Tech moms in a connected world - 3 October 12

Tech moms in a connected world

I am writing this for Intel Fleximoms Tech Moms Blogathon

Let me talk about the Social Media as corporates see it. Ask any IT person and he / she will rant about overused bandwidth issues and the increased expenditures on maintaining the required speed. And, the first step they take is to ban all e-mails, social networking for personal use.

While this step is justified and often is a matter of discipline amongst employees & finances and efficiency of the company, I believe that corporate should consider how they can leverage social media to their advantage. HR, Marketing and IT departments should look at the positive side of the use of social media in increasing efficiencies and knowledge sharing amongst the employees.

Groups can be formed where employees can share ideas, news, new developments, efficient employees can be acknowledged, knowledge can be shared and many more activities undertaken. Engaging employees on a social media platform can work wonders for improving internal communication and also can provide an opportunity for employees to know each other on a personal and professional level. This platform can be leveraged to explain and better HR policies, marketing initiatives, operational issues and organizational processes. Employees will definitely favour the casual forum where they can express themselves freely and such a positive response can only be good for the organization.

These kinds of initiatives prove to be beneficial to the organization as well. Corporates are taking to this idea and more need to join the bandwagon. Their acceptance of the technology and granting freedom to their employees will get them loyalty points.

Tech moms in a connected world - 02 October 12

Tech moms in a connected world

I am writing this for Intel Fleximoms Tech Moms Blogathon

I have been talking about how technology has become an integral part of my life. I realised that age has nothing to do with acceptance and use of technology. Take my parents. My parents have discovered the joys of technology and connectivity. My mother realized the benefits of a mobile phone much before I did. She is a pro at computer games (she just needs to read the instructions once and she starts winning – well almost everytime), knows how to operate a computer and access internet. My father is an avid ‘Googler’. They are constantly enamoured of what the latest technological developments have to offer. You need a number to source a need, they will tell you to call up the voice local search companies for the same, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to do.

Their never ending desire to see what is available and how it is useful, is amazing. They will read articles on FB, even if they do not possess an account and want to know what Twitter is. Is it not amazing that technology has opened up new areas of interest for them and given them the experience of  new wonders?

Some of the most popular tweets are by the senior citizens like Amitabh Bachchan. Yes, age, I believe, has nothing to do with curiosity. We might become smug as we have grown up with all the hoopla around us, but people who were born much before us are the heroes here. For their acceptance of and embracing technology and using it bravely, even if all they do with a mobile phone is to make and receive calls.

They have made it a part, we are the cusp generation and the young ones have been born with the technical spoon in their mouths. Yes, when I see three and four year olds handle computers and mobile phones like they were born to it, I hang my head and hope to better myself. And, meet them somewhere. Maybe, I will succeed.

techmoms in a connected world - 01 October 2012

01 October 2012

I am writing this for Intel Fleximoms Tech Moms Blogathon

What do I write today? There is just so much to write about technology and us and yet it is all too less.

There is an ad for a famous chocolate brand where the protagonist is eating the chocolate and sees the squirrels romancing each other with vibrant colours on them. The ad is funky, colourful and I feel a very apt indicator of indicator of how we have travelled the distance with technology. It makes us colourful, feel romantic about the world, opens new avenues, gives us friends, helps us earn, have fun and generally create a wonder around us.

Although some might argue that the technological development has its flip side, I will argue back that the positive far outweighs the negative and anyway, the negative is for us to control. Bimari hai to dawaa bhi hai. We know the counters to the negatives, well almost all and it is for us to use them effectively.

How else would I be writing a blog (a portmanteau of the 'web log' – quite a mouthful that one!! )? There are multi author blogs these days, micro-blogging and each one is very interactive. This kind of interaction must have been a theme of some sci-fi from Hollywood in the yore.

Imagination has been given a shape and the miracle has become a reality, one which we revel in.