Writer's Block

This is my bilingual blog. A personal space to express my thoughts in either English or Greek and deal with my writer's block. Stavros P [@stapap]

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Being Right Here

A year ago, I wrote my last blog post about being somewhere else. Friends and family often ask me to write more frequently, but lately I lack inspiration. When I visit my personal blog, I realize that most of my posts were written during the years we lived in Kuwait. Back then, writing was necessary.

In Kuwait, writing was a form of survival. A private, quiet rebellion. A way to release something that had nowhere else to go. It was an internal scream for professional freedom, one that could not be voiced openly without consequences. There is no doubt that our Middle Eastern social life was rich. Our friendships were real and deep. But the professional environment had become toxic. To get through the day, parts of myself had to remain silent. Thoughts were edited before they were even fully formed. That kind of silence takes a toll.

So I used to write. Writing became therapy. A way to reclaim space when physical and professional space felt limited. A way to breathe.

Now, those thoughts don’t exist in the same way.

Not because everything is perfect, but because the need to scream is gone.

Life in a small American town has been smoother. Not easier in every sense, but fuller. More vivid. More aligned with who we are and what we value. Our days are filled with activities that don’t just occupy time but actually mean something, at least to us, and that matters most.

I see my kids on stage, acting alongside incredible performers in community theater. I watch them commit to show choir, choir, band, orchestra, swimming, tennis, basketball, enjoying school life instead of just going through the motions. I see confidence growing in real time. I’m coaching youth soccer, something I always dreamed of doing. Watching “my soccer kids” win tournaments is rewarding, but watching them grow is priceless. I’m involved in the community through my courses, PR projects, fundraising, event planning. Nikoleta is doing it all: being the pillar of our household, helping the community through cooking lessons, serving on boards of sports associations, and engaging kids in various activities. Things that were nearly impossible to do meaningfully before.

That doesn’t erase what Kuwait gave us.

I’m proud of the Greek school we helped keep alive during times of crisis. Proud of being active members of the Greek community. Proud of the friendships forged during covid, some of the strongest relationships of our lives. Those years mattered. They shaped us. They defined us.

But here, despite the financial drop we knowingly accepted, we gained something harder to quantify: psychological breathing room. A sense that the future is open again.

There are days when uncertainty feels heavy. The green card process is exhausting. The waiting is nerve-wracking. But even then, hope outweighs fear. Maybe that’s why I write less now.

They say poetry and literature flourish in pain and sadness. Maybe there’s truth in that. Maybe constraints are what make us take creative risks. In my case, writing was that risk. And when they loosen, words stop pressing so hard to be heard.

I’m writing these lines as it starts snowing again. Even when I’ll be shoveling a driveway buried under fresh snow, I’ll feel content. Patient. Quietly optimistic. I feel like things are moving forward, day by day.

And that’s what being right here feels like.

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Being Somewhere Else

It’s a strange thing, the human heart. We are instinctively driven to yearn, dream, and plan for futures painted in brighter colors than our present. And yet, that very wiring often blinds us to the richness of where we are now. I’ve been thinking about this lately — about the quiet, persistent ache of always wanting to be somewhere else.

I think back to my childhood, those long, lazy holiday evenings surrounded by my loud Greek family. The house would be bustling with laughter, music, noisy TV, and chatter, but my thoughts were elsewhere, imagining a life far removed from the mundane rhythms of home. I would daydream of adventures in distant lands, all while barely noticing the beauty of the love and connection right before me.

Later, there were the days in Kuwait with moments of joy and gatherings with our friends who became our second family. And yet, even then, I dreamed of being elsewhere. I longed for greener landscapes and opportunities that seemed unreachable in that sandy and unfulfilling experience.

Now, here I am, in the place I once dreamed of. I’ve reached many of the milestones I set for myself, ticking off plans and goals like a careful architect. And yet… the ache remains. Because now, in those quiet moments, I miss the past. I miss the warmth of those childhood days, the long talks with my brother, the faces of loved ones who feel impossibly far away.

It’s a bittersweet realization: no matter where we are, a part of us will always be longing for somewhere else. It’s as though we carry the seeds of dissatisfaction within us, no matter the soil we find ourselves rooted in.

But maybe, just maybe, this ache is not something to fight but something to understand. Perhaps it’s a reminder of our capacity to feel, love and live deeply. Maybe it’s an invitation to pause, to take a deep breath, and to fully inhabit the moment we’re in — even if it isn’t perfect, even if it isn’t what we imagined.

Because somewhere in the missing and the longing, there’s beauty too. It’s the beauty of having experienced enough to know what it means to learn, love, and live with the people who welcomed us in all parts of this world.

And so, today, as snow falls steadily outside my window, turning everything white and quiet, I choose to pause and reflect. It reminds me to call a friend, to listen to a song a little louder, to play a board game with my kids, to embrace the small joys in front of me. The snow whispers that there’s beauty in stillness, in the here and now. While I might always dream of being somewhere else, I am here. And here, wrapped in this peaceful white silence, for all its imperfections, is enough.

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Relevant Reach and the New Era of Earned Media

In our fragmented media environment, reaching as wide a reach as possible no longer guarantees earned media success. Instead, the true value comes from contextual reach — targeting those audiences that are most relevant to your goals. The game has evolved and so should our approaches.

The Era of Media Bubbles

Our media landscape is built out of bubbles that each have their own influencers, channels, and audience needs. These bubbles aren’t merely places of activity; they are environments in which trust and authority are nurtured. There is little value in trying to see them all, much less effectively. Rather, it’s all about finding and mastering the bubbles that are relevant to your objectives.

Podcasts: Authenticity in Action

Podcasts provide the classic instance of this trend toward genuine, personal media. They’ve gone from being a niche channel to being the biggest driver of long-form communication. In contrast to conventional media, podcasts foster illegitimate and genuine conversational exchanges that are extremely personal. When Joe Rogan has a guest, viewers don’t just watch; they sit through hours of conversation. That’s an engagement level that no other format can match and shows the advantage of finding platforms that resonate with your audience.

The Newsletter Renaissance

Similarly, newsletters are undergoing a powerful resurgence. Platforms like Substack have enabled journalists and experts to build loyal, engaged audiences. These newsletters aren’t just about delivering news; they foster communities centered on shared interests and expertise. For niche professional audiences, a trusted newsletter often carries more weight than a mainstream publication.

The Power of Micro-Influencers

Another seismic shift is the rise of micro-influencers. While traditional media metrics focused on reach, micro-influencers demonstrate the power of relevance. A micro-influencer with 10,000 followers may deliver more impact than a national outlet by speaking directly to a highly targeted audience. This shift demands a reevaluation of success metrics—moving away from outlet prestige and focusing on engagement and action.

Gaining Executive Buy-In

To navigate this new landscape, executive buy-in is essential. Leaders must understand that influence today isn’t defined by traditional media credentials but by genuine connections with specific audiences. This requires a fundamental shift in perspective: success isn’t about reaching the most people but about engaging the right people.

Rethinking Media Strategy

Adapting to this new reality involves three critical steps:

Deep Audience Insight Go beyond surface-level demographics. Understand your audience’s behaviors, preferences, and trusted sources. What platforms do they use daily? Which voices influence their decisions? What content formats resonate most?

Strategic Channel Selection Success in earned media isn’t about targeting the biggest names; it’s about choosing the platforms and voices that matter to your audience. For example, an industry-specific newsletter might be more valuable than a front-page feature in a national newspaper.

Tailored Content Different platforms require different approaches. A polished message that works in a traditional interview might fall flat on a podcast, where authenticity and conversational tone reign supreme.

The Future of Earned Media

The future of earned media is not about polished sound bites but authentic, targeted conversations. Winning strategies will come from those who embrace this shift and adapt quickly. The audiences you seek are already engaging in meaningful conversations through channels they trust. The real question is: are you prepared to meet them there?

The transformation of earned media isn’t optional—it’s a necessity. Clinging to outdated tactics will only lead to irrelevance. Embracing this shift may feel unfamiliar or even intimidating, but it’s where the future lies. The path forward is clear: focus on relevance, master authenticity, and connect meaningfully.

Your audience is waiting—are you ready to take the leap?

Photo by Kerde Severin: Pexels.com

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Leap into the unknown

Ten years ago this month, we took the leap into the unknown. In September 2014, we left behind everything familiar—our home, family, friends, jobs, and routines—to embark on a journey that would first take us to Kuwait, and later to the U.S. At the time, we had a four-year-old daughter and a six-month-old son, and we had no idea how much this decision would shape our lives.

The transition to live in Kuwait was anything but easy. It tested our limits, especially mine, in ways I could never have imagined. But over time, things got smoother, largely thanks to the incredible friends we made along the way—Greeks and internationals alike—who became our second family. It was the strength of those relationships, more than anything else, that kept us there for nearly eight years. We’ll always be grateful to Kuwait for so much, but most importantly, for giving us the chance to welcome our third child into the world.

Eventually, I felt the pull to chase a personal dream, one that took us to the country that had long inspired my passion for education. With that, we turned another page, leaving Kuwait behind to build a new life in rural Iowa. The transition may have been a bit smoother this time, but it was still no small feat to rebuild from the ground up. Again.

Looking back on these ten years, we have no regrets. Leaving the comfort of our homeland wasn’t easy, and it never is when you take a leap into the unknown. But we did it. We swam through the challenges, got a few bruises along the way, but ultimately, we persevered. That’s the life of an expat—constantly embracing change, knowing that each new experience opens your heart, broadens your mind, and fills your life with stories to tell.

Saying goodbye to loved ones never gets easier. They’re the ones who keep you grounded, who remind you where you come from. But through it all, the adventures we’ve had together as a family have only brought us closer, even as we ventured further from home. Here’s to the journey so far and to whatever lies ahead.

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Καποιες πρωτοχρονιες της ξενιτιας

Στις πρωτοχρονιές της ξενιτιάς, η νοσταλγία παίζει παράξενα παιχνίδια και η σκέψη μου ταξιδεύει πάνω από πόλεις, ωκεανούς και ορίζοντες, μέχρι να φτάσει στην αγκαλιά της πατρίδας. Καθώς πλησιάζουμε τον δέκατο χρόνο της ζωής μας στο εξωτερικό, κυριαρχεί ένα περίεργο και γλυκόπικρο συναίσθημα όπου τα αν, τα γιατί, και τα ίσως δυναμώνουν.

