Mind Soup

For a while now, Al Jadeed (one of Lebanon's controversial television stations) have been copying Lebanese bloggers' content and pasting it as is on their website without asking for permission. Some can argue that Al Jadeed is helping out the bloggers by giving them more exposure but this is not the case here. The second a website or a blog has advertising banners on it, it becomes a commercial website that aims to make money through impressions and clicks on those ads. Additionally, since AlJadeed.tv is a website for a commercial TV station that promotes its shows, there is not doubt that it is a commercial website.  When such a website copies bloggers' content, it aims to increase traffic to their pages and hence increase profits from ads. Bloggers have a hard time creating original content and copying their content without consent is unethical to begin with. Would Al Jadeed be happy if another television aired one of their popular shows without their consent an...

Screenshot from Gino Raidy's acceptance speech at The Social Media Awards Pan Arab Web Awards Academy Sues Blogger Rita Kamel Over Blog Post I am no stranger to being threatened for my outspoken opinions about social issues in Lebanon.  In 2010, I was “let go” from a staff writer position at one of AUB’spublications because I wrote a blog post on my personal blog that someone in AUB’s higher management did not like. In 2011, I got a call from a so-called-lawyer of a burger joint (which has went bankrupt since) threatening me with a lawsuit over negative tweets about their food quality. I laughed in her face at the time since she did not even know the difference between Facebook and Twitter and I had documented proof that the owner of the place had created an account for the purpose of bashing me. I was not the first or last victim of corporate bullying in Lebanon or around the world. In 2010, Octavia Nasr, a renounced Lebanese journalist, was fired from her position...

I’m gonna say it once and for all: Blogs are not a medium for free advertising or pushing press releases. If this is what your sell to your clients as community management or blogger relations, you have to reconsider, and this is why. If you send a press release to a blogger every day, they have most likely spammed you by the third day. On the occasion that they haven’t, you would have probably just pissed them off. Shall I demonstrate? (I have been taking screenshots about this topic for a while to build up for this post). Let's start with this PR Agency in Dubai. Every quarter, they send bloggers an email as below: complete with very annoying follow up emails: Not only are they spamming bloggers with their advertising, they don't have the decency to find the blogger's contact information themselves but keep harassing bloggers to send it to them. It's as if someone is asking you to shoot yourself in the face. And if you don't reply to...

Mind Soup was featured again in this month's Communicate Magazine for the " What Lebanese brands need to know about social media " post. The magazine says: Just in case Lebanese brands might forget (and they usually need reminders in that matter), Mohammad again goes through the basic rules of how to smartly use social media. "Whenever the Lebanese get their hands on a new toy, they become very 'creative' and try to abuse that tool until it cannot breathe any more," he says. Too true. Thanks to @ FunkyOzzi  for the photo :)

This is a guest post by Di Kar. Di is a Sudanese political science undergrad at the American University of Beirut. Follow her on twitter @ D3akar Politics and what not. The Arab Spring has been the highlight of everything I have read over the past few days from twitter, aside from numerous newspapers and Italian politics. Your probably wondering why I am mentioning Italy, right? Hold that thought. The Arab Spring, that started with a man in Tunis and sparked mass protests in countries from the Maghreb to Yemen, has now shifted the whole scope of the Middle East and North Africa region. It is, to me, a much needed breeze of change for a region that has been stagnant under the fists of despotism and western influences. For the first time, I feel optimistic about the region. Egypt is pulling weight, and heading towards democratizing its system of government - despite all the challenges - nevertheless, the sleeping giant has awoken. Perhaps the Palestinian diaspora might be resolved or ...

The Lebanese are perhaps the best people when it come to adopting a new technology or trend. This has been evident lately in the use of social media in business: Although this move is considered to be late in comparison to the West, Lebanon and Jordan are the pioneers of this social revolution in the Middle East, especially in business. However, whenever the Lebanese get their hands on a new toy, they become very "creative" and try to abuse that tool until it cannot breathe anymore. I'm just gonna speak about a few misconceptions and tips about social media and how it applies to the Lebanese businesses. Social media is NOT a fad A lot of Lebanese brands think that social media is a fad, that it is a one-time thing that they have to implement and it will eventually go away. They think it is a one-time campaign, they will pay a couple of hundred or thousand dollars and that's it. Well let me tell you this. Social media is not going away anytime soon. So you guys ...

Save the date: May 17th - The International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) Lebanon might not have a flashy gay parade with rainbow flags waving above our heads just yet. But many of us Lebanese, gay, straight or anywhere in between, are already actively engaged in a collective effort trying to raise awareness and fight homophobia. More often than not, homophobia is just another by-product of ignorance. People remaining stuck with their pre-conceived ideas, their limited knowledge about how homosexuality plays out in real life. That's where your stories, your personal experiences and your opinions can help a great deal. Sharing some of your thoughts with the rest of us will help spread awareness within, as well as outside the community. So here's the deal: As Lebanon's LGBT blogosphere, we are asking everyone, gay or straight, to take a minute to think: How does homophobia affect you or someone you love? Write 150 words or less and email to raynbow.org@gmail.com You will be ...

