Two new blogs on media ethics

Kicked off this month can potentially turn into great source of knowledge about media ethics. Starts with basics, like this article on codes of ethics.

'My opinion is that everyone has their own set of morals, and what may be an important moral to one person may not be to another. Judging by your own set of morals may be appropriate in some situations, but I think it would be hard for me to feel ethical using this theory within media.' - which seems to be general media ethics approach as opposed to the traditional, principal ethics. So, we know what we will find here - probably interesting arguments pro and against certain actions, journalist ethics and case studies. Hopefully!
I will keep an eye on both sources.

few interesting events

BlogWorld took place 20-21st of September, so I strongly advice the website and the blog.

Future of Web Apps is planned for 8-10 of October in London. Souns like a niche event, but might be interesting for all bloggers.


Internet Hungary (14-15th of October) is a great idea for Hungarian speaking bloggers, like me, but it struck me that the website has no translation in English - at least I can't find it. Am I so blond?And do not forget that 15th of October is the Blog Action Day 2008, this year commited to the issue of poverty.

Drinking a bio cola while sitting on a grave in front of Oxford Cathedral?

...not typical but my son is capable of anything really...:)

Economy Crisis in the US

Lunch time, thinking time;) Just found Scoble's post and see how upset he is by today's decision of US Congress. I usually do not like to take part in discussions about US politics or economy, still this is a large issue and affects us all, right. Why are we all upset?
Because the decision made by an institution on the other side of the world will affect our lives? ( I really want to have my own house one day, but without my bank's support I can forget about it, etc).
Because the decision was wrong - at least according to specialists and common sense.
Because an average US citizen trust her/his government to make right choices and believes in democracy.

'This is shaking my belief system pretty thoroughly, because I actually do believe that a decentralized system is stronger than one with one guy or gal in the middle controlling everything. But for a decentralized system to work we have to 1. be smart and 2. believe in each other. Those two things are proving to me to be pretty trying right now.'

I know there is a lot of academic discussion about quality or actual power of citizen in the US democracy, but let's put it aside. Let's look at the situation of other democracies too - Poland, Hungary - countries I know - kicked it off so well, and I am not convinced they do it right. Polish reality/economy is not too promising, Hungarian one even more depressing than the typical Hungarian pessimism. I just wonder if there is a perfect, balanced democracy? UK seems a very well working one to me, and we still have leaders taking UK boys to fight wars (why do we need to fight wars at all nowadays? I thought we all learned the lessons from II WW?). It's all down to trust (yes, Scoble is right), common sense, peaceful approach and mutual respect. It's all about working for better common wealth in order to achieve happier private life, right?
Apologies for my idealism, but when we look at it realistically even citizen based systems still depend on part of the society - not always the most smart, knowledgeable and ready to make right choices par of the society.


It saddens me and scares me like hell. That is why I do not post about politics nor economy:)

Work ethics - ROWE

Sorry, I cannot stop myself but share this with you:
' “In a Results-Only Work Environment, people can do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done.” This is not simply company-sanctioned flextime. A true ROWE has unlimited paid vacation time, no schedules, no mandatory meetings, and no judgments from co-workers and bosses about how employees spend their days. In other words, managers trust employees to get their work done and do not mandate — or even comment on — when, where, or how it happens. Because everyone is evaluated based on what they accomplish, as opposed to how much time they spend looking busy at their desks, it becomes clear very quickly who is actually getting work done and who isn’t.'
More about ROWE work model here. There is also an interview with Harvard Business blogger, Tammy Erickson, about ROWE.
Let me know what you think!

(Me, I spent 2 min reading the article and posting it, so I think I will get my work done;) (OK, I will take 2 min off my lunch because I AM actually BORING:P) )

'Ice-cream'

Chauvinists Earning More?

I have just learned about a research conducted by University of Florida. See the final findings
‘Men in the study who said they had more traditional views of gender roles made an average of about $8,500 more annually than those who had less traditional attitudes controlling for job complexity, number of hours worked and education level.
Delightful.
The situation for women was reversed. More traditional views on gender correlated with decreased earnings — about $1,500 a year less.’
Why am I not surprised? No, seriously, I am not being cynical here!

