Promises from a mom to her unborn son!

I promise to,

-         not smoother you and let you grow up to be exactly who you want to be, and love you for it

-         pump you up with enough self confidence that you know you can do whatever you want to do; but also deflate any ego that might come with it

-         let you make your own choices once we agree you are mature enough to do that.

-         admit that your mature enough to make these choices

-         give you the opportunity to try everything, be it sports, music, art, so you can figure out your true calling (

-         be a cool mommy, but to also remember that I am your mommy even though it might be easier to be your friend

-         help you be cool even if it means putting up with an atrocious haircut

-         not embarrass you

-         never compare you with your friends

-         try and control my sometime compulsive self

-         not nag

-         trust you

-         make you understand that I will always be there when you need me and not be upset when you don’t

-         try and understand your point of view and remember what its like to be a child/teenager

-         hug you and tell you that I love you at every possible opportunity (I wont make it embarrassing for you)

-         tell you ‘what women want’ (only if you want me to and pls don’t go to your dad for this. He’s clueless)

-         be flexible and admit when I am wrong

-         learn as we go along and modify this list as needed.

Twitter- the new source of 'Breaking News'

The concept of 'Breaking News' has been bastardized by most television channels today but the term has seen a resurrection with the growing popularity of social media. This real time news source has given back to us the thrill associated with getting news that is sensational and actually just breaking in.
As Peter Horrocks was named the director of BBC Global News his advice to the BBC news journalists was to use social media as a primary source of information. This coming from the director of an organisation that, in its 2009 editorial guideline, mentioned social media only once and that too with a note of caution. This sudden change in attitude makes one wonder about the impact social media has has on the traditional news sources in such a shot span of time.
A recent study by 'The Neilsen Company' on the Haiti earthquake showed that 'Twitter Posts' were the leading source of discussion about the earthquake followed by online videos, blogs and other boards/forums.  While most online consumers relied on traditional media for indepth coverage of the quake, they turned to Twitter for breaking news, to share information, react to the situation and rally support.
Twitter also produced eyewitness accounts of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and when the US Airways jetliner crashed into New York's Hudson River, Twitter was among the first places photos of the landing were linked.
As an avid proponent of social media, I remember staring with disbelief at my twitter 'timeline' when the news of Michael Jackson's death poured in. Sitting at my desk at work, television wasn't something I could turn to for information but then who needed the sensationalizing boob tube when I had the world talking about it on a screen right in front of me. Thats when the true extent of the power of social media dawned on me. Later research showed that Michael Jackson’s sudden death dominated the web. Nielsen Buzzmetrics analysis showed that that more than 16% of tweets 24 hours after the news broke out, referenced Michael Jackson. Which is why sitting faraway in India I was one of the first few people to know about his demise.
Talking about India, living now as an ex-pat in the United States, social media is almost the only way I can get minute by minute updates, about, not just my friends and family but also about things happening in the country. The commonwealth games, that hardly received a mention in the US media,  was 'The' topic of discussion in India for most of the later half of 2010. Social media and more specifically Twitter was the only way I could get information on the latest hurdle, faux pas,victory or discussion that surrounded the games.
Call me a pollyanna if you wish, but I believe social media as a news source is here to stay and is going to completely change reporting as we know it. Having said that, I do not believe that social media will replace traditional media anytime soon, but it will dramatically change the way it functions. News papers, magazines, TV news channels, etc need to embrace this change and use it to their advantage. No one can deny the power of number and no matter how many reporters a news organisation hires, it can never compete with the power of citizen journalists. News organisations rather than fearing the growth of new media need to understand how they can use it to their advantage