Στην αποψινή μου βόλτα στην ήσυχη πόλη μου στην Πέλλα της Αϊόβα, με το ελαφρύ χιόνι να σκεπάζει σιγά σιγά τις παγωμένες αυλές, ξεκίνησα την ήσυχη ανασκόπηση της χρονιάς. Καθώς η μπάλα του νέου χρόνου κατρακυλάει προς το 2024, οι σκέψεις μου με ταξιδεύουν στα χωμάτινα δρομάκια της Ερέτριας, στα χρώματα του ηλιοβασιλέματος του Αττικού ουρανού από το δώμα της πολυκατοικίας στην οδό Βατάτζη, και στη ζεστασιά του σπιτικού μας. Παρα το ότι πάντα γκρίνιαζα για τη φασαρία των οικογενειακών συγκεντρώσεων και την κίνηση της παραμονής της πρωτοχρονιάς, αναπολώ τον απογευματινό καφέ με τον αδελφό μου στα Εξάρχεια, τη βόλτα στην παραλία το μεσημεράκι, το φαγητό της μαμάς, ή τη στιγμή που σβήναμε τα φώτα για να τραγουδήσουμε το «πάει ο παλιός ο χρόνος» με τέτοια χαρά λες και άλλαξε κάτι στη ζωή μας μέσα σε ένα λεπτό. Μετά, κλασικά οι ευχές πέρα δώθε για το νέο έτος, «καλή χρονιά», «καλή πρόοδο», «καλός φαντάρος», «να βρεις ένα καλό κορίτσι», «να προκόψεις», «να βρεις δουλειά», να, να, να...

Σε αυτήν τη φάση της ζωής μου που τα βλέπω όλα από μακριά, αντιλαμβάνομαι πόσο αδικούσα τις στιγμές αυτές, που μου φαίνονταν αυτονόητες. Είναι αυτή η γλυκιά νοσταλγία που παλεύει να μην γίνει λήθη όταν αγκαλιάζω πλέον ό,τι δεν εκτιμούσα αρκετά. Ο όρος νοσταλγία αναφέρεται αρχικά από τον Όμηρο. Θριαμβευτής από τον Τρωικό Πόλεμο, ο Οδυσσέας αναχωρεί για τον πατρικό του νησί, την Ιθάκη, για να επανασυνδεθει με την πιστή του σύζυγο, Πηνελόπη. Για 3 χρόνια, ο πλανώμενος Οδυσσέας πολέμησε τέρατα, κακοποιούς και κακόβουλους θεούς. Για άλλα 7 χρόνια, βρήκε καταφύγιο στην αγκαλιά μίας όμορφης θαλάσσιας νύμφης. Η Καλυψώ, του προσέφερε να τον κάνει αθάνατο αν παρέμενε μαζί της στο νησί της. «Συνειδητοποιώ πλήρως», της απάντησε ο Οδυσσέας, «ότι η φρόνιμη Πηνελόπη δεν μπορεί να συγκριθεί με το ύψος ή την ομορφιά σου, καθώς είναι απλώς θνητή, ενώ εσύ είσαι αθάνατη και αιώνια νέα. Ωστόσο, είναι αυτή που επιθυμώ καθημερινά. Επομένως, ποθώ το σπίτι μου και την επιστροφή μου στην ημέρα που θα γυρίσω».

Αυτή η ρομαντική δήλωση, μαζί με άλλες εκφράσεις του Οδυσσέα για τον πόθο του στο ομώνυμο έπος του Ομήρου, οδήγησε στον όρο νοσταλγία. Είναι ένας σύνθετος όρος, αποτελούμενος από τις λέξεις νόστος (επιστροφή) και άλγος (πόνος). Η νοσταλγία, λοιπόν, είναι κυριολεκτικά ο πόνος που οφείλεται στη συνεχή επιθυμία επιστροφής στην πατρίδα. Βέβαια, ο χρόνος συνεχίζει την πορεία του και η αγάπη για την πατρίδα παραμένει αναλλοίωτη. Και ίσως ακριβώς εκείνη η απόσταση, που με χωρίζει από την Ελλάδα, να καλλιεργεί αυτήν την ανθεκτική, όμορφη νοσταλγία, που κάθε χρόνο, τη νύχτα της ξενιτεμένης πρωτοχρονιάς, ανθίζει στην καρδιά μου.

Το επόμενο πρωί, επιστροφή στην καθημερινότητα. Στην όμορφη δουλειά μου, στο δικό μου σπίτι, στην ευχάριστη ρουτίνα μου. Βλέπω τα παιδιά μου χαρούμενα, πολύγλωσσα, κοινωνικά, ασφαλή να μεγαλώνουν σε ένα περιβάλλον που δεν θα μπορούσα να τους το προσφέρω στην Ελλάδα. Διαβάζω στον πίνακα στο δωμάτιο της Κωνσταντίνας ότι ευγνωμονεί την τύχη που την έφερε στην Αμερική, όσο και το ότι έζησε στο Κουβέιτ διώχνοντας όλες τις νοσταλγικές μου σκέψεις. Μέχρι του χρόνου, πάλι, σε άλλη μία ήσυχη πρωτοχρονιά της ξενιτιάς. 

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A Personal Journey from the Field to the Heart: Lessons Learned from Ted Lasso

As an avid sports enthusiast, I've always believed that "football is life." The thrill of the game, the camaraderie among teammates, and the invaluable life lessons learned on the field have shaped my perspective in countless ways. It's no wonder that when I stumbled upon the TV series "Ted Lasso," I was immediately drawn in by its blend of sports, humor, and profound wisdom. Little did I know that this show would resonate with me on a deeply personal level, not just because of my love for sports, but also due to my passion for teaching and coaching. "Ted Lasso" is more than just a show to me; it's a reflection of my own journey through life, sports, and education. I want to share how this series has touched my heart and how I see echoes of my own experiences in the life and leadership lessons imparted by the lovable Coach Lasso.

Finding Myself in the Beautiful Game

Growing up, my life revolved around a ball. Whether I was playing with my friends in the neighborhood or watching professional matches on TV, I was captivated by the sport's beauty and its ability to unite people from different walks of life. Like Ted Lasso, I've always believed that sports have a unique power to teach us about life itself. The dedication, discipline, and teamwork required in football are skills that transcend the field and apply to various aspects of our lives. "Ted Lasso" resonates with me not only because it explores the world of sports, but because it delves into the hearts and minds of its characters, revealing the complexities of their personal journeys. It's a reminder that, like in sports, life is a game of ups and downs, and it's how we navigate those challenges that truly defines us.

 

Teaching and Coaching: A Parallel Journey

My passion for teaching and coaching emerged naturally from my love for sports. Just as Ted takes on the role of a football (soccer) coach despite having minimal knowledge of the game, I found myself transitioning from being an average high school student to a mentor and professor of young and curious minds in different parts of the world, ranging from Europe to the Middle East, and recently in the United States.

 

"Ted Lasso" highlights the importance of leadership in the world of sports, and I've often found myself drawing parallels between Ted's coaching philosophy and my own approach to teaching and coaching. Alongside my career as a teacher and communication professional, I have the privilege of coaching young athletes, instilling in them not only the skills needed to excel on the field but also the values of sportsmanship, perseverance, and teamwork. The show reminds me that great leaders are those who genuinely care about their team members, foster a positive and inclusive environment, and believe in the potential of each individual. These principles resonate deeply with my own experiences in the classroom and on the field.

 

One of the key lessons from Ted Lasso is the importance of valuing everyone’s contributions and well-being. He makes everyone feel important and that they matter, regardless of their role or position. This is evident in his interactions with his players, coaching staff, and even his opponents. Ted is also a strong advocate for teamwork. He believes that the best results are achieved when everyone works together towards a common goal. He fosters a collaborative environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and feedback.

 

Another important lesson from Ted Lasso is the importance of empowerment. He trusts his coaching staff and players to make decisions and take ownership of their work. This gives them a sense of purpose and responsibility, which can lead to increased motivation and engagement. Ted Lasso is also a great believer in the power of feedback. He is always open to constructive criticism and welcomes suggestions from others. This demonstrates his genuine and consistent commitment to personal growth and development. Ted Lasso is a role model for empathetic leadership. He genuinely cares about the well-being of his team members and takes the time to understand their individual needs. This creates a supportive and positive work environment where everyone feels valued and respected.

 

"Ted Lasso" has not only entertained me with its humor and heartwarming moments but has also touched a chord in my heart, reminding me of the beauty of sports, the value of teaching, and the significance of positive leadership. As I continue to pursue my passions in education and coaching, I find inspiration in the wisdom and authenticity of Ted Lasso's character. The lessons from the series have become an integral part of my own journey, reinforcing the belief that in sports, teaching, and life, the most valuable victories are often the ones achieved together, as a team. By incorporating these lessons into our own lives, we can strive to be better individuals and create more harmonious and successful communities. As Ted would say, "Believe!"

 

My favorite Ted Lasso's quotes on life and leadership

"Be curious, not judgmental." This is one my favorite quotes. Approach situations and people with an open mind. Avoid making snap judgments, as it can hinder collaboration and understanding within a team.

 

"Success is not about wins and losses. It's about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field.” Ted Lasso's definition of success transcends the scoreboard. In leadership, it reminds us that true success lies in developing and nurturing the potential of those we lead. It's about personal growth, not just professional achievement.

 

“Be a goldfish.” Ted's advice to "be a goldfish" encourages us to let go of grudges and past mistakes, just as a goldfish has a short memory. Learn to forgive, forget, and move forward without carrying the weight of past grievances.

 

"Change can be scary fellas. We're broken, we need to change, and look, I know change can be scary." Change is an inevitable part of life. As leaders, it's crucial to acknowledge the fear of change and provide support and guidance to help others adapt and grow.

 

“I try to love my dad for who he is and forgive him for who he isn't.” Accept people for who they are, and forgiveness can be a powerful tool for healing and personal growth.

 

“The truth will set you free, but first it’ll piss you off.” Honesty is essential in both personal and professional relationships. While it may be uncomfortable initially, it paves the way for growth and resolution.

 

“Our greatest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure.” Confront your fears and challenges head-on, as they often hold the key to personal and professional development.

 

"Doin' the right thing is never the wrong thing." Uphold ethical principles even when it's challenging. Doing the right thing builds trust and integrity in leadership.

 

"We don’t NOT care, we care very much. We care about who you are and what you must’ve been going through.” Show empathy and understanding towards others. Leaders who genuinely care about their team members foster a positive and supportive work environment.

 

“Living in the moment, it’s a gift. That’s why they call it the present.” Embrace mindfulness and appreciate the present. Effective leaders focus on the task at hand rather than dwelling on past regrets or future worries.

 

“I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments, but rather by the strength we show when and if we’re ever given a second chance.” Recognize the capacity for growth in others and offer second chances when appropriate. It's an essential aspect of compassionate leadership.

 

"All people are different people." Celebrate diversity and recognize that each team member brings a unique perspective and strengths to the table.

 

"I want you to be grateful that you're going through this sad moment with all these other folks. There is something worse out there than being sad and that is being alone and being sad. Ain't nobody in this room alone." Do I need to explain this great line? Build a sense of community and support within your team. In challenging times, knowing that you're not alone can make a significant difference.

Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash

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My 43-degree life compass

Life should not be measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. It is within these moments that we find the true essence of our being, the rhythm that connects us to the world around us. As I turn 43 and reflect on my life's choices and moments, I am filled with laughter, tears, and everything in between. Through the highs and lows, the victories and defeats, I have realized the profound impact that setting goals can have on our lives. These 43 life goals for my 43 years of existence are not merely wishful thinking; they are the compass that guides my steps.

Be healthy and fit. Take care of your body by eating healthy, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep.

Learn new things. Expand your knowledge by reading, taking classes, and traveling.

Develop your talents and skills. Find something you're good at and pursue it.

Set goals and achieve them. Having something to work towards will give you a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Help others. Volunteer your time or donate to a cause that you care about.

Spend time with your loved ones. Make time for the people who matter most to you.

Travel and explore the world. See new places and experience different cultures.

Take risks. Don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things. If you don't jump first, you'll never know if you can fly.

Be grateful for what you have. Appreciate the good things in your life, big and small.

Live in the present moment. Don't dwell on the past or worry about the future. Focus on the here and now.

Be kind to yourself and others. Treat yourself with compassion and respect, and do the same for others.

Forgive yourself and others. Holding on to anger and resentment will only hurt you in the long run.

Be honest and truthful. Honesty is the best policy, even when it's difficult.

Take time to read. Reading expands your knowledge and perspective, so make time for it daily.

Take time to write. Writing is my therapy. It’s my time to reflect on what matters most.

Be responsible. Take responsibility for your actions and your choices.

Be courageous. Face your fears and challenges head-on.

Be persistent. Don't give up on your dreams, no matter how hard things get.

Be positive. A positive attitude will help you attract good things into your life.

Be optimistic. Believe in yourself and your ability to achieve your goals.

Be open-minded. Be willing to listen to different opinions.

Be adventurous. Try new things and step outside of your comfort zone.

Be confident. Believe in yourself and your abilities.

Be independent. Don't rely on others for your happiness or success.

Be self-reliant. Be able to take care of yourself and your needs.

Be self-aware. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.

Be humble. Don't think you're better than anyone else.

Be respectful. Treat others with respect, even if you don't agree with them.

Be honest. Always tell the truth, even when it's difficult.

Be fair. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Be compassionate. Show empathy and kindness. Take the time to listen and really understand the other person's point of view.

Be generous. Give of your time, money, and resources to others.

Be forgiving. Let go of anger and resentment.

Be patient. Don't expect things to happen overnight.

Be a dreamer. Set goals and don't give up on them.

Be creative. Express yourself through your creativity.

Be a teacher. Teach anything you care about. Love it!

Make listening a standard practice. Remain open to feedback and consider what is being said before responding.

Find inner peace and fulfillment. Live in alignment with your values and purpose.

Foster personal growth and continuous self-improvement through ongoing learning and self-reflection.

Be happy. Enjoy your life and make the most of every day.

Live life to the fullest but don't rush to everything at once. Not all life goals can be fulfilled in a year.  

Think big and aim high! There is always room for new goals.

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Πάμε κι όπου βγει

Δεν αντέχω! Είναι δυσβάστακτο, αδιανόητο, ανείπωτο το έγκλημα-δυστύχημα που έγινε στη χώρα. Πονάω από μακριά με τα όσα παρακολουθώ. Είχα σκεφτεί ότι δεν χρειάζεται να βγω κι εγώ να πω κάτι, αλλά το κάνω κυρίως για τη δική μου ψυχική υγεία, ψάχνοντας έναν τρόπο να εκφράσω όσα σκέφτομαι από τη μοιραία εκείνη στιγμή στα Τέμπη.

Κάθε μέρα σκοτώνουμε τα ίδια τα θύματα της αμαξοστοιχίας 62 με το εμπορικό τρένο. Μία πατρίδα σε μόνιμη κρίση αξιών. Ένα δυστύχημα που έβγαλε στη φόρα όλα μας τα στραβά και άσχημα. Έλλειψη ασφάλειας, διαχρονικά ψέματα, πολιτική ανικανότητα, ανθρώπινη αδιαφορία, μιντιακή συγκάλυψη, χοντράδες βουλευτών, παιχνίδια εντυπώσεων και συμφερόντων, γκάλοπ εκλογών και συζητήσεις για πολιτικά κόστη, διαδηλώσεις με συνοδεία αστυνομικής βίας, επίρριψη ευθυνών, βύσματα, πολιτικά κόμματα σε θέσεις μάχης, πολίτες στα κάγκελα, τηλεκριτές, λάσπη ένθεν κακείθεν, κλπ. Τι άλλο έλειπε; Μα τα βιτριολικά σχόλια ενός παπά, ο οποίος κατ’ επανάληψη προκαλεί το κοινό αίσθημα με απαράδεκτες δηλώσεις που προσβάλλουν τόσο αυτούς που πιστεύουν όσο και αυτούς που δεν πιστεύουν.

Έχω συγκλονιστεί από την στιγμή που άκουσα εκείνον τον επιβάτη-επιζήσαντα να αναφέρει την έκφραση που άκουσε από τους ανθρώπους των τρένων “Πάμε κι όπου βγει.” Σκέφτομαι πόσα όνειρα και πόσες συζητήσεις διακόπηκαν με μιας σε αυτό το ταξίδι Αθήνα-Θεσσαλονίκη. Πόσα “θα τα πούμε”, “θα σε καλέσω όταν φτάσω”, “μην ανησυχείς για μένα” θα μείνουν αναπάντητα. Πονάω με τους επιβάτες ενός τρένου που είχε αφεθεί στην τύχη του από διαχρονικές κυβερνήσεις, συγκεκριμένους βυσματίες σταθμάρχες και επιθεωρητές, δημοσιογράφους παπαγαλάκια και ψηφοφόρους οπαδούς. Χρόνια τώρα. Όχι μόνο σε εκείνα τα μοιραία 12 λεπτά που ταξίδευε στον θάνατο με την ελπίδα “όπου βγει”. Δεν θέλω να τσουβαλιάσω τους πάντες. Δεν είναι δίκαιο να σπειλώνουμε τη φήμη των πολλών για τους λίγους. Αυτοί είναι λίγοι και στον αριθμό και στην ανθρώπινη αξιοπρέπεια. 

Μέσα μου θυμώνω και με τον εαυτό μου. Για τις φορές που είπα “έλα δεν βαριέσαι” όταν τα έβλεπα και αδιαφορούσα. Για όσες φορές σκέφτηκα ότι “δεν είναι δικιά μου δουλειά” και πήγα παρακάτω. Ακόμα και για όσες φορές ήπια ένα ποτήρι παραπάνω πριν πιάσω το τιμόνι με την πεποίθηση ότι “δεν με πιάνει εμένα.” Γελοίες δικαιολογίες σε μία χώρα του “άστο για τον επόμενο”, του “εγώ είμαι αλλιώς” και του“έτσι είναι τα πράγματα εδώ”. 

Δεν αντέχω, ρε γαμώτο, να βλέπω την πατρίδα μου έτσι. Ζούμε το μαρτύριο του Σίσυφου, τιμωρημένοι να σηκώνουμε στους ώμους μας έναν βράχο ως την κορυφή ενός βουνού και κατόπιν ο βράχος να κυλάει πάλι κάτω ώστε να το επαναλαμβάνουμε αιώνια. Λυπάμαι για τα θύματα, τις οικογένειές τους, τους αγαπημένους τους και για όλους εμάς, που χάσαμε κομμάτι της ψυχής μας σε εκείνες τις ράγες. Δεν πρέπει να ξεχάσουμε τι έγινε, δεν πρέπει να το προσπεράσουμε. Δυστυχώς δεν έχω μεγάλες ελπίδες ότι κάτι θα αλλάξει για να μην ξαναγίνει. Και ίσως αυτή η σκέψη είναι που με πονάει περισσότερο.

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The joy of missing out

Upon scrolling through my Instagram account, I see posts from a business site about robotic fuel pumps, an advertisement from an internet provider, a story from a Greek news site about Google's artificial intelligence writer, football (soccer) related posts from coaches I follow, funny dog videos, more advertising for internet providers, etc. I got a bunch of random and incoherent facts about the internet, business, sports, and dogs from just a 3" scroll. How did I feel after viewing that? Immediately hooked and eager to scroll further until I find something more satisfying. Scrolling down the abyss made me feel more helpless and anxious. Is there an antidote to it?

Information like this would satisfy some people's desire to "be informed," or to put it another way, "be aware" of what is going on elsewhere. A small amount of FOMO could be relieved in three seconds. FOMO, or fear of missing out is the punchline of social media not missing anything. It is a feeling of anxiety that comes from the fear of not being included or left out of something. FOMO is often associated with social media, where people fear that they are not experiencing the same things as their peers or not participating in the same activities.

FOMO is one of the reasons why people join and maintain social media accounts. As with drag users, social media users become obsessed with checking what's going on. We don't want to miss an announcement, a news headline, a trend, a dance, a challenge, and anything else that usually adds no value to someone's life. As we try to catch up with what we are missing out on, we can experience feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, and irrational behavior. As a result, we may compare ourselves to others and feel jealous, as well as feeling overwhelmed and unable to keep up with life's pace.

What's the answer to FOMO? JOMO is an acronym coined by entrepreneur Anil Dash to refer to the joy of missing out. Taking a break from social media allows us to disconnect from the noise and distractions. By creating a space to take care of ourselves, we can enjoy the things we truly value, rather than being caught up in the fear of missing out on something. Kristen Fuller writes in Psychology Today that JOMO is an emotional intelligence antidote to FOMO. Rather than comparing our lives to others, we should focus on tuning out the background noise of "shoulds" and "wants" and letting go of concerns about what we are doing wrong.

What can we do to embrace JOMO? Don't live in the lives of others. Give yourself “tech-free breaks,” and permission to acknowledge your emotions. We can find happiness by being who we are now instead of trying to "keep up with the Joneses". Once our brain is free of competitive and anxious thoughts, we have more energy, time, and confidence to accomplish our true priorities. Spend time with people who support and uplift us, rather than criticize us for not living up to societal standards. Take time to appreciate the simple pleasures of life, such as an enjoyable walk, a cup of tea or a good book. Don't be afraid to take a break from technology; you will survive. All of these steps can help us let go of the need to compare ourselves to others, allowing us to truly embrace the joy of missing out.

As a final note, I will quote Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig's poem:

“Oh the joy of missing out.

When the world begins to shout

And rush towards that shining thing;

The latest bit of mental bling–

Trying to have it, see it, do it,

You simply know you won't go through it;

The anxious clamoring and need

This restless hungry thing to feed.

Instead, you feel the loveliness;

The pleasure of your emptiness.

You spurn the treasure on the shelf

In favor of your peaceful self;

Without regret, without a doubt.

