I didn’t do them for a while, but there is a few coming up. Let’s start with Ahmed. I met him through a random search around the Middle Eastern social media and must admit I love it! TechNRolla is about life and technology, life in technology, technology in life and many more. But hey, let Ahmed speak for himself!:)

Syl: You quote Dante Alighieri in the header of your blog: ‘Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.’
Why this motto?

Ahmed: It’s because I’m a Dante Alighieri fan, I loved most of his books and he is one of the greatest writers ever, I picked this quote because I read an article by the conservative contessa that explains the quote and the weird thing was that it totally felt like my own rules in life, she wrote that the quote is about ” doing the right thing and believing that what you do will come back to you in life. It means being a good parent. It means sticking to your beliefs. It means you taking control of your own life. It means loving your country and being a patriot in the entire sense of the word.”

Syl: You posted about change in Egyptian social media. ‘We need to think, think of what we should do and when we do it’ is one of my favourite quotes from your blog. Tell me, is your opinion representative of your generation?

Ahmed: I do believe that it is a representation of most but not all of my generation, the knowledge that each one of us possess is different, so some people may have the same opinion, some others won’t, and maybe some will be like “Well, I’m not sure, maybe”.

Syl:  We all have to compromise. I currently work for a WOM agency, which means I sometimes need to be careful how and what I write. So far it has not been an issue to me because I find a perfect balance between my work and private life and private ideas. However, the fact I need to self-censor my content is there. Do you need to be careful about yours? Do you feel you can be as open as you want about any issues

Ahmed: No, not yet anyway, I’m an Egyptian teenager, I am not going to get into a business mood until I am in college “after a year or so”, and I do think that I’ve the freedom to say whatever I want to say, but I don’t ever talk about crucial stuff unless my point of view won’t hurt anyone, like politics for example, and I can be very open about anything, it’s a matter of what you see is important, what you think is good or really interesting to be shared with others.

Syl: Going back to where it all began: how did you start – blogging, using Twitter, Facebook?

Ahmed: I started using Facebook when I was an exchange student in the US at the age of 15, I saw my friends use it, and I haven’t heard about it before, so I decided to create an account so I can get in touch with them when I go back home.
Using Twitter was from about 4 maybe 5 months ago, I didn’t really understand why was it that popular but after using it for a couple of weeks I managed to understand what it’s about and since then, I am addicted to it.
About blogging, I had a couple of failures, I started my first blog back in 2004 but couldn’t keep going because I wasn’t that good at writing in English, I tried to blog in Arabic but that was more difficult than writing in English, stopped blogging for a period of time, and then decided to give it another shot after one of my friends, Roger Byrne “Whom I met on Twitter” gave me the opportunity to guest post on his website www.on.eti.me, and since then, I’ve been blogging.

Syl: How did you feel about social media after coming back from your scholarship in the US?

Ahmed: The year I spent in the US had a great effect, I didn’t hear about Facebook or other social media websites till I went to the US, It also helped me in improving my language and communication skills.

Syl: Do you have other online presences?

Ahmed: You can always find me on :

• • My blog

• • My Last.FM

• • My Delicious

• • Google Reader’s shared Items

• • My Myspace

• • My Facebook Profile

• • My twitter

My online gallery on Oxford Artweeks website is up and running, so keep your eyes open. There is more to come soon;)

Last evening I spent not only sharing my recent studies of Twitter ethics but mainly meeting extremely interesting people, very often sharing my interests. OK, I am still a bit sceptical about calling myself a geek, nonetheless, I am one, and there is no way back;) So, here is what happened last night and I really hope to see at least the same faces at our Oxford Twestival on the 12th of February and on the next Oxford Geek Night 11, on the 25 of March.