I don't know if you already heard about the incident with what I'm gonna call an "excuse of a blogger" and perhaps an "excuse of an educated human being". A person by the name of Ribal Abi Raad revived his blog after he got "inspired" by my post " Breakdown of AUB students " in an attempt to bash my blog post or entire blog or me as a person. He claims that he knows who I really am and bases his criticism on this assumption. It is ironic how someone thinks they know all about you if they met you once in your life (four years ago). I will refrain from defaming this scumbag even though he might deserve it. It is unfortunate how some people can be so tight-minded and cannot appreciate a piece of humor. But what seems the most evident is how he chose perhaps the most popular post on this blog to revive his blog. I never thought that some people in the Lebanese blogosphere could swoop so low. Personally, I do not consider him part of this bl...

Most of you might have noticed how the whole world is tending to become more fake: from fake noses and boobs to fake personalities to fake brands and products. Sadly, very little is being done to promote originality and uniqueness, especially those relating to human traits and physical appearance -- however, this is not our topic for today. The purpose of this post is to shed light on a very successful campaign that is currently taking place in Lebanon. BPG ( Brand protection group ) is an international organization that protects brands and consumers from fake products by creating awareness campaigns & seminars. The objective of this campaign is to create as much awareness as possible about the fact that there are fake products in the market and to promote a number that consumers can dial to report those imitated products. What I loved the most about this campaign is that its everywhere. Leo Burnett have outdone themselves this time. They have created a very interactive camp...

Clark Kent and Lois Lane snapshot from Smallville I was watching Smallville yesterday (a series that depicts the life story of Superman --  totally recommended by the way ) and I just had to take a snapshot of Lois Lane's rules of reporting. So here they are (text in parenthesis are my own amendments): Always know your source (but never reveal it unless you really have to). Always make a good first impression and don't screw up with your boss (but if you screwed up badly, get prepared to kiss up for some time) Do whatever it takes to get the story (except getting killed) If something seems to weird to be true, it usually is (unless you're living in Smallville, then that's a different story) Never take deadlines too seriously (unless your working in a nuclear plant) Triple check your facts (especially if your writing a front-page article) Put all the good stuff at the beginning (because let's face, if your reader is going to snooze before the end of the fi...

Today, March 12, is the world day against cyber-censorship. This day was initially launched by Reporters without Borders in 2008 and "is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all." Below is a quote from the March 12 website: The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.  However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adop...

Recently, everywhere I go, I've been referred to as a trouble-maker or even introduced as a mischievous person. While there's no shame of having this label, it is constantly starting to stick as a negative reputation because of gossip and word twisting (what the Lebanese call "adding salt and pepper to the story". So why do I have this reputation, you ask? It all started with an article I wrote criticizing admissions at a highly-reputable institution and from there on, people have atributed my constructive criticism to anything I wrote or even spoke about as an initiative to cause trouble or ruin reputation. This middle-eastern culture doesn't account for constructive criticism or personal opinion. We are in a culture where if you criticize something, then you are its enemy. Perhaps this is how politics works, but that isn't how I work. Think about it, when I invest effort and time in writing about some negative aspect of most topics, does it mean that ...

Screenshot of " A Separate State of Mind " MIND SOUP :  A Separate State of Mind  is a new blog on the Lebanese blogosphere which discusses life, music, politics, movies and thoughts of a Lebanese youth, Elie, who is one of my best friends. I have been trying to get Elie to start a blog since I created Mind Soup two years ago (2nd birthday coming up on Feb 21 :D) but his laziness and procrastination delayed it. He has had some guest posts here on Mind Soup but now he took the plunge and after some quick trial with tumblr, he started his full wordpress.com blog:  http://stateofmind13.wordpress.com . A few things you might want to know about Elie: He's a huge Carrie Underwood fan that I started calling him a Carrieoholic.So you should definitely expect to see some posts about her. He likes country music and pop (Britney Spears anyone?) He likes to watch movies, and I mean a lot of movies, so he will be posting some movie reviews. His taste in mo...

MIND SOUP : Yet another lawsuit launched against a middle-eastern blogger. But this time, the suing side is not a politician or an official, but a restaurant; a restaurant with very bad PR and marketing skills might I add. Mark is a Lebanese blogger who wrote a review of Benihana Kuwait on his blog 248am  after visiting the restaurant a few days after its grande  opening. I have done a huge deal of research on Benihana last summer for a course and I know well that Benihana distinguishes itself from other restaurants by two aspects: The unique layout where customers sit and watch while a chef cooks their food in front of them in a live display of culinary skills. The quality and freshness of their foods, most importantly their meats. In his review, Mark complains of the quality of the food being served, and I quote: ... [T]he Hibachi chicken which is basically grilled chicken, that was the worst. The chicken was very chewy (I could swear it was und...