What I really would like to see though is a study, like this one, showing stats on male and female passion bloggers/web 2.0 bloggers against commercial bloggers. I would be interested in the results.

Is this ethical? Few words on female blogging…

PR Girl is asking that question when referring to women bloggers who and earn money with their sites. I think it is a very complicated issue, and I understand the concerns of well established voices of the blogosphere, still – did we not join it because the internet gave us the eternal freedom of speech? I would rather like to look at the results of those blogging activities that were mentioned during the blogher.com event.
I am currently very much occupied with the reasons for all of us to blog and I understand we all have different ones. Still, in the light of current law in the UK, it is against the law for a company to conduct any marketing activities (=pay bloggers to express their opinions as well) affecting and CHANGING financial behaviour of the brand consumers. I think it’s a brilliant way of judging blogger ethics too.
As far as the writing itself is concerned, we cannot ask every single blogging person to forget about projects based around earning money. It’s just a different type of blogging with its own issues. Isn’t?

Pix: My Dream

Blog Till You Drop! - interview with Lolly

You will probably think I am crazy - I am interviewing people I know! Yes, but I have a reason to do so, even more than one:
1. I look up to them.
2. I want to know what they think.
3. I want to know if an interview can help me to know them better.
4. I want to share this with my other friends:) and readers:)

I am including in interviews questions I do not know the answer for in our private lives. I am genuinely interested in their reasons to blog, exist on-line and in their every-day life. I am interested, so I ask:)

For the first one, I have asked Lolly, author of two blogs - Blog Till You Drop and Cosmopolitan.
Here it is:

Sylwia:First of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask you few questions, Lolly. Here they are:

Syl: You blog was celebrating second anniversary recently. Tell me, how did it all start? The blogging I mean?

Lolly: I started my career in medical marketing, and I was desperate to do something more exciting but kept hitting a brick wall. A friend of mine who worked for an Internet start-up suggested I start blogging… I was hooked within months and started experimenting with a variety of social media tools. I seem to live and breathe social media these days!
Syl: Did your approach to writing the blog change since the first few posts? How does it affect your private life?

Lolly: My writing has definitely changed over time - I used to blog a lot about traditional marketing and advertising but I seem to write about anything that’s Social Media related at the moment. When I read some of my old posts, I feel like an inexperienced schoolgirl!

I write whatever tickles my fancy and I do not have a set agenda. Some people have joked that I am glue 24/7 to my computer screen but I do have a life offline, so no blogging does not affect my private life at all.

Syl: Did you have on-line presence before starting a blog? You are active on Twitter, Facebook etc - how and when did those preceses join the blog one?

Lolly: I used to spend a lot time on MSN Messenger and Skype. I also had a MySpace account for a while (we’re talking late 2005) but I quickly got bored of it… Pink glittery GIFS aren’t my thing!

Blogging is the foundation of everything I do online – I have a social presence on a number of other sites (LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, FriendFeed, Twitter but to name a few) but they all relate and add value to my blog. Facebook used to be purely for my real-life friends but I have now added a couple of bloggers I get on really well with.

Syl: More about your private life, I guess:) As French blogger in London, what can you say about the local blogosphere? You attend the geek meet-ups, so what do you think about people you meet there?

Lolly: The local blogosphere is awesome as there is always a party / meet up going on! Everyone knows everyone! The French blogosphere in London is buoyant – you would be amazed to see how many French bloggers who work in the digital / social media industry live in London

Syl: What is the French blogosphere like? Where do the bloggers meet, georaphically I mean?

Lolly: That’s a tough question! I read a few French blogs but I am not part of the French blogosphere – I write in English after all. The Social Media scene in France is also very exciting – there are dozens of Meet Ups in Paris but also in my hometown, Lyon.

Syl: Do you miss France? Do you think about living in other parts of the world?

