Mind Soup

When looking for a job online, most people tend to go directly to Linkedin.com and create a profile while disregarding their existing social networks. What they don’t realize is that most employers search for potential employees on personal social networks before professional ones. I am going to discuss a few measures that you should undertake to survive an unexpected stalking from a potential employer. Firstly, your email address should be professional. Try to create a professional email address using your first name and last name, or first initial and last name. Email addresses like sexybeast69@aol.com or puppy_loveXOXO@msn.com will deter an employer from considering your resume. In addition, your email provider says a lot about you. If you are using AOL for example, you would give off an internet newbie vibe: "Hi. I'm from 1996. What is this internet that you speak of?“. If you use Hotmail, you are perceived as an amateur or a teenager: “Hi, I’m 16. Would you like...

After the success of “Blogging Lebanon” last December, Online Collaborative at the American University of Beirut proudly announces its annual conference for this year “Social Media Changing Lives”. There is no doubt that social media is expanding drastically in the world, and especially in the Middle East, yet this change is not only related to technology and the internet. Social Media is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives. The aim of this conference is to discuss how social media is changing fields such as education, culture, business, media and journalism, music and art, NGOs, politics, religion, human rights, science, the environment and the personal lives of everyone who is using them. This conference will be taking place on December 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM at Issam Fares Hall at the American University of Beirut . The conference is open to the general public, and is free of charge. However, due to the limited capacity, it is required that you register beforehand so yo...

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 ...

Twestival  (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date. Since 2009, volunteers have raised close to $1.2 million for 137 nonprofits. All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. In Beirut, Twestival is being organized by a great group of enthusiastic volunteers: @ naeema @ sanatawileh @ migheille @ lucyhanna and @ sdarine who have already raised USD 14,000 for their cause. Twestival Beirut is supporting Faire Face , to spread breast cancer awareness and psychological help for women with cancer, along with giving free mammography for women. How you can help: Vote for Twestival Beirut's logo so they can win USD 1,000 for the cause. Donate for the cause online Like their facebook page , follow them on...

MIND SOUP : Everyone knows that blogging has exploded recently in Lebanon. There's even a Blogging Convention in a mere couple of weeks where our very own Moudz will be in attendance! With that said, as blogging in general is becoming more and more popular in Lebanon, so are Lebanese LGBT blogs. The blogs are very new, less than a year old and two new ones popped up just this month. The themes of the blog are as diverse as the Lebanese LGBT community itself. Posts include favorite music, coming out stories, bad dates, and complaining about Lebanon (the hallmark of a Lebanese blog). Most of the blogs are anonymous (due to privacy concerns and the rampant homophobia still present in Lebanon). Beirut Boy : The author is a young, Lebanese businessman in his 20s. He posts about dating, music, fashion, and is an activist for gay rights in Lebanon. He (as well as many other bloggers) has joined the Save Aya campaign. Gay in Beirut : This blog mainly has humorous and light-hearted pos...

December is proving to be a very busy month for me, as well as social media enthusiasts and Arab intellectuals. Below are four conferences/forums/conventions To kick December off, AUB's Online Collaborative will be hosting its first Blogging Lebanon convention on December 3 where Lebanese bloggers and Arab and International bloggers in Lebanon in the area will be joining to share their experience and give valuable insight about the blogging scene in the Arab World. Click here for the latest information about this event . The Arab Thought Foundation is holding its annual conference " Fikr 9 " which will take place this year in Beirut on December 8 & 9 with a special workshop for youth on December 7. This year's conference has the theme of "Building the Future." The conference will address the major issues facing the Arab World. During my meeting with the organizers last week, they have expressed their great enthusiasm about welcoming bloggers who...

View of Club's Stands next to West Hall Today has been a very long day indeed, a long fruitful day. AUB's Online Collaborative had its debut today during Clubs day where cabinets and active members of clubs and societies gather around West Hall to recruit members. After struggling with the board for around an hour, we were set to go. The collage of social networking logos attracted many students who came closer to ask questions or take a flyer. Other students had surprised or even disgusted looks when they saw our stand. They don't know how important and crucial our work is. Many thought that we are a group of people addicted to facebook and trying to recruit facebook addicts into one group. Our humble board Boy, they are so wrong. What they don't know is how the whole world has its eyes fixated now on digital media, especially social media. News outlets are leaning more and more towards online media. Many politicians, organizations or event planners ...