Oh the joy of missing out”

Photo by Isaac Li Shung Tan on Unsplash

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Let's Be Real

"Are you on BeReal? You can post real photos to real friends," a student suggested. "With BeReal, you can express yourself authentically and connect with others without feeling that they judge you," the student continued. Due to the fact that I don't post "fake images to fake friends," I didn't need to "be real," but what the heck? I just joined to see what Gen Zs love about it. I don't get why we have to take (usually) unflattering selfies in front of closets, walls, and desks.

Authenticity and individuality are big things for Generation Z. BeReal encourages users to be vulnerable and build meaningful connections through features like journaling, anonymous sharing, and personal growth challenges. The app also provides a safe space for users to talk about their emotions and thoughts due to its focus on mental health and self-care. This makes BeReal's impact on this demographic palpable. BeReal resonates with Gen Z's values and beliefs because it's about being true to yourself, embracing your uniqueness, and rejecting societal pressure to conform. Young people are encouraged to live their lives with purpose, pursue their passions and dreams, and to be unapologetically themselves by this movement. Not to sound too judgmental, but we are talking about the same generation that idolized personas on Instagram and Tik Tok with all of their "bad habits" to filter, edit, crop, and post content to gather likes and monetize "fun".

Does this mean all social media apps post fake stuff? Well... No, all other social media apps don't (always) post fake content. Some users may feel pressured to present an idealized or curated version of themselves, rather than allowing authenticity and vulnerability. Unlike other social media sites, BeReal focuses on genuine self-expression and connection, while other platforms might emphasize likes, followers, and curated online personalities. That being said, the use of social media is subjective and everyone experiences it differently.

My previous article questioned the copycat culture of social media. Most of the content "creators" try to either copy a successful dance/challenge or comment on other people's videos. I find it utterly boring and non-creative, but apparently, joining such trends brings followers and eventually income. This is why it is critical to encourage creativity and originality by recognizing and rewarding original content that goes beyond simply replicating trends. For now, BeReal doesn't seem to be a platform to monetize content, but give it time. Originally Instagram was about capturing the moment, but now it's the land of whateverness.

Even though I'm not saying anything novel, it's helpful to identify why social media users copy each other. In the first place, it's because of social comparison. On social media, people can compare their success, popularity, or appearance to others'. To fit in or feel better about themselves, people can imitate other people's behavior, posts, or styles. In addition, there's the infamous influencer culture. The rise of social media influencers has made copying others a common behavior, as individuals aim to emulate the lifestyles, aesthetics, and behavior of popular individuals. Another factor that contributes to people replicating trends is FOMO. Ther Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) can also lead users to imitate others on social media, as they want to keep up with the experiences that others are sharing. In some cases, individuals may not have the creativity or originality to come up with their own content, leading them to copy others. Last but not least, copying others on social media is also a way to feel validated. This is because they may feel that they will receive more likes, comments, or followers if they imitate popular trends or behaviors.

It's pertinent to note that while copying others on social media can provide temporary validation or a sense of fitting in, it can also contribute to negative feelings such as low self-esteem and a lack of individuality. Copying others could lead to feelings of inadequacy when one's own accomplishments don't measure up to those of others. It could also lead to feelings of being inauthentic and not true to oneself, which can further contribute to a lack of self-confidence.

This is why I find BeReal so boring and intriguing at the same time. Since individuals want to express themselves on social media, it's far better to express their authentic selves and find their own voices. Even better if we can communicate outside of social media.

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Game Over or Level Up? About social media's not so social side

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg emailed my university account to introduce "The Facebook" as a way to reconnect with old classmates. Accepting the invitation, I was instantly drawn to social media. At that time, as part of a Computer Mediated Communication class, we had to evaluate several new social networking websites and determine which had the best chance of surviving. Many years have been spent researching and discussing the functionality and use of these new platforms, which today appear to be dying out.

Let’s face it. The social aspect of social media is fading away. Social media has become tiktokfied with short videos of “influencers” and “content creators” copying each other on who will demonstrate skills and expertise in 4-5 seconds. Millions of people essentially transformed from consumers to tastemakers, tech gurus, fashion icons, gamers, and celebrities overnight. Now, it’s all about creating content and then monetizing it. Users create videos not necessarily to connect with their friends but to get more likes and subscribers, which leads to extra income. Increasingly, creators encourage their followers to subscribe and enable notifications before watching their videos. The goal is to claim a category that makes money from affiliate ads and sponsors and then post “authentic” content.

Social media has changed from its original promise of connecting friends and socializing. Twenty years after its birth, Facebook's value has decreased by hundreds of billions of dollars. The recent layoffs of 11,000 Meta employees, Twitter's chaotic decisions, and the reported reduction in social media advertising expenditures are all signs that the era of social media and traditional advertising has never seemed more likely to alter. The future may be one in which online platforms are the primary source of income, users are self-employed content creators, brands are advertised only through influencers, and artificial intelligence adds value to brands through Metaverse applications.

A little bit of history

In spite of what many people believe, Facebook wasn't the first social networking site. Founded in 1997, Six Degrees was named after a Pulitzer-nominated psychological experiment. In the wake of the dot-com crash in 2000, Six Degrees shut down as people were just starting to use the internet to read the news and exchange emails. Six Degrees was too ahead of its time. MySpace, Friendster, and LinkedIn appeared in 2002. In 2004, Hi5 and Facebook were launched although the latter was available only to college students. Google also launched Orkut that year, but killed it later. AOL and Amazon launched Bebo in 2005. Google tried many times to join the social media landscape with Buzz and Google+ but both failed, as did many other services that challenged Facebook.

Image and video platforms such as Flickr and YouTube, as well as blogging platforms such as Blogger, Wordpress, and Tumblr shaped a content sharing generation of users. No doubt, the so-called Web 2.0 age has been defined by social media and user-generated content. Each social networking site claimed a certain territory, which allowed them to survive. Facebook was to connect with friends, LinkedIn promised professional network building, Instagram focused on capturing the present moment, Twitter became the main source for the news, and TikTok won the battle for being the most socially entertaining.

What may happen next?

Things and trends change so fast that it makes it impossible to predict the future. There are so many questions surrounding the use and adoption of new technologies like NFTs, crypto, blockchain, and metaverse. The shift of mega brands to metaverse is a sign, though. Nikeland on the metaverse has 7+ million visitors, Hyundai reports 43.2 million users in its Mobility Adventure, NFTs are sold on Shopify, Carrefour recently bought virtual land in The Sandbox, CocaCola partnered with Tafi to sell the first NFT collectible loot box for $575K, Gucci digital apparel are sold on Roblox, Louis Vuitton launched “The Game” to share the brand’s story through in-game NFTs, Wendy’s encourage Fortnite users to mess us with their digital burger in-game freezers, Balenciaga brought high fashion to Fortnite, and so on. The most impressive is JP Morgan becoming the first bank to open a virtual branch in the metaverse, and predicting a US$1 trillion market opportunity.

There is no doubt that social media will become less social in the future. Instead of communicating with friends, creators will share content with followers. Consumers will increasingly seek opportunities (niche markets) to become content creators. As new virtual environments and AI opportunities emerge, media announcers and marketers will be replaced by influencers. Is this something to worry about? I wouldn't say that. Social media has changed the way we communicate and do business for the last twenty years. Now is the time to be open and to discuss tomorrow.

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

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Artificial Intelligence: Complicated answers to simple questions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important as our world relies excessively on technology. AI has begun to play a more prominent role in our lives and societies. However, we are still unclear about its capabilities and limitations. As AI gets better at completing tasks that humans are traditionally responsible for, I want to offer my understanding of AI and record some practical implications in business with this post.

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages” (Artificial Intelligence, Oxford Dictionary, 2022). Similarly, AI is defined as a “branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior” as well as “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior” (Artificial Intelligence, Merriam-Webster, 2022). Both dictionaries and many other available definitions of AI give human ownership to the word “intelligence.” Despite the two definitions’ circular nature, mentioning the word ‘intelligence’ twice, they both point out that humans and machines are equally capable of cognitive processes.

The term AI refers to machines acting in ways that seem intelligent (Malone, 2018) and performing cognitive functions we still believe only human brains could do. The head of AI at the Chinese social media firm Baidu, and well-known for AI inventions, Andrew Ng, offers a less formal definition of AI. Ng argues that AI machines can replace any cognitive process humans need less than one second to process. Marvin Minsky, one of the fathers in the field, uses the term “suitcase” to define AI as a simple concept that contains multiple terms, ideas, and concepts. I would dare to define AI as a form of computer science that enables computers to learn and perform tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to do.

What can you do with AI?

In the business world, AI is nothing new. It has been used to help businesses automate tasks, improve customer service, and make better decisions. AI improves daily life by automating streamlined tasks and advancing human knowledge. We find examples of AI systems in home appliances such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, virtual phone assistants Siri, Cortana, or Google’s Assistant, smart compositions in Gmail, customer service chatbots, predictive searches in Google, workout suggestions based on our wearable devices, and sales recommendations in Booking or Amazon.

AI already impacts the way we do business and make decisions. New markets, business models, and jobs are created due to AI disruption, applying augmented and virtual reality, wearables, robotic process automation, and biometrics. AI evangelists claim that the early adopters of AI will disproportionately gain share over those companies that will hesitate or resist change. AI posits both a “huge opportunity and an ominous threat wrapped up in a bewildering bundle of algorithms and jargon” (Burges, 2018, p.1).

Some ways AI is already being used in business include:

- Automating customer service: Chatbots are a type of AI that can automate customer service (Daniel et al., 2019; Luo et al., 2019). They can answer questions, provide recommendations, and make bookings.

- Tracking and predicting patterns: AI can track the spread of diseases by monitoring factors such as travel patterns and social media posts (Balwani et al., 2019). AI can also predict how people buy things or move in physical environments (shopping malls, parks, etc.) (Leung, Paolacci, and Puntoni, 2018).

- Helping with decision-making: AI can help businesses make better decisions by providing recommendations based on data (Bennett & Hauser, 2013). For example, companies like Amazon and Netflix use AI to recommend products and movies to customers based on their purchase history and viewing preferences.

What else should we know about AI?

Today, AI systems are being implemented in organizations to offer a new business reality, which involves image and speech recognition, big data, clustering information, Natural Language Processing (NLP), optimization of business solutions, and prediction of risks and benefits. The need for market expansion and customer experience personalization has led managers to seek innovative ways to introduce and integrate digital technologies into their business models through big data, image processing, and customer service.

- The use of big data consumer analytics transforms the business on its infrastructure, human capital, and organizational structure (Erevelles et al., 2016).

- AI is in its infant stage of recognizing images and turning them into words and then aiming to give meaning to those words.