Lolly: I am not French, so I don’t really miss France. I would love to live in NYC – who knows; someone might read my blog and offer me a job ;) I also love Italy so that’s definitely another option!

Syl: I'm an expat myself and I am asked that question very often (well, maybe not so often in the UK, still) how do you decide upon a country you want to live in? Is it just job or persoanl hapiness driven choice?

Lolly: I originally studied modern languages and I used to travel quite a lot in my student years. I simply fell in love with the UK. As far as I am concerned, I must be in love with a language to move a country. Job and happiness are of course also very important

Syl: I see you like travelling and run a travelling blog aside from your main one. What is your best and worst memory from Poland?

Lolly: I loved Poland! Nice country, nice people, nice food! My worst memory is not being able to speak the language and the roads! I really thought I was going to die in Lodz at times!

Syl: If you could choose a country to live in, where would that be? Why?

Lolly: NYC career-wise (wait a minute, that’s a city!) or Italy as the lifestyle, language and people are simply amazing!

Syl: And a last very general one: what is the best and the worst aspect of living in a different country?

Lolly: The best aspect is that you learn a lot from other people culture-wise. The worst aspect is that however hard you try, people will always see you as a foreigner.
Syl: thank you!

(If you have any other questions, let me know, I'll ask;))

Part of this interview is also available here.

blogging ethics and 'One Nation Under Blog' - new book about bloging ethics

ted i:I wanted to talk about it since few weeks, but somehow I felt I am not educated enough in the subject of blogging ethics. I read all the main books (Manifesto, Scoble, etc) and followed all the ethical and unethical issues comming up on-line to be able to express my own opinion. Today I was challenged myself, so I think it's good time to put is up.
I think it's a must.
As some of you well know I work in WOM Marketing and my position is very much connected to marketing ethics (engouh if you do a proper Google search) so I really need to separate my private life from the proffesional aspects of it. Nevertheless I blog since 2004 and was always interested in social media to certain extend, so it's dificult to find the balance between work and private interest. I actually think it's great to be able to work in a place where you can use your interest and enhance both your performance, as well as you own knowledge.
This blog however, as well as all other presences of mine on-line are devoted to my private interests and I want to keep it this way. As TechWag is putting it righttly, my blogging is about ambition and 'talks about the things that are important to him (me:)), without advertising, and without an obvious money motive'. Even though some of the topics might correlate with my work, I always make it clear that it's my private place.
So...
Today I was contacted by a very friendly blogger to take part in a project which - based on the first short (via Twitter) description sounded interesting. I like taking parts in different projects, especially when we talk about creativity, activism or social media. I cannot and I do not feel comfortable about taking part in projects involving any material reward and/or sponsored campaigns. I am glad that the approach taken today was personal, friendly and understanding and I am happy that I can use it as an excuse to make this statement.

So yes, feel free to contact me, but be prepared I might have to say 'no' to keep my presence the way I want it to be:)

Blogging ethics is a complicated issue. Each of us has different incetives for blogging and we have different standards too. The gurus of web tried to put together different codes of cunduct and we all learn and try to stay flexible with all the new technologies coming up. Our perception of privacy changes too. I personally think that the blogging ethics has, is and will always stay in the region of common understanding and respect, and will be based on personal agreement.
I also hope we will all stay open for new ideas, and choose the ones we actually find suitable for ourselves.

Talking of new ideas...

I am looking forward to see new publication on this topic, book titled 'One Nation Under Blog' described by Jason Falls here. I keep the track of political blogging in the US and I hope we will all come out of it with few learnings. I wonder what this book will suggest...

Update: just found this policy, good to see other bloggers -actually involved in piching - state their ways on-line. Very, very clear!

Blakle - social media baby

When I discover - or like in this case - am told about sties like Blackle I feel like a social media baby...walking in nappies still. It's a cool idea, and I bet my fellow blogger D4M4G3 (Hungarian blogger who just posted about his trip to London with few cool pix) knew about it and has it in his collection of black shizzle. If not, I am honoured to impress him. (I doubt I do;))

Tweader, 'a tool for Twitter'

It is an interesting tool indeed. It allows you to track back conversations (@...) on Twitter. See loiclemeur's conversation here for instance. It does not always pick it all up, but in principle it's great to actually pick only those tweets that are conversational.

