Mind Soup

It has become undoubtful that technology is changing our lives drastically, mostly to the better. This change, however, did not only affect us physically, but also psychologically and behaviorally. Social media in particular has changed the way we view and manage communication and interpersonal relationships. The virtual is slowly but surely becoming the reality. Social media has certainly given us better and more efficient communication tools, but has also altered our personalities. In our cover feature for this issue, psychologist Lea Hannouch discusses how the Internet makes users more confident and efficient with their virtual lives, but also more aggressive and impulsive. The quick pace of tech has also caused a psychological shock that has led to several disorders such as the Phantom Ringing Syndrome, Nomophobia, Cybersickness, The Google Effect, Cyberchondria, Sleep Texting, among others. Additionally, our health has taken a hit due to the increased stress and fear levels,...

Linkedin is the premiere social network for business, yet most people do not know how to use it effectively. Cloud961 Magazine's Editor in Chief, Mohammad Hijazi, will be giving a seminar for entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs about using Linkedin to promote their start-ups, find investors, partners and employees and build a solid connection base. This seminar is part of Global Entrepreneurship week that is taking place on November 17-23 and is FREE OF CHARGE . Date: November 20, 2014 Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm Location: Coworking +961, Sursock Palace ( View Map ) Get your ticket on ihjoz now before they run out again! About Mohammad Hijazi Mohammad Hijazi runs the Online Collaborative, a non-profit initiative that aims to promote awareness about technology and social media, and is the organizing entity of The Social Media Awards which took place last year in Beirut and launching in several Arab countries this year. In addition, he is the Editor in Chief of Cloud...

Founded in 2012, Game Cooks is a collective of artists, designers and developers with a shared passion for gaming. Based in Lebanon and catering to the world, the team creates fun and feel-good type games, with a twist, which people from the region can relate to and players from all over the world can enjoy. Game Cooks focuses on producing international games for iOS and Android. So far, Game Cooks has launched 7 mobile games, available for iOS and Android, the latest being Cubama, a 3D reflex game, which requires concentration and speed. Here is an interview with Lara Noujaim, Game Cook's marketing manager. How did the idea for Game Cooks begin and how was it funded? Game Cooks was born out of a shared passion for gaming and how games are created! It all started with an idea for a game—and that idea turned into Birdy Nam Nam. Birdy Nam Nam proved to be a great success; having amassed over a quarter million downloads from its first week alone! This was enough motivation for...

With an extensive background in computer science and information technology as well as the entertainment, music and mobile industries, Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun crossed paths and founded Anghami, a platform providing access to over five million international and Arabic songs through a convenient, user-friendly application allowing users to stream all the music they want on their mobile. Anghami has agreements with over 4,000 record labels, thus granting users access to the widest variety of content in the region. The mobile application is available for download on different smartphones, including iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Nokia devices. The company offers a free, ad-supported version of the app, which allows usage only with an Internet connection. Anghami+, the premium ad-free application, allows users to stream an unlimited number of songs and to access playlists when offline. Anghami has partnered up with MBC and added songs from popular shows lik...

“There is no room for mistakes, the competition is severe. The right image has to go with the right text.” Deema Saidi studied Marketing at the Lebanese American University (LAU). With a committed passion for the arts and everything glamorous, she had the chance to work for prestigious, well-established companies such as Elie Saab, Oscar De La Renta, Missoni, Diane von Furstenberg, Y3, and Furla. Armed with experience in social media for fashion and hospitality, she now resides in the UAE where she works as a luxury and PR marketer. In this interview, I discuss with Deema the state of online fashion marketing in the Middle East. What is the biggest challenge, in your opinion, when managing fashion social media accounts? Fashion social media accounts have a lot of challenges, just like any other product or service you have to make sure that you are consistent with the voice, the brand image and the quality. As you may know, fashion is a form of aesthetics and maintaining the ima...

The two most discussed topics on social media have to be food and fashion. In October, Cloud961 dedicated a whole issue to food on social media platforms, and it was about time that we discussed fashion. In Lebanon’s blogging scene, fashion and lifestyle blogs are the most evolved, most active and most numerous in comparison to other types. Fashion bloggers have different styles as well, some covering professional fashion shows and designers, others creating their own styles with weekly photo-shoots and styling tutorials. A few have even created their own YouTube channels, which constitute the earliest form of consistent v-logging in the country. To keep up with this thriving fashion community, fashion brands and designers had to go online to benefit from the social spotlight. When we were brainstorming for a cover idea, I asked my team about ideas for the first cover shoot. While some suggested local and upcoming fashion designers, the vast majority agreed on Roula Nahas as...

Many businesses have finally started to realize the importance of social media for their success, but few have relied so heavily on it in Lebanon to promote their concept. A perfect example of this would be Pizza Cups, an all-homemade catering business with a fresh, delicious idea that was launched solely on social media platforms. To know more about Pizza Cups and its social media strategy, I interviewed Wassim El Haddad, co-founder, about this innovation. El Haddad has been working in social media for the past year in Cleartag, while co-founding Pizza Cups with Khajag Apelian and currently handles the communication matters of the brand as they get ready to open their new outlet and expand. What is Pizza Cups and how did you come up with the concept? Pizza Cups are cup-shaped pizzas prepared with fresh quality ingredients and baked with care and dedication. They're available in different savory and sweet flavors, with different crust choices. The starting point of...

Celebrities Should Not Trust their Social Media Accounts with Agencies or Employees. Paula Yacoubian is an established Lebanese journalist who currently hosts a prime-time political and social talk show on Future Television, Inter-Views. She previously hosted another show on Al Hurra TV and was part of the morning talk show Nharkom Said on LBC. Additionally, Paula is a media trainer and a political strategist. She has interviewed high-profile figures throughout her career, including George W. Bush when he was in office back in 2005. I sat down with Paula to discuss her social media presence. Personally, I believe that she is doing a great job on her social media accounts and is among the best Lebanese journalists online. Very few use social media effectively, consistently and continuously. You can follow Paula on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on PaulaYacoubian . What motivated you to start using social media as a media professional? I think that I started ver...

Interview with Leila Khauli Hanna, a pioneer in social media adoption in the Lebanese classroom Leila Khauli Hanna is a full time Instructor of Marketing Management at AUB’s Sulaiman S. Olayan School of Business since the year 2000.  She holds a Masters of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing and Econometrics from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Ms. Hanna has taught courses at the Undergraduate and Graduate level in the fields of Marketing and Economics in the US, Lebanon, and France.  She has introduced and coordinated several highly specialized and cutting edge courses at the school and was nominated three times for the teaching excellence award at AUB. Her research interest lies in the Creative Industry of Lebanon and the Digital Transformation of businesses in the region.  Ms. Hanna was the first to introduce full-fledged social media integration into her courses in Lebanon. Her students use these tools to com...