- AI-powered service agents offer real-time available customer service to initiate discussions and build customer relationships (Mimoun et al., 2017). Godey et al. (2016) argue that as machines learn from interactions with humans, AI applications improve accuracy and increase performance. Brands in the fashion industry such as Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, H&M, and Louis Vuitton have adopted automated service agents as part of their AI-powered marketing communication strategies.

There is a wide range of applications of AI in business, ranging from fraud detection, research insights, crisis response, inventory optimization, and talent acquisition to medical diagnosis, customer service chatbots, digital assistants on smart devices, learning tutors, and e-commerce recommendations (Martin, 2018). AI is being utilized to help enterprises source materials and goods from vendors, as well as integrate vast amounts of data for strategic decision-making. Because AI technology can analyze data at a fast speed, it plays a vital role in speeding up the costly trial-and-error process of product development — an essential step toward efficiency. Also, healthcare consultants believe that the most significant impact will be in data analysis, imaging, and diagnosis. They feel that AI has the potential to search and filter medical knowledge about a disease for humans to make the final decision for treatment.

Is everybody excited about AI?

Not all researchers share the same excitement about AI. Many believe that the actual integration of AI in business is a slow process, not worth the buzz and the investment at the present state. AI researchers are concerned about adopting AI from businesses that do not rely on digital services, such as hotels, restaurants, and education. An actual worry about AI is to what extent organizations can leave a machine to decide on strategic goals when AI lacks empathy, intuition, and real-life experience. Past examples in business have shown that decisions that have been based solely on intelligence and facts did not work well with humans.

Scholars argue that AI is the next wave of digital disruption. However, many business leaders seem unsure of what to expect from AI and how it fits into their business model. On the one hand, technology leaders examine methods to use AI to improve customer service quality, responsiveness, and business effectiveness. On the other hand, scholars highlight doubts about AI’s disruption in business. The 2017 MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group global survey highlights that almost 85% of more than 3,000 executives, managers, and analysts across business sectors see positive outcomes from AI’s disruption (Ransbotham, 2017). Nevertheless, less than 39% of all companies participating in the global survey follow an AI strategy. Only half of the largest companies (>100,000 employees) admitted that they would consider AI in the future.

What’s next?

As we try to understand AI, it is essential to remember that AI is still in its early stages. There is a lot of research being done in the area. However, there is still a long way to go before saying that AI truly understands people as much as people understand AI. The rapid proliferation of technology has set the ground for integrating AI into our lives. Broadband internet connections, powerful computer processing, cloud storing, smart devices penetration, and ubiquitous mobility shape today’s business technological landscape. AI will fundamentally impact our lives only when we develop empathetic applications that understand and react to people’s emotions and needs.

References

Artificial intelligence, n. (2022). Oxford English Dictionary; Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/271625?redirectedFrom=artificial+intelligence#eid

Balwani, N., Dash, A., Das, A., Das, L., Misra, S., & Ghose, S. (2019). Robo-Advisory: An Investor’s Perception. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 23(3), 874–884. https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v23i3/pr190376

Bennett, C. C., & Hauser, K. (2013). Artificial intelligence framework for simulating clinical decision-making: A Markov decision process approach. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 57(1), 9–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artmed.2012.12.003

Daniel, G., Cabot, J., Deruelle, L., & Derras, M. (2019). Multi-platform Chatbot Modeling and Deployment with the Jarvis Framework. Advanced Information Systems Engineering, 177–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21290-2_12

Definition of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. (2022). Merriam-Webster.Com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artificial%20intelligence

Erevelles, S., Fukawa, N., & Swayne, L. (2016). Big Data consumer analytics and the transformation of marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 897–904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.07.001

Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh, R. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5833–5841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.181

Leung, E., Paolacci, G., & Puntoni, S. (2018). Man Versus Machine: Resisting Automation in Identity-Based Consumer Behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 55(6), 818–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243718818423

Luo, X., Tong, S., Fang, Z., & Qu, Z. (2019). Frontiers: Machines vs. Humans: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Disclosure on Customer Purchases. Marketing Science, 38(6). https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1192

Malone, T. W. (2018). Superminds: The surprising power of people and computers thinking together. Little, Brown And Company.

Martin, N. (2018, November 11). How AI Is Revolutionizing Digital Marketing. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolemartin1/2018/11/12/how-ai-is-revolutionizing-digital-marketing/#48272c331f62

Mimoun, M. S. B., Poncin, I., & Garnier, I., M. (2017). Virtual Sales Agents: The Reasons of Failure. In C. L. Campbell (Ed.), The Customer is NOT Always Right: Marketing Orientations in a Dynamic Business World. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham.

Ransbotham, S. (2017, September 6). Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence. MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/reshaping-business-with-artificial-intelligence

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Marketing needs marketing: Modern challenges call for answers

“Why should I study marketing when I’m already using social media and Google Ads to promote my business?” I got this question from a mentee on LinkedIn’s Career Advice mentoring program. She was a college student of Biology without any previous learning experience in marketing communications. Nevertheless, she was a digital native, a Gen Z, who used “tablets, stylus and smart boards in school instead of chalk and marker,” as she said. Her favorite school project was video editing and starting a YouTube channel. Mine was to study with friends for an upcoming exam. We discussed beyond the typical “how to get a job” or “what else to do to strengthen my resume.” It was mutually rewarding talking to a young person (neither friend nor student) and exchanging thoughts and views.

I study Generation Z since 2010 as I want to understand how they learn, talk, work, get entertained, create jobs, and make a living. They are probably the fastest generation of self-made millionaires in history. Among their many behavioral characteristics, Digital Natives seek three things: 1. Instant gratification, 2. Public approval, and 3. Social entertainment. Digital Natives can be impatient and creative professionals with a strong sense of entitlement. Older generations accuse them of being quitters, unsatisfied, superficial, and melodramatic. Gen Z grew up more sheltered than any other generation because their parents felt they were protecting them from all kinds of danger. Although they look ambitious, they are not entirely focused on career, at least in the terms defined by previous generations. Digital Natives are digitally social but physically anti-social. They earn to spend and not to save. Digital Natives aim at combining work, life, community involvement, and self-development. They are flexible with time, job sharing, and remote working. Digital Natives set different priorities than us and are capable of achieving on their terms. Overall, they are an exciting generation. Don’t you think?

Marketing Evolution

A catchy advertisement on mass media was enough to drive sales in the 60s. Mom and dad would watch the ad before buying the product labeled “as seen on TV.” In the 90s, marketers were already launching campaigns, conceptualizing the importance of the strong message that builds brands. People loved the concept of branding, and Nike’s “just do it” became the motto for a whole generation of entrepreneurs. Today, things are complicated. Modern marketers who launch campaigns with catchy advertising messages without considering other factors will eventually fail. Why?

Two reasons:

1. Brands are different. They are not based on an ad message telling people what to do. Modern brands offer a digital experience inviting consumers to join. They shape people’s realities and provide solutions to real-life situations. As soon as the brand develops a new understanding, both digital and traditional marketing tools invite consumers to join. This unique digital experience demands new strategies that bring social, mobile, and local marketing closer. In other words, today’s marketers are like good hosts at a big party with guests. They have to organize the party, ensuring its success and leaving no guests complaining. Brand reputation matters more than brand recall.

2. Consumers are different too. Modern consumers are elusive, tech-savvy, content-oriented, omnichannel shoppers, collaborators, and social sharers. Consumers are digital storytellers, just like marketers. With the rapid proliferation of social media and mobile devices, consumers have strengthened their position as valid opinion leaders. Who is stronger anymore? A newspaper that sells 1,000 issues a day or a Twitter user with millions of followers? Imagine a young college student, back in 1995, working part-time for an electronics retail store. He takes his job seriously and gives his best to serve every customer. His high quality of customer service is appreciated by a gentleman who kindly sends a letter to the young salesman’s supervisor, thanking him and the company for their dedication to excellence. Today, the same customer would have done things differently. As we are all witnessing the age of digital consumers, our story’s customer would post his positive review on the company’s Facebook page, tweet with a relevant hashtag to his Twitter followers, give thumbs up on the product’s YouTube channel, mention his new gadget on Instagram, write on his blog, leave a review on Yelp or Google Reviews, and so on.

What has changed over the last 20 years?

Social media has changed how people communicate, stay informed, get entertained, and do business. Nowadays, consumers feel more important than the brand. They understand that their voice is enough to affect other people’s decision-making process. They produce content anywhere, at any moment, and to anyone. Nothing is private anymore. Reviews, either positive or negative, are to be shared. Social networking sites are the modern megaphones of messages. At the same time, consumers use them to share their stories in far-reaching and widely public and digital avenues. Consumers do not simply consume or love brands; they breathe them.

As consumers are rapidly moving between channels and platforms, marketers find it challenging to implement an integrated marketing strategy. In today’s highly cluttered digital marketing environment, marketers need to comprehend a new breed of consumers. Smartphones are empowering consumers and transforming shopping and recreational behaviors. Shopping used to be fun. Now it is much more than that. It is a game with immediate rewards and a chance to get in touch with friends and followers. Inevitably, marketing is becoming Phygital — physical and digital work together, simultaneously, and interdependently. As connected devices and mobile data become more affordable, people will ubiquitously connect through mobile applications such as WhatsApp, Zoom, and Messenger to connect, promote, and criticize.

The Social, Local, and Mobile Landscape

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are growing as human communication channels to allow brands and consumers to engage in public discussions. As social media becomes the main source of information, communication, and entertainment, marketers will be discovering highways of business opportunities.

The rapid proliferation of advanced smartphones and other mobile devices allowed people to exchange information by pinpointing consumers’ location and providing them on their mobile devices with location-specific advertisements. The integration of mobile advertising with location-based services is what characterizes location-based advertising.

Wireless networks have become superfast and ubiquitous. Mobile marketing can provide consumers with personalized information based on their location and the time of receipt. To use simple words, consumers are more attached to their phones than their personal computers, providing marketers with new tools and opportunities to fish where the fish are. Today everybody has a voice. Consumers have their voice, brands reply, and followers react.

Marketing Revisited

Advertising blooms from the early existence of humanity, as people influence each other, using any means they have. Until recently, brands relied heavily on traditional marketing tools such as television ads, print ads, brochures, posters, and radio ads to communicate with their target markets. With the development of online platforms, brands communicate directly with their consumers seeking immediate and accurate feedback.

The desire of every business or brand is primarily to approach new customers. Then, to progressively build relationships with them, and finally, convert them to loyal customers. For that purpose, digital marketing has distinct differences from traditional marketing. In digital marketing, the achievement of acquisition, conversion, and retention may be fulfilled in multiple ways. Marketers are the tour guides in the customer journey. They should understand the communication touchpoints and know when and how to speak.