This tool makes me think about the Twitter itself. We all started using it probably just to try it out, to see how it goes...and at the back of my head I had the thought of 'just another social media bit, surprise me!'. And it did indeed! I grew more and more interested in microblogging simply because my presence on Twitter started to turn into something serious. After few weeks I got to the stage where Twitter was:
1. Providing me with insights on what the leading web 2.0 personalities use, do, suggest - and where form can you learn it, if not from them?
2.Serving as secondary to my blogs tool to network/communicate with my old and new friends.
3.Giving me the flexibility to be present on-line while I am away from my PC (I must admit I am sceptical about mobile blogging, and I know I will have to face it soon, still:/)
4.Most of all meeting extremely interesting people!
As I am getting into more and more apps and tools based on Twitter I really think it's a great platform, simply because it matches our busy lifestyle!
Blogging will not die, obviously we all need it and always will, but microblogging is a great appendix, intro and wrap up of all we do on our blogs.

Twestival

What a great idea! It's one of those events that makes me really, really sad that I cannot attend! Damn! It looks like few of my friends are going so at least I can be happy for them and have a chat afterwards, but it really annoys me that I am stuck at home that night. (I feel like a bad teenager who needs to do the homework instead...that annoyed). Anyway, do have a look at their website, and do try to sign up for it. It really looks like a cool place to be for all Twitter and social media fans. And to meet people like @ihatemorningsdotcom:

Ethics - interesting sites

For those interested in issues of ethical trade there is an event happening in London soon.

Corruption is an ethical issue which is and always will be actual. I am glad that places like Transparency International educate the global audience on facts.

Ethics Resource Center seems to be more focussed on US business ethics, still you can find cool reports on UK issues as well.

If you are interested in actual events and international ethics go to this site.

But most of all I advice you to check the London based Institute of Business Ethics, where previous European Conference of Business Ethics was hosted. The site gives great insights into basics of implementation of ethical code and policy in a generic way - any business friendly. They link to great sources of Ethics studies, also mention upcoming events and most of all - train people interested in business ethics.
I am actually planning to attend this one, on the 30th of October. If anyone is planning it too, please let me know!

Do we like personal? Ad new Twitter and the like...

I have recently learned that Felix, person sitting next to me in the office is writing a blog, and found interesting post on his site about personalisation for iPods, iPhones and laptops - GelaSkins. Enchanting designs and the fact that I actually like ALL of them (!!!) made me order one just for a trial.
The service is great (delivered from Canada within less than a week, although while processing the order I agreed to wait for 20 days), costs OK and the quality perfect. The main worry - the glue quality prooved to be perfect, you can take the skin off just as easily as you put it on. The touch pad of my IPod works just fine, so I am one happy customer.
The idea made me interested in the whole personalisation thing. Why do we like the new Twitter? Because we can make it more personal and desing based on our own easthetical needs. Why do we like blog engines like Wordpress or Blogger - because we can customise them easily. But is that always true? The more options the better? To what extend? New Facebook seems to go towards simpliffying rather than overcomplicating. Still I personally like a small dosis of my own taste (or lack of it;)) in everything around me.

Delete the deleted

Do you sometimes feel like your day is completely unreal? Maybe it's the rain, maybe it's the tears...somehow I felt very out of space today....and then while cleaning my Outlook I saw this...


Bizarre, bizarre day...

When my fellow blogger living in Budapest, Jez Wegierski, posted about attending Global Voices summit somehow I didn't think about checking the organisation behind that event (even though I AM interested in events). I have just came across this very informative and extremely active portal now, and I must say I am well impressed. GlobalVoices is a large portal containing several sub-projects. Apart from the translation sites, I found the Global Voices Advocacy the most interesting one. It not only contains quite adequate data and insights on free speech on-line, but actually suggests tool to fight for it in those countries where some sites are banned.