First of the longer slots, 15 min long, was about fonts – history and technologies behind those. Actually, I completely agree with Elliot Jay Stocks (working for .net, one of my favourite UK magazines – simply because it fills out the gap in the UK market when it comes to printed press about social media), who is worried about standardizing the currently developed fonts. I consider my chat ok because I made a few people smile and think – which is exactly what I hoped for (there are more reactions here). And within perfect 15 min! The shorter slots were just as much interesting, as Elliot’s one though. ‘The new British Standard for Accessibility’ presented by Bruce Lawson is very close to what I deal with at work, so it made me think a bit and I am sure I will read his blog. The issues of the web and the younger generation are something I am interested in two reasons: my work on social media ethics and blogger interviews I did with Monik and Etiole – 13-year-old bloggers. (I see Monik is organizing Twestival in Mumbai, btw!) I am convinced Tim Davies looked at the issues he is dealing with from the global point of view as well, so I think he can see the challenges of a country where web access at school is a restricted and common culture not as IT orientated as in Asian countries for instance. I strongly support Tim’s initiative, so do check his Ning community! I missed part of ‘Microserfs’ (my bad, apologies) so I cannot express an opinion about it. I do however love the design Peet Morris’ blog! David Sheldon’s ‘Tomcat: scaling past one machine’ was a test of my basic IT knowledge, but I got it at the end! Not bad for a blondie:) Tom Dyson‘s ideas around ‘Dynamic demand’ are thrilling, and I am sure plenty of eco bloggers would be extremely excited to see the results of his thinking! And finally – just when I thought I cannot fit any more cool ideas in my head – ‘Working with RGBA Colour’, by Drew McLellan – a feast for a photographer:D I had a beer with guys from Torchbox, I met few other interesting people, and I met the author of Twitter Song – Ben Walker!

It was a pleasure to meet you all!:)

This Friday in London you can meet the faces behind Global Voices!

I learned so much working for GlobalVoices so far, that it’s hard to gather in few points, I will however attempt.

1. Media is never what it seems.

2. Media has no power at all when in comparison to blogging.

3. It’s damn difficult to post an article (even about your own country) and not to offend anyone.I posted four articles about Poland and generated few quite upset comments already. (not that I aim to respond to silly ones, nope).

4. It’s difficult to separate facts from opinions, and present actual opinions too:) but I am learning.

5. It’s honourable to be a blogger in a country where freedom of speech is an abstract phrase – honourable and dangerous. I consider those bloggers heroes.

6. It’s a privilege to translate their words and spread the word in my language speaking communities. I just wish I had more time to do more of it.

But hey, I am about to meet GV contributors this Friday in London and I am very, very excited to see them all!

If you want to join us, feel free to – both on Friday, both online – just here.

Some of you might know, some of you might just have learned about it, but next edition of Twestival is global. London organisers decided to allow other Twitter users to organise fundraising parties all around the world and already have about 50 cities on their list. I humbly volunteered to do one in Oxford, and as far as I can see I am not alone – @jake decided to do it too, and the moment we both started posting about it few other helpers appeared! Thank you, all, for your initial support!

I hope to see you all somewhere in central Oxford on the 12th of February, so do RSVP on Facebook group of the event!

The site and more details to come soon! We are more than open to all your comments and ideas!

Merry Christmas to you all, thank you for reading my blog for those four years. I really appreciate you visiting me here.

Before I post about Saturday’s Media Camp #2 I wanted to wait a bit and think it over, because due to the bad weather I was so upset that I felt like spending a few days away from social media altogether – but that’s unfair, and since Documentally mentioned need for a place to share thoughts about venues and places online when commenting on my Twinterval post, I thought I add short info about Media Camp #2 as well.

Media Camp on Saturday was already the second edition of this series and as far as I can see on Social Media Maffia’s blog there is more to come (quite soon one in Oxford, which is even more exciting!). It is aimed to provide a forum for discussion around social media in several topics – this time it was those 4:

1. Digital.Creative::games / web development / animation
2. Be seen.Get heard::Social Media / Communication / PR / Advertising / Business
3. Techno.Teaching::Educational Technology/teachers
4. Over2U::The room to use when you just don’t fit the boxes but have something to share!

Lolly and I managed to get there (I would never ever get there without her!) by 10.30 due to the fact my train was late from the shire (country flooded after one night of rain?:/), but we still had time to check emails before the discussion ‘Will PR inherit the social media earth?’ kicked off. It was great to see input from people who do work in social media, from people who have nothing to do with it, and from us – guys working in Word of Mouth. A similar exchange of experiences continued during next session ‘A DIY approach to online monitoring’.

