy with Facebook and Twitter too. It must be the hype but still it led me back to blogging.

from http://technorati.com/social-media/article/twitter-fakes-tweets-to-promote-twitter/

After coming back, I noticed that blogging has transformed itself. From being personal, it became commercial. It has become an avenue for PR practitioners to use blogging in promoting their show, restaurants, etc.

Blogging has become the new "word of mouth" 

Instead of talking about it, they blog it with pictures as testimony to prove what they say. Again, bloggers decided also to group themselves - mommies together, blogging fashionistas and more.

Still, I am waiting for posts that have emotion on them. Sharing a piece of their life that is not due to a product or a restaurant experience but more of about them - what was their day like, what influenced them to write about it today.

I hope I see some of you behind your mask.

=)

Local Ads and Recipes

I was just browsing through my blog and re-reading my old posts when I noticed that my blog now has local adverts (naks!) :)

Does this mean people notice my blog? or it was just because of the fact that I live in this region hence the advertisements. Well, whatever that means, I thank people who find time to read my blog (and you are one of them, Stubbsy!)... I am hoping to see some comments though :)

I know I don't write much and I really think I have found the source, it's because I am always pre-occupied with doing a lot of stuff! There was even a tweet not so long ago about this type of disorder that I have!!

RT @UberFacts: "Busy Life Syndrome" is a real disorder causing forgetfulness and lack of concentration in people who take in too much information daily.

(tweet taken from twitter) 

Ha! I need to do something about this and create a routine (possibly) so that I don't fall into this... Focus is the word (which I can hopefully blog in another time -- eep! another promise that I intend to keep)

Innovative Cities in the Asia Pacific

As I have mentioned before, twitter has been my go-to in terms of picking up news and stuff.

While browsing through my favorite social button, I chance upon this tweet from @EntrepreneurPH about the Top 10 Innovative Cities in the Asia Pacific.

Opening the link, I was hopeful that the Manila, Philippines was at least being considered. According to the article, the categories were:- 

• human talent -- check! we have that!
• knowledge creation -- hmmm... tough! 
• technology -- okay, we are I think a bit far behind on that one 
• society -- this is a bit of a concern at the moment most especially since we still have a lot of families that are under the poverty line 
• government -- never mind 

Overall, I think we are still far off to be considered as one of the innovative cities in the Asia Pacific though I still hope that it won't be long when we can be proud of ourselves for turning one of our cities to fit their criteria. 

I think Makati is slowly moving up the pace but we need to strive more. 

I am positive that the Philippines will be part of the "one of the" countries very soon. Just watch this space...

If you want to read more about the article and who were the top 10 cities, here's the link.  

Mabuhay! 

Positive me!

Reading the news

How do you get your latest news feeds? Is it by reading the paper online? Holding a the latest edition of the newspaper or do you rely in Twitter like I do?

I don't know if you can consider me as a "person on the go" but I am always out and about of my seat. Lunch break is all about the whats and whys in the office so reading the news has never been part of my daily routine however when people tweet about them, that is the time I get curious.

I read the tweets and at the same time, try searching this online.

That's my news and I feel guilty because while I am subscribed to newsletters telling me the highlights, I still do not consider it as one.

Weird ain't it.

I just noticed that while I was purging my emails in Yahoo, I have a lot of unread newsletters from Arabianbusiness.com, my go-to for news bits and more. I am not sure if this is because I am not interested in what's happening with the Gulf (a lot of times, my manager would give me tidbits of what's happening around the globe and my look "priceless" --- because I'm totally clueless!) or I am just busy about my own thoughts.

I am now making the executive decision to unsubscribe and urge myself to read more - be it local or foreign.

Being a citizen of the world, I think we should all make it a habit to watch / read / listen to the news. I know it's not really one of the happiest things to do but it should be done.

I hope to become more active in doing so --- there! another goal for 2013! :)

What about you? How updated are you? Hope to hear from someone... anyone?

- Moi -