It makes no sense to shout for attention when nobody is ready to listen. It’s like going outside a school and trying to sell stocks! Nobody likes party crashers (well, almost nobody)! We used to say that a marketing plan needs to master the 4Ps: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Today, we need to know what people (not only customers) think about issues that go beyond our brand and market. The modern marketer needs to be a businessperson, a sociologist, a good writer, a strategist, a scientist, and above all, a competent listener.

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Hey, Millennials, it’s not your fault, but deal with it.

Let’s say you were born between 1990 and 2000. You are a Millennial or a member of Generation Y because you came after my Generation X. I know, the name lacks imagination, but anyway. You read books and watch TED talks and YouTube videos on Millennials in the workplace, which make you wonder: “Am I so indifferent, immature, narcissistic, lazy, impatient, spoiled, selfish, coddled, and delusional as they say?” My answer is “Hell No,” and I will explain why.

Are millennials narcissists? The National Institutes of Health, an agency of the US Department of Health & Human Services, reports that Millennials display Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which is three times higher than the older generations (Young et al., 2016). Millennials are described as snowflakes, needy young people who ask for constant praise due to their low confidence (Collins, 2019). The media portrays Millennials as unable to develop stress coping mechanisms, unaware of the 9–5 work schedule, wanting to “make an impact” without working for it.

In his Talk on Impact Theory, Simon Sinek discusses with Tom Bilyeu why Millennials are struggling in the workforce (Bilyeu, 2017). Sinek lists many reasons why Millennials may feel depressed at work. His four main focus areas are ineffectual parenting, impatience, technology, and the contemporary corporate environment. Sinek’s talk has gone viral since day 1, being broadcasted on multiple versions on YouTube and Spotify podcasts. Sinek accuses Millennials’ parents of employing failed strategies to describe a fake reality to children, raising them as the center of the universe, the special ones who can have anything in life just because they want it. Similarly, in How the Millennial Generation Works, Alia Hoyt and Jane McGrath (2019) call Millennials a product of helicopter parents who “vehemently encouraged the importance of self-esteem,” developing unrealistic expectations, constant appraisal, approval, and promotions to future disloyal job-hoppers.

Here is Sinek’s talk animated as a graphic novel by Kram Gallery for AfterSkool.

Sinek argues that technology creates a distorted reality for Millennials. Social media replaces parents in offering instant gratification, participation ribbons, pumped self-esteem, and other social boosters. “Technology can be highly addictive to Millennials, as much as smoking and drinking,” Sinek says. Dan Schawbel (2012), in a study on Millennial Branding’s Gen Y Workplace Expectations, points out two more stereotypes about Millennials. Lack of loyalty and entitlement. Millennials are described as soft self-esteem-focused employees who expect trophies, badges, and mini rewards for “just doing their jobs.” Also, employers complain that the young workforce has “unrealistic salary expectations, poor work ethic, and is easily distracted.” Millennials are accused of expecting to land a dream job upon graduating from university, which will offer them good money and flexible working hours.

This funny short video with a Millennial’s job interview shows some of the generation gap stereotypes.

Psychologist Lisa Firestone (2019) argues that the corporate world becomes a scary place for the Millennials who feel intimidated, unappreciated, and eventually lonely. Millennials are encouraged to learn patience and develop professional skillsets to compete in the real world. The general impression is that Millennials are quitters, unsatisfied, superficial, and depressed young people who want to make an impact without wanting to work hard for it. Strauss and Howe (2000), in the book Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, advise sarcastically to tell an intriguing story about some deep insight you gained by looking closely and finding the pattern and don’t sweat the research and math because they’re hard and boring.

Personal Apology

I apologize for all this blaming and flaming on behalf of Generation Xers. Millennials can’t be that bad. It’s unfair to demonize Millennials for our mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and somehow, we forget that every generation has entered the workforce with suspicion by the older ones. Millennials enter a workforce that inequality and plutocracy characterize it. Millennials need to deal with limited job options, various employment schemes, global competition, outdated educational systems, technological automation, AI-driven organizations, jobs unable to pay a living wage, and minimized saving potential. Do you want more? Let’s add unemployment due to a global economic recession, COVID-19, climate change, and many other external factors that create uncertainty and portray a dire future.

We cannot afford to raise a generation of professionals who feel like failures. We call them spoiled, but we offer them immediate gratification because it gives us more money to have happy clients. This way, we rob Millennials of another important life lesson: the ability to earn something. We keep feeding them at home and school with rewards to offer instant fixes. We describe them as impatient who do not work for their personal and professional relationships. Nevertheless, we ask them to grow, study, take exams, love, hate, think, speak faster. We do not teach them how to listen, though. It’s no surprise that some millennials feel as they have failed in life if they are not millionaires by the age of 20. Social media portrays young online gamers and social influences as high-lifers who serve as a rule and not the exception. Parents encourage their children to play on camera to attract toy companies and other sponsors.

J Mertz (2017), a Millennial with the nickname Diogenes, in a post titled “Why Are the Snowflakes Angry?” describes how his generation feels about all these accusations (I hope the author is ok with the long quote).

“We saw companies abandon any pretense at loyalty to employees (that thing our grandparents could count on). No more long-term incentives. No more bonuses. No more pensions. We saw people we knew suffer, and somehow everyone at the top, businessmen and politicians alike, came out unscathed. To enter, be in college, or just leave college around then was sobering and terrifying. We were told our entire lives by parents, teachers, coaches, principals, mentors, and anyone with gray hair that if we just went to college and got a degree, everything would be ok. Everyone was shoved on the college prep path. No trades — that was for the dumb rednecks. I even thought that for a while in high school, and I am ashamed of that when I look back. Have fun in college, get that degree, and everything will be ok. You’ll get security, get married, buy a house, and all that jazz. Except that didn’t happen. Not even close. My generation took out loans due to an intense societal pressure to go to college before many of us really knew what we wanted. We were told we were special, and we believed it. We were told we would change the world, and we believed it. Right up until we put on a Starbucks apron and our student loan payments came due. So we moved back home. We didn’t have much of a choice. Buying a house? You’ve got to be kidding me. I am well-paid in Silicon Valley, and I laugh in the face of the middle-aged crowd when they tell me to buy a house, like coming up with a $200K down payment is as easy as hunting for coins in my couch cushions. Then the demonization started. We found the same generations that told us we would change the world and had unique gifts to offer the world turned on us and started calling us names for somehow failing at the formula that had worked for them. We should have known, dammit! We should have known not to listen to those crazy liberal professors (and which generation do these professors belong to again?), not to take out loans, not to get that degree in a field we loved. … You might be surprised how much we open up and become grateful. I think we just want to be seen as people caught in a bad situation. We aren’t helping ourselves for sure, but calling us names will only fuel the emotional and irrational anger. If you’re my age, find someone your parents age or older, and listen to their stories. If you’re over 40, find someone born after 1985 and just listen to them. The rantings will burn out after a while, when we see you really do care and want to listen. Let’s all stop bucketing people by qualities they can’t help, particularly by the year they were born.”

What’s the deal?

I have the pleasure and opportunity to teach Millennials in higher education for more than 15 years. My dissertation on Digital Natives allowed me to profile their needs and wants before making their transition to work. Digital Natives are those people who cannot recall their lives without the internet, demonstrating a natural inclination to the digital world (Prensky, 2001). My doctoral research in 2014 taxonomized the following personality traits of the new generation of employees, who I called Social Natives.

1. Morality-oriented

Social Natives express their concern about the current economic situation in the world. They do not want to give up, though, as they aim for a satisfying career. The current situation made them more mature, redefining what is essential and what is not. They seek honesty, vision, and stability from their future employers. They appreciate hard work but on their terms. No to the 9–5 model, yes to remote working. They are more cautious than ever to avoid making the same mistakes their parents did.

2. Achievement-oriented

Social Natives seek new challenges. They are not afraid of changing careers and jobs if their needs and ambitions are not satisfied. They will not stay loyal to a company that does not satisfy them. They dream of starting their own startup business using social media’s power to make a living. They have a much stronger entrepreneurial mindset than the older generations. They are risk-takers, goal-oriented, and want to achieve in their lives, anywhere in the world. They see no boundaries to pursue their professional careers.

3. Technology-oriented

Social Natives use computers and mobile phones all the time. The lines between personal and professional lives are blurred. They start by playing games and want to experience any new technology and trend they are aware of. Their learning ability to new software is impressive. The current economic situation is not seen as a problem but rather as an opportunity for online entrepreneurship. Unlike their parents, social natives do not seek standardized employment. Instead, they are far more likely to opt to start their careers as pampered information or technological employees or as self-employed online entrepreneurs. They also work ubiquitous hours and in random locations. Most indicate that freedom from workspace limitations leads to productivity.

4. Autonomy-oriented

Social natives want to become leaders of change. They seek employers who are open to new experiences. They aim for intelligence and innovation in their workplace. Social natives can work from home because a typical office may be quite restricting to develop their creative side. Millennials aim for flexible work conditions that allow them to develop new transferable skills. Although social natives seek career stability, they keep an eye on social media to be ready for their next chapters.

In conclusion

Are Millennials spoiled and narcissists or hard-working and flexible employees? As always, the truth is in the middle. Millennials are not a failed generation. They are just different. Digital culture comes with great excitement and great responsibility. Millennials need to find balance as much as we do. I'm not too fond of the generation gap concept. Nobody is entitled to be called the best generation!

Simplicity may be the answer. We should all live simply, eat healthily, and exercise regularly. Make peace with the idea of being ordinary and focus on long-term achievements. Embrace diversity and aim for mutual understanding. Avoid anything fast. Fast food, fast pleasure, fast money, fast glory. Enjoy the small and meaningful things in life. Build a better life, brick by brick, and earn every piece of it. Nobody will take it away from us.

References

Bilyeu, T. (2017, June 25). Simon Sinek on the millennial question. Impact Theory. https://impacttheory.com/blog/simon-sinek-millennial-question-tom-bilyeu/

Collins, T. (2019, May 15). Millennials and Gen Z really ARE snowflakes. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7033111/Millennials-Gen-Z-really-snowflakes.html

Firestone, L. (2019). Why millennials are so lonely. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/compassion-matters/201909/why-millennials-are-so-lonely

Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. Vintage Books.

Hoyt, A., & McGrath, J. (2019, April 19). How the Millennial Generation Works. HowStuffWorks. https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/generation-gaps/millennial-generation.htm#pt1

Mertz, J. (2017, August 19). Why are the snowflakes angry? J Metz’s Blog. https://jmetz.com/2017/08/why-are-the-snowflakes-angry/

Papakonstantinidis, S. (2014). Social recruiting: Exploring the impact of social networking sites on digital natives’ occupational opportunities [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Leicester]. https://hdl.handle.net/2381/28623

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816

Schawbel, D. (2012, January 9). Millennial branding Gen Y & Facebook study. Workplace Intelligence. http://workplaceintelligence.com/millennial-branding-gen-y-facebook-study/

Young, S. M., Du, F., Dworkis, K. K., & Olsen, K. J. (2016). It’s all about all of us: The rise of narcissism and its implications for management control system research. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 28(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar-51024

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My seven life lessons from sports

Life, like sports, is much more than winning or losing. Neither life nor sports gets easier with time. We need to become better at dealing with different challenges along the way. Being an amateur athlete, a young sports journalist, or simply a fan, I have gained some great life lessons from sports, which helped shape my professional character.