After lunch (and Colin laptop’s lunch…) I joined guys talking about brand engagement, transparency and non-profit projects – all of which interest me a lot, even though only a few relate to my current work.

I heard and myself had a few comments about the venue – because rooms were quite separated and only socialising area was one floor lower – which made it difficult to find everyone in the same place. But today I see it differently – if you wanted, you could go to the bar or simply chat to people wherever they are. The main focus was supposed to be working in groups and that is what actually happened.

I am glad to see this initiative and hope it continues. Personally, I think it needs more input from my industry, but that can be easily sorted next time, I hope.

Photos on Flickr here, but do check the Twitter updates from all attendees (special thanks to anniemole and alex4d for posting notes on each session) to see what we have talked about it. Great notes!

Last nights Twinterval was not only a great party, but also an extraordinary occasion to meet followed Twitter users. It’s a strange feeling when you meet someone personally for the first time but you actually know quite a lot about them, and have exchanged few tweets…

It was great to meet Michal finally, even though it took us a while to find each other;)

I am extremely happy that I also managed to meet the Girl personally, and explain what impact her book had on my life (you do not get to talk to writers of your favourite books every day, right?). Pity I missed Amanda – I apologise, but I am crap at recognising people – I bet I was standing just next to you few times;) Both girls did great job in preparing the event and I hope to see more of those in the future.

I met lot’s of interesting people and really had a great time! Thank you all!

Also, thanks to Colin for the ticket and ensuring I always had a beer (very charming indeed), people from We Are Social for saying hello and to Lolly for letting me stay at her place – so good I didn’t have to travel at night!:)

Photos are already up on Flickr.

Update: tojulius just reminded me of the final aspect of the party – it was not only fun to open the goody pack on the tube and discuss newest inventions of Hello Kitty (!?), but also to realise I actually got something I wanted for Christmas! Ah, how cool is that?;)

This time I would like to introduce Behonce, Malaysian person, who doesn’t like to be called a blogger, so I will not do so, I will, however, ask questions about blogging:) here you go!

Syl: When did you start blogging and why? (Dec 2005?)

Behonce: I started blogging around December 2005 when I was around 17 years old. I’ve just graduated high school and I said to myself, “Hey, it’s a new phase in life, why not do something new?” So I started blogging, basically at first just a space for me to express myself and rant more about my life(I also wanted a share of the spotlight!)”

Syl: What is the main goal of your blog and why are you against calling you a blogger (‘I detest to be called a blogger. I don’t go around acting like other bloggers do. Sure, I blog but does that make me a blogger?’)

Behonce: At the beginning, my blog was just a personal space for me to express myself online. Slowly, I started to do reviews, talk about fashion, post random videos I found on youtube. I also blog about fashion, lifestyle, Asian celebrity gossip and just recent events happening around Asia, namely Malaysia. I try to showcase to my readers’ things that are unheard of or issues which are rarely discussed in public. It is a mixed bag actually. Moreover, I try to post items which are of less from what the mainstream readers in Malaysia would probably read on other Malaysian blogs such as politics and “self-absorbed bimbo blogging” (I confess, I do bimbo-blog sometimes!).
I am against being called a blogger as in Malaysia, being called a blogger is like you either rant endlessly about what you had for lunch or how you comb your hair, you know, minor stuff in my opinion, which doesn’t really matter. Or if you are a Malaysian blogger, you would talk endlessly about politics, the Malaysian government or anything the mainstream media would not publish.
Malaysia is still going through a tough time as bloggers namely political bloggers are arrested for false accusations against the Malaysian government.
Therefore, I do not want to be typecasted for blogging. I blog because I want to, not because other people are doing it. I am not trying to say that I am better than these people because I am not. I am just saying that I take a different route when it comes to blogging.

Syl: Your charity project Phunk – how did it start? How do you promote it?