Have a look at their 403 checker - it's a free to download tool helping to track back what sites were banned on one's pc. Also, some of those are included in the Access Denied Map. This is the type of info you do not find easily, here publicly available. I like when people bravely talk about issues and face the word with facts! Well done!
So, considering some involvement myself, I have contacted them asking about the aim of the site, and got a response from person called Portnoy: 'The main goal of Lingua and GV is to balance the world's information flow biased by MSM and with the help of more than 200 volunteers we have build a citizen media community based on bloggers around the world.
We tackle the 3 obstacles(censorship, digital divide, and language) toward a true global village with Global Voices Advocacy, Rising Voices, and Lingua. You can read more info here'
That is exactly what social media should do, don't you think?

Car free day?

Of course I went to work by car today- currently I have no alternatives! Personally I prefer to go to work by bus or train, simply because I can read in the meantime. I am not looking forward to the times when I have to drive myself:P and when I move to Oxford I really want to take the train and shuttle bus (20 min altogether) instead of suffering in the traffic. I can enjoy driving and freedom of it over the weekends, if I want to.

I am happy that there is a day when people are made to think about alternative ways of getting to work or moving around town in general. And I am happy it's a European initivative:)
Sometimes we are so trapped in day-to-day reality... What do you think, if you had a choice, would you go to work by bike or a bus?

12seconds.tv

Here you go...I was told off for 1. lack of videos on my blogs 2. not showing myself 3. not using 12seconds...

welcome on 12seconds.tv

It seems to be a cool site, so hope to be back with more soon.

best photo recently...

..and a good portrait as well - my son today, during the town fair - his first time during such an event...

why I like Johny Depp?

..because he reads Beat Generation, like Jack Kerouac...


Let me remind you what his view on writing was (more here):
'1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy

2. Submissive to everything, open, listening

3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house

4. Be in love with yr life

5. Something that you feel will find its own form

6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind

7. Blow as deep as you want to blow

8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind

9. The unspeakable visions of the individual

10. No time for poetry but exactly what is

11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest

12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you

13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition

14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time

15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog

16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea

19. Accept loss forever

20. Believe in the holy contour of life

21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind

22. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better

23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning

24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge

25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it

26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form

27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness

28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better

29. You're a Genius all the time

30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven '

The Boy in the Striped Pijamas, John Boyne

...is a must read! I was waiting for it since a week (last Saturday, before watching the Duchess I saw the trailer of the film based on the novel by John Boyne). It's a next generation of 'Little Prince'!
It has been ages since I read a book in one go completely loosing the sense of reality - and I was about to go to bed early tonight, right...Bruno's story is.. o, damn it, I really do not know where to start, I even took a long hot bath to put this post together, and it's already falling apart - I will not tell you the story - media is shouting about it anyway, but it doesn't matter if you know or not - if you don't you will enjoy it just as much as a person who does, simply because it's WELL WRITTEN! Every single stop, every ending of a chapter, the rythm of the book, peoples gestures, silences and hidden tears (does anyone actually cry?), all the warnings and sence of obligation - to the country, family, but mainly to yourself! All the grown up questions and childish naivity! All the 200 pages of brilliant piece of literature!:)

Now we can see it on the screens.(with a great deal of Hungarian actors, btw)...
The story itself is (film trailer here) about boundaries, respect and friendship, but it also is a well written piece on Auschwitz and hitlerism (the every-day hitlerism)...about blindness and open hearts, about people trapped in the wrong times and places.
I think the ending is a perfect solution for a book writen for US/UK/Irish readers - I think it might be percieved diferently in Eastern Europe - but I think we all actually do need those endings.
I was 9 years old when I visited Auschwitz camp museum. My father lied that I was 11 (the minimum admission age for children) knowing me very well, and wisely. There is no age that can prepare you for the reality of that place. There is no book, or film that can actually show you what it meant to be a Jew living in there...I remember that th emost shocking issue for me was the fact mentioned in the induction film - that twins, children were speared from going straight to the gas chamber simply for the sake of medical experiments - 1. was it really any better? 2. if yes, if they survived, how does it feel to be alive simply because you were born as a twin? so randomly saved...that was the point where the 'big lie' lost on its 'logic' to me. At the age of 9.
(Bruno is 9, his friend too. Maybe that is why I felt so close to the actions and emotions of those characters.)
I also remember every block, every wall, I could draw the plan of the place. I went back two times, to see if I can learn more, but I think I have learned enough as a 9 year old girl: this is not meant to happen and cannot be allowed, but yes, we do tent to behave like animals...(one thing Hitler WAS right about).