Lesson 1: Keep practicing

Life requires hard work. I encourage perseverance, passion, and devotion. I was not the best student in high school, but when I decided to study in the United States, I made an unbreakable promise. Never stop trying to be better. I knew that I needed to work more than others to stand out in a competitive academic environment where most of my friends and classmates were native English speakers. NBA Champion Kevin Durant said, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” We need to work on our weaknesses and not rely on our strengths. We can only get better by working and living with passion.

Lesson 2: Live with confidence

To enter the dojo, you need to believe in yourself. Look straight and step in. This is what my Karate Sensei was telling me before any Kumite. I had to trust my skills and face the opponent with respect and no fear. Education is a personal struggle, like a sports game. I learned a lot from my interactions with professors, colleagues, and students. Everyone has something to offer and a story to tell. Respect, listen, empathize, find meaning, connect, make sense, and live with confidence—my simple rules of life.

Lesson 3: Focus on teamwork

Having great teammates is priceless. Whether I practice Karate or play a team sport, I know that I need to stand by my teammates. Sometimes I lead, and sometimes I follow. That is all part of the game. My professional experience reflects how much I value teamwork. As much as my colleagues help me get better at communicating, teaching, writing, and researching, I want to help people advance in their careers and cultivate a culture of openness, diversity, mutual respect, and excellence. Teamwork requires sacrifices, conflicts, and humility before celebrating achievements. As the basketball legendary coach Phil Jackson said, “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.”

Lesson 4: Respect the game either you win or lose

Sports and life have ups and downs. Sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose. Success and failure are close, and we need to accept both ends. My professor and academic advisor in the States, Dr. Jia, offered me a great life-lesson. For many semesters at SUNY New Paltz, I was getting straight A’s in all courses. Professor Jia used to say that he would be even prouder the day I would bring him a transcript with some B grades, and I would be equally happy for trying and giving my best. He was trying to prepare me to deal with future failures and see them as part of life. I will always be grateful to him.

Lesson 5: Learn to listen… and contribute too

We may learn by studying, but we understand with listening and practice. I am a person who gets energized by social interactions. Every person has something valuable to share. Everyone! Listening helps me collect several stories and life-lessons from other people’s fascinating lives. This is why I listen with my ears, eyes, heart, and undivided attention, which helps me express my thoughts both in my classes and my writings. My love for communication goes beyond talking and includes a lot of writing. I write books, research papers, technical reports, posts in my Greek blog writersblock.gr, and articles in Medium.com. I love Winston Churchill’s quote, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Don’t you agree?

Lesson 6: Be an active citizen

We all need to contribute to moving our community forward. As a father, teacher, and active citizen, I have a great responsibility to lead by example and be an active citizen. I truly support active citizenship getting involved in local communities. I volunteer in the Greek community in Kuwait by designing the official website www.greeksinkuwait.com, offering Greek language lessons and other culture-oriented workshops to kids for free. I have also helped establish the first official Hellenic Community in Kuwait and organized several events for all Greeks and Cypriots living in the country. Similarly, I offered Greek language lessons to Greek-Americans, joined a group of enthusiastic people to promote an alternative lifestyle on the island of Ikaria through ikariamag.gr participated in several dancing groups and volunteered in joining SUNY’s peer counseling center. You don’t need to wait until the right moment comes to be an active citizen. Set an example, keep the environment clean, educate young people, and offer your free time for the common good—small but important steps towards building healthy societies.

Lesson 7: Enjoy life

All lessons above lead to this final one. Life should be embraced with happiness and love. We are responsible for our health, environment, and community. I feel grateful for having a wonderful family, amazing friends, and a life filled with great experiences and lessons. All in all, life should be meaningfully fun, which is why we need to go out and play!

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The Hashtag Generation: From Digital to Social Natives

Hashtags are words or phrases preceded by the pound sign (#) that function as keywords to allow social media users to engage in online discussions. Think of hashtags as “categories” of online threads that social media users follow to communicate with people they do not necessarily know. All they need to do is to follow or sometimes create the relevant hashtag and join a global discussion that the hashtag word or phrase signifies. For example, if you want to know what Twitter users talk about Black Friday, you can search online to find the relevant hashtag #blackfriday and read what people write about last-minute deals or happenings. How did it all start?

The birth of the hashtag generation began from Twitter and has gone viral to all social networking sites. In 2007, the web developer Chris Messina suggested, in a tweet, that users should be grouping their topics using a keyword followed by the pound sign (#) to allow other users to follow particular conversations even if they were not connected. Although Twitter did not seem to favor Messina’s idea, in October 2007, San Diego citizens started sharing information about the forest fires in the area. Messina suggested using the hashtag #SanDiegoFire every time they were tweeting news about the forest fires. That was it. The hashtag #SanDiegoFire became the first trend on Twitter as people managed to coordinate their efforts and let everyone know about the critical situation. Since then, social media users include hashtags in various topics and discussions, from critical sociopolitical events (#PrayForParis or #MeToo) to fun topics (#love or #instafood). The hashtag is not the only way young people use to communicate.

The early adopters of social media also communicate through posts, shares, likes, tweets, thumbs-up and thumbs-down, images, short videos, Vines, and many other ways that will be introduced in the future. Hashtag generation sees education differently. Young people learn best when training is given more entertainingly and randomly. Prensky (2001) argues that the new generation prefers reading websites and hyperlinks than pages and books. They have a sense of anxiety and impatience to understand many different and somehow interconnected topics. Young people prefer hands-on projects, multitasking learning by watching videos, completing online tasks, and applying theory to their everyday life. The digital natives, whether in education or at work, are shaping the new social reality. They are members of the hashtag generation. They tend to form new social groups based on their similar interests and not based on classmates, neighbors, or family friends. For the hashtag generation, what matters is your impact and influence on social media, regardless of who you are. Many members of the hashtag generation are entering the business world, and it is worth keeping an eye on them.

This article furthers our understanding of the new generation of digital natives and social media enthusiasts entering the business world uniquely. These young people are college graduates and, at the same time, famous YouTubers, online personas, style bloggers, community influencers, and niche celebrities with million followers. They adore social media and especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. They love sharing pictures of themselves and their interests with their followers. Some of them want to become professional YouTubers by posting cover music videos, prank videos, car accidents on dashboard cameras (dashcams), or even videos of their unintentional accidents (fail videos). Everything for a thumbs-up! How do digital natives think? Why do they want so eagerly to become famous? What will they gain? What do they prefer when it comes to social media use and job searching?

Who are the Digital Natives?

It was in 2011 when the young advertiser Alec Brownstein introduced us to the Google Job Experiment. Back then, no one believed that this experiment would signify the beginning of a new era in job searching. Brownstein used Google AdWords to buy five keywords for only $6. He purchased the names of five famous creative advertising directors and used them as keywords in his campaign. Brownstein correctly assumed that at some point, these people would type their names on Google, as many of us usually do. Once any of the five creative directors was googling his name, the following message appeared as a paid advertisement “Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too.” The advertisement’s link directed visitors to Brownstein’s website, which allowed him to demonstrate his talent in copywriting. He got four interview calls, two job offers, and now Brownstein is working for one of the biggest advertising firms in New York.

Alec Brownstein’s job searching experiment is one of those stories of young people who thought out of the box and used the new technologies as digital natives do. The term “digital natives” was first introduced by Prensky (2001) when he observed the new generation of freshmen college students. Prensky described them as a new generation of students with fundamental differences from any other generations he had ever encountered in his academic career. Digital natives had “spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.” (Prensky, 2001, p. 1). Digital natives were born later than in 1980 and raised in a technology-oriented environment. They cannot recall childhood memories without using some technology. This generation demonstrates remarkable adjustment skills to any new gadget and innovation that hits the market.

The early digital natives had firsthand experience with the personal computer boom and the rapid development of video game consoles from Spectrum, Amstrad, and Amiga to the fancy Playstation and Xbox series. They got fascinated by the World Wide Web and its potential, such as sending e-mails, chatting online, placing video calls, using mobile devices, and communicating via social networking sites. The digital natives who were born in the early 1980s have grown up experimenting a lot with technology. Some of them became entrepreneurs taking advantage of the countless opportunities the Internet provides. They explored the possibilities of online communication and saw great opportunities for entertainment, information, education, and personal engagement with technology. Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg or Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin became multibillionaires at a very young age due to their innovative ideas that shaped today’s online environment. Nowadays, college students or just self-taught programmers dream of coming up with the next best idea that will do what Steve Jobs and Bill Gates started almost three decades ago.

Digital natives demonstrate a natural inclination toward technology and electronic devices. The generation gap, seen as an intrinsic factor in labor history, is advanced as the current generation of online users who demonstrate high adaptability to anything new. This behavior is in stark contrast to their parents and grandparents, classified within the genre of social media as digital immigrants who are experienced online users who, although they manage to catch up with technology quickly, are still not considered full-fledged “members” of the hashtag generation. Digital natives are especially adept at functioning within an online environment, whether this is a web-based or a mobile interface. When it comes to a business setting, digital natives are especially predisposed to this sociological profile. Configured by e-mail and instant messaging communications, collaborative project management (wikis), and virtual meetings through Skype or WhatsApp, digital natives, find validation in their professional standing by way of multiple digital accounts. Digital natives are first-generation bloggers, vloggers, wiki contributors, online gaming community (clan) leaders, and top influencers on social networking sites. Many of those same digital natives might also have an avatar (digital self) that lives in virtual worlds and online games like Lineage and World of Warcraft (Qualman, 2009).

Digital natives are equally eager to test any new gadget as soon as it hits the market. The iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy, and other smartphones or wearable devices are evidence of this movement. Nowadays, digital natives listen to music through streaming platforms such as Spotify and Deezer. They most probably own not more than a few songs, as they claim that “everything is on YouTube and Spotify.” Digital natives get informed via social media and the accounts they follow. They like reading titles than full articles. The transition to the professional world is coming naturally to digital natives from their youth aim at what Tapscott and Williams (2008) call organic connectivity. This means that this generation of college graduates is more open to set up professional networks and establish connections than their parents. In fact, digital natives have been connecting with people based on similar interests from the beginning of their interaction with technology.