Behonce: Project Phunk actually started out as a college assignment where we had to work with a non-governmental organisation and help them come up with a communication/charity campaign. It is a group effort of more than 30 students. Our target audience was mainly college students and also bloggers. Therefore, we used www.project-phunk.blogspot.com as a communication tool to promote our cause and invite them to join us in helping raise awareness and funds for Hospis Malaysia. Also, we had local radio stations broadcasting our campaign as a community project. We did a couple of roadshows here and there.

Syl: You are on Facebook. Do you use other social media, like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr?

Behonce: I do facebook (a lot), I do friendster, youtube but I guess that’s all for me currently. I prefer to have face to face conversations when it comes to socializing. In my opinion, facebooking is like a ledger I use to keep track of the people I know and how they are doing in life. I might not see them often, so I use Facebook to navigate through everybody’s busy life.

Syl: You don’t like to be called a blogger, but does blogging affect your everyday life?

Behonce: I am against 100% being called a blogger. My friends call me a hypocrite as I blog more and at one point of time managed more than 3 blogs, but blogging doesn’t affect my everyday life. It is something I do when I am bored or when I need to escape from reality. You could say that blogging is a form of escapism.

Syl: How about your friends? Are they active in social media too? Do they blog?

Behonce: Most of my friends blog and their particularly active in social media too. But the thing is my friends are divided into 2 groups, those who are active in social media, and those who do not bother with social media and most of the time, these two groups of friends mix together more often than not. You could say it’s a 50-50 kinda thing.

Syl: What is the current situation of blogging in Malaysia – is it popular? What is the general view on blogging?

Behonce: Blogging is rather popular in Malaysia. With bloggers being thrown into jail for defamation and what not, you could say blogging has caused quite a stir in Malaysia. As I mentioned earlier, you are either in or out of the Malaysian bloggersphere.

Syl: I very often post a part of the interview on my other blog Bar Mleczny, promoting Polish culture in the UK. When I say ‘Polish culture’ what are the 3 first things that come to your mind?

Behonce: Urm, I am going to be brutally honest. I only know Poland by name, I guess it snows in Poland and people speak Polish in Poland.

Syl: Bar Mleczny is about food and quality time (films, music, other visual arts, events). You posted about food – do you like preparing it? What is your favourite meal?

Behonce:I love preparing food. But food often doesn’t like to be prepared by me. I either burn it or turn it into a bad dish which I myself personally would not touch. But that doesn’t mean I am a bad cook. Under the watchful eye of other cooks (i.e friends and family with proper cooking skills), I can whip up a dish or two. I do not have any favourite meal actually. I prefer to eat everything that is presented on the table. Western, Asian, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, you name it. If it tastes great, I would love it!

Syl: Thanks for your questions! And good luck with Phunk!

‘December Manifesto. Let’s free November from Christmas!’

What a brilliant idea! Social media against PR and all the marketing craziness kicking off at the beginning at the beginning of November and pushing the thought of Christmas celebration into our lives! How annoying! Do I really need to explain how upsetting it is? You all know it well! My son is in love with every little Christmas tree in local shops! (I cannot, I WILL not put up one now!!!). I am not interested in all the magical decorations, and I do not think about Christmas presents yet! What do I care about Take That spending Christmas Eve with girls from Marks & Spencer  – few times a day a day, in between documentary at Channel 4!:/ grrr…

You see, I find it actually quite frustrating. Marketing is demolishing quite a long tradition of waiting for few special days. I cultivate my Polish heritage even more as an expat mom, and in Poland, we put the Christmas tree up DAY before Christmas Eve! We write a letter to Santa on the 6th of December (Santa day) asking for presents – we meditate those for the remaining part of that month. Catholics spend last 4 weeks before Christmas in a special state of quiet waiting…

So I fully support December Manifesto!Polish bloggers are asking marketers to step back and start their Christmas promotions in December, not earlier:

‘We ensure you – Christmas was celebrated since centuries so we perfectly remember when to buy the presents and decorations. You can stay assured though that we will not do so in October, not November.’

If you want to join – sign the Manifesto together with the rest (1622 bloggers so far) or offer your support in translating the Manifesto text into other languages. I hope to do the English and Hungarian one soon!