At the age of 30 I experienced myself the low of the lowest behaviours in my own house and I know how easy it is to miss the point, to forget the ethics, to let others brake the rules of humanity - and how easy it is to resist, to protect yourself and to recover.

I see it all in this well written story!

I definitely will pass this book on to every single soul I know! And I will encourage everyone to go and see the film (John Boyne is writing about its London première on his blog).

(On a way from the film - The Dutchess - last weekend I heard a couple talking about something similiar. The guy was telling his friend a real story of a child - victim of Auschwitz, who was saved by a Polish servant girl who fed the boy every day with an apple. When the boy grew up and went back to - I think - US - he had a blind date arranged with...the very same woman! Proposed to her the same evening! - I really would like to believe it's truth)

Twitter ratio - restrictions?

One of my new twitter contacts mentioned that there is a 'secret twitter ratio' causing certain restrictions - but I do not really know what it means? Is Twitter restricting the amount of friends or followers? I looked for the info on different blogs writing about Twitter ratio (ratio of our Twitter followers to our friends) but I cannot see this being mentioned:/
Actually the ratio and its connection to human behaviour idea does reflect mine. I agree that some of use Twitter to chat, some to network, some to do it all and to gather knowledge.
Here's my official Twitter ratio:
To quote Scoble, I belong to those who 'want to learn more' which perfectly matches my intentions:)

I would like to know thought if there are any rules connected to the Twitter ratio which might affect my account...

social media vs. traditional communication and more - thoughts on the bus

On a way from work, listening to Damien Rice, I heard this ‘Read me your favourite line..’(from a book) and it hit me! Lolly posted about her favourite Twitter lines today as well….It’s been so long since I had E.A. Poe in my hands and I can still quote the Raven in Polish! My 'the line' is the ending
'And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted--nevermore!'
I think about my favourite painting form Beksinski - one of a kind, since it had NEVERMORE written of a balloon drifting away. I think about the painting of the Raven painted based ont he poem specially for me for my 18th Birthday – left behind in Budapest, and as it turns out now – simply given away I did like the thought of it, actually – I learned to let things go, things, not people. I treasure the people who honour me with their time…

Letting people go...
...we had a discussion about writing traditional letters in the office the other day and I must admit that seeing the average attitude (bills, official packages) I stayed quiet – I do write personal letters and some of my closest friend know me (and vice versa) from those. I left some of those behind, and I have a small collection now, but I still enjoy receiving one time to time. I actually need to put time aside to write a few more to new friends nowadays, and I am sure I will make them happy.

There is magic in paper travelling between the space and time – unlike e-mails, letters feel, smell, look personal. You wait for them, or they surprise you…you see the person you love (this way or another) caught in a moment – you follow the emotions together with the lines of their handwriting. The handwriting is their soul in front of you, in your hands!

I appreciate social media, I love the speed and globalisation of all communication tools, I like to make new, rather shallow relationships based on common respect and knowledge or information share. Those are capable of gestures too – one of my closest friends created a blog specially for me to update me on her thoughts after she stopped writing letters – lack of time, I guess. I am honoured and read it, comment on it, use it as our private venue, our common table and cups of coffee, in a way. Still, we do write letters, we store them, read them again and we do appreciate each of them. I will never move away from magic of a simple letter.

Just as I will never move away from reading books and memorising the best lines…

What is your favourite line form a book, by the way? What is it that makes us stop – go back-read it again- remember?