The first digital natives have grown up, completed their college, and are entering the business world. With such openness and diversity in business models (i.e., Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs, Skype for Business, GoToMeeting, VoiceThread, etc.), digital natives can run web-based start-ups before their graduation. The digital world offers countless opportunities for young entrepreneurs to make a living from home by using online resources such as blogs, vlogs, content sites, SEO consultancy, web design, and graphic design. Also, the new digital professional landscape offers a variety of new types of remote jobs via websites such as Flexjobs, We Work Remotely, Skip the Drive, Landing Jobs, and AngelList.

The Birth of Social Natives

With the rapid proliferation of social media in everyday life and business, the next generation of digital natives has turned to become social natives. In 2014, Marc Foulger posted to Hootsuite’s blog an article titled “Meet the First Generation of Social Natives” to introduce the term. Social media is like home to social natives. They spend all day checking their social accounts, looking for hashtag trends, and sharing content nonstop. Social natives enthusiastically adopt new platforms faster than older generations, such as millennials and Gen Xer’s. Snapchat is an example of a social media application; Gen Xer’s rejected it, but social natives loved it. Social natives are much more than trendsetters. They think, consume, discuss, and collaborate differently.

Elon University professor Janna Anderson argues that people born after 2000 tend to be always online as they “have grown up in a world that has come to offer them instant access to nearly the entirety of human knowledge, and incredible opportunities to connect, create and collaborate” (Foulger, 2014). Social natives do not seem to adopt the old digital habits of the previous digital generations. Although e-mail remains a primary business communication tool, social natives will mostly rely on messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to call their friends and colleagues. Even Skype seems old-fashioned to them. New-generation social media users prefer sending direct messages (they call them DM) to other people’s inboxes rather than e-mailing them. Many of the social natives do not need to get someone’s phone number anymore. All they need is the person’s account on Snapchat, and they will stay connected.

Social natives comfortably shift among various online platforms and mobile applications. They do not merely rely on a single network as the “always-on” concept matters the most to them. These young people have also developed a new business mindset that everyone can be a celebrity and quickly succeed in their careers. Some of the pioneers of such a business mindset are Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, showing that billionaire status can be attained at a very early stage next-generation careers. These technology innovators conceived a great idea, managed it well to dominate a specific online category, and then brought it to fruition as initial public offerings at the right time. The social natives’ business mindset developed one more major change. Social natives realized that they do not have to be technology geniuses to become rich and famous. Social media opened tremendous opportunities for every user to go online and share his/her passion with the world. If people like what they see, they will see it again and again. They will also share it with their friends. That is how someone’s passion for fashion, music, movies, and much more becomes viral.

Social natives demonstrate a unique understanding of technology since they were children. This rare knowledge has significantly impacted cultural forms and product segmentation, as this generation seems to appreciate diversity and change in both education and business (Zur and Zur, 2011). For example, similar to digital natives, social natives have a different meaning of lifelong learning. To them, education is a collaborative process that all they have to do is to search on Google and YouTube for the most relevant results to find their answers. Experience-driven and multitasking-savvy, the new hashtag generation of employees and entrepreneurs, are horizontal in efficacy and practice. Will they look for a job, or will they first try to create their professional opportunities? The question that arises is to what extent the current business world is open enough to accept and fulfill the hashtag generation’s expectations.

Note:

The above is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2019, “Tell me about yourself: Personal branding and social media recruiting in the brave new online world,” published by Business Expert Press.

References

Foulger, M. (2014), “Meet the First Generation of Social Natives.” Hootsuite Blog. Retrieved June 13, 2020. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-natives

Prensky, M. (2001), “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon 9, no. 5, pp. 1–6.

Qualman, E. (2009), Socialomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.

Tapscott, D., and A. Williams. (2008), Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. London, UK: Portfolio.

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Strategic communication needs a facelift and a new metaphor too

In the iconic TV drama Mad Men, the creative director Don Draper (portrayed by Jon Hamm) of the fictional Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper, plants the seeds of a breakthrough concept in his clients’ minds. Draper conveys the message: “Sell a lifestyle, not just a product.” In real-life, emblematic advertisements such as the “Marlboro Man,” Nike’s “Just Do It,” and “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” paved the ground for the next generations of professionals to see the big picture and invest in communication strategy and marketing concepts. Without a doubt, advertising industry professionals are at a crossroads. Live as strategic communications specialists or die as creative advertisers.

Strategic communication is a suitcase term to include much more than public relations and advertising. Organizations should communicate both to internal and external audiences, craft a strong brand identity and image, sustain a positive corporate culture, and establish healthy investor and community relations. As much as water is a life-sustaining element in any living being, strategic communication is the essential element for any organization to get the right messages to the right audiences at the right time. The term “strategic communication” has been widely used in both business and academia since the millennium, substituting other terms such as organizational or corporate communication. Using the words of Hallahan et al. (2007), strategic communication is “the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfill its mission” (p. 3) while it suggests that people should “be engaged in deliberate communication practice on behalf of organizations, causes, and social movements. (p. 4).

Communication or Communications?

Although a keyword comparison on Google Trends would still prove that the term corporate communication is more widely used than the other relevant terms, online job portals classify most related communication jobs as strategic communications. Interestingly, the term “communications” scores lower in Google search results than its “competitors.” Nevertheless, these terms in communication are used in business and higher education interchangeably. Whether we call it strategic communication or strategic communications, we notice a slight decline over the years in all terms of communication. This decline of interest may call for a brave facelift and value re-creation for the job of strategic communications specialists, which is the focus of this article.

Why is strategic communication more important than ever?

In the world of strategic communication, everything matters as everything is part of a detailed and strategic plan. Therefore, all elements in an organization play a crucial role in communicating one, unified voice. Fortune 500 top companies such as Walmart, Amazon, and Toyota communicate strong and carefully crafted messages for years, appealing to various audiences strategically. Public Relations and Corporate Communications professor at Georgetown University, Shayna Englin, writes that “being strategic means communicating the best message, through the right channels, measured against well-considered organizational and communications-specific goals.” Professor of business and communication studies at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, Warren Mason argues that strategic communication is about dealing with challenging issues that might “jeopardize an organization’s very survival.”

Organizations need to face the mirror and question themselves. What is the long-term benefit of having an excellent product in the market if your employees are dissatisfied? Would you risk millions of advertising budget knowing that the local community will turn its back to your new stores for being insensitive in your communication? Who will trust a well-written PR statement when the brand’s image is affected by corporate scandals, unethical practices, and unfair policies? What is your brand purpose? Why should people trust you?

Getting a seat at the table

Strategic communications specialists should have a seat at the table where decisions are made. Their job is to create clear goals and a sound strategy that ensures all stakeholders (employees, customers, administration, investors, community, and governments) are in sync. Carefully crafted and researched message development is among the critical tasks of strategic communications specialists. How many times will companies rely on talented people’s “Eureka moments” to design their next slogan and campaign? In a world full of clusters and niche markets, organizations should invest in high levels of planning to find the reason and the “why” behind any communication touchpoint.

Ensuring coherence of words and actions

The world is hyper-connected, and the lines between physical and digital worlds do not exist anymore. The role of strategic communication is to hear the market’s heartbeat and influence people’s lives. The connection between brands and consumers gets more potent with high highs and low lows. The road from love to hate is short as consumers personalize their relationships with their lovable brands. Consumers are the first to announce the good news but also the first to feel betrayed and generate content to damage a brand’s reputation. A communication strategy should be able to grasp consumers’ pulse and implement well-researched plans to deal with extreme and critical situations.

The islands of communication and the bridge metaphor

Ithaca College Professor of Strategic Communications Diane Gayeski writes in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Handbook that “employee communications, investor relations, public relations, and supervisory and executive communications are often designed and managed in separate functional silos. Professionals in these areas often have a little incentive — and may have many barriers to collaborating. This creates a situation that I call the “islands of communication”(Gayeski, 2006, p.71). Professor Gayeski uses the island metaphor to illustrate the problem in most organizations that experience an incoherent brand or strategy. In particular, Gayeski mentions that professionals face challenges when they try to coordinate the “flow, load, tone, and content of messages” (p. 71) in dispersed channels of corporate communications, which look like unbridged islands (Figure 1).

Each island of communication (i.e., external communication, internal communication, advertising/PR, investor relations, etc.) requires bridging the strategic creation of content (message) with the appropriate selection of the speaker and channel to deliver the message at the right time. Although the metaphor is eye-appealing, it fails to communicate the brand’s unified voice and image. The approach to communication as islands connected by bridges seem scattered and unstructured in a sea full of opportunities and threats. Bridges require resources to build which multiply with the length of the stretch to cover, making in increasingly more difficult to upkeep for an organization and navigate by a stakeholder. Overall, the “bridge” metaphor makes organizations unable to distinguish a clear identity and strategy.

A more robust metaphor for Strategic Communication

Communication channels should be arranged strategically, so they create a unified and sustainable brand identity. Using the metaphor of a leaf, strategic communications specialists need to re-define their role as organizational gardeners (Image 2). Let’s picture organizations as trees that require deep roots, a strong trunk, healthy brunches, and green leaves to protect the whole foundation. Trees are living organizations with the ability to grow, adjust to any environmental changes, self-heal, and stand still in difficult situations. Communication channels should function as leaves that absorb and filter any pollutant gasses coming from the market. Through the process of photosynthesis, green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. Communication should initiate photosynthesis in organizations structuring the elements (content, speaker, channel, time) strategically to convert and produce energy.

The new role of Strategic Communication

A strategic communications specialist should become the liaison between the business and the consumer. Mobile, web, brick-and-mortar stores, products, apps, marketing, delivery services, mass media, social media, and people are no silos anymore. Strategic communications specialists should have a significant role to act with professionalism, embrace new methods of outreach, and coordinate activities with empathy and consistency.

A global survey by Accenture Strategy of nearly 30,000 consumers in 35 countries found that 62% of them expect organizations to address social issues such as sustainability, transparency, and fair employment practices. The same study highlights that “Companies that don’t align with customer beliefs pay the price.” Consumers call for organizations to function as protectors of values, communicators of emotions, and stabilizers of a shaken economy. People expect much more than a cheesy, emotional campaign, as they want active organizational citizenship.

Brands need to re-engineer their values and corporate purpose. Being “the best” means nothing to young people who are disconnected from such statements. After all, who decides on who is the best? Profound answers to questions like: How do you show your values and how will you demonstrate your collective responsibility will resonate better with the market.

Why now?

In the post-pandemic era, organizations have to act strategically and plan a massive corporate transformation in limited time. Today’s business reality requires remote working, agility, startup methodologies, startup transformation, and Artificial Intelligence integration. Companies need to plan from scratch, keeping in mind that their new reality also includes obstacles such as social distancing, change resistance, non-adequately tested tools and lack of trust. Through strategic communication, organizations should highlight providing consumers with a clear brand purpose. Consumers should be treated as highly valuable stakeholders who deserve transparency and meaningful communication. As much as organizations need to re-create their values and missions, today calls for strategic communications specialists to facelift their role and plant the seeds for an open and sustainable business environment.