And finally, Twitter decides to add the much requested “Edit Tweet” button.

Ever since I can remember, people have been requesting Twitter for the editing tweet option. It does sound good at first, especially for the fat-fingered mistakes and when autocorrect goes haywire and changes regards to retards.

But the major concern has also been around the spread of misinformation if tweets were altered after being widely shared. In favour of Twitter though, they will be adding some safeguards around it.

For one, they are starting this feature out presently only for Twitter employees and will then slowly roll it out to Twitter Blue subscribers. Only after that would it roll out to all the users.

Secondly, changes can only be made 30 minutes after the original tweet was sent and edited tweets will be labelled. On clicking the label, one would be able to see the history of the edited tweet.

It is a good filter to have – ability to correct one’s mistake on the internet. But I am still not 100% convinced this is the best way to do it.

Just consider a below average Twitter user (of which there are millions) who is easily convinced by anything they read online. Do we really think they will pay any heed to whether a tweet is edited and take the effort to find out what content was changed?

It would be interesting to see how this decision from Twitter pans out.

Read the full announcement on Twitter’s Blog.

An elevator pitch is not an announcement. Neither is it a sales call.

It does not end with the 30 seconds of self-immersive diarrhoea that you might be blurting out.

It also isn’t about who you are or what you are doing.

An elevator pitch is all about being a conversation. What you are going to do, what you are building, what your vision is. A conversation that should be interesting enough to be taken outside the elevator.

An elevator pitch will never land you a job or a partnership or a client in the time the elevator takes to reach the ground floor. But it should augment the interest and curiosity in the other person to be able to carry the conversation forth after the doors of the elevator open.

Elevator Pitch
Consider it like a pick-up line someone uses on Tinder (minus the cheesiness). It does not directly land you in a relationship, but rather leads to the first date to begin with.

Instead of rambling a few sentences in a single breath, mould your elevator pitch as a genuine conversation which peaks the curiosity of the listener.

Be it in your personal environment or at work, how many times have you said – I am busy/I am held up/can I make time for this later?

Of course am not asking you for the number. Its more of a rhetorical question.

Just think of all the times you have answered to someone with one of the above responses. Or something similar on those lines basically implying that “I don’t think what you’re asking me right now is of priority to me at this moment. And instead of truthfully agreeing that I don’t want to do it, I am going to pretend that I have a lot to do and am busy“.

Yes, people can be busy. You, me, my non-existent billionaire best friend, my existent girlfriend – everyone can be busy. But being busy is all about setting priorities. If its not important for you (albeit even temporarily), you’ll always find ways to be busy rather than actually take time out for that.Continue reading

So you’re at work and its a slow day.
All the work allotted to you has been done and you’re just sitting there. What do you do?
Do you open YouTube and start watching those cat videos you’ve already watched 974 times? Do you start reading on your Kindle? Do you scroll through Facebook thinking about how everyone else is having an amazing life while you’re stuck in your office with nothing to do?
The right answer – None.
The thing to remember – What you do during this time firmly defines your work ethic.
Are you enterprising enough to find work for yourself? Can you use this time to build a better relationship with your colleagues and contribute further to the team by helping them out?
Can you take a look at all the systems and processes in your workplace and identify any issues with it such that you can suggest a better alternative? Often, in the fast-paced work environment people just blindly follow the systems in place and might not always be able to retrospect on the efficiency of these systems. Can you bring a new perspective to this?
Obviously, am not against taking a breather at work when things get hectic. Everyone needs some time off to let go of the steam. But what do you do with the time when you have continuous slow days?

Zero Fox

In my first proper job (with a world-class university) after coming to Australia, I assisted in designing a new framework for events within the Faculty I was working in. I also redesigned their whole intranet website and created a Google site for internal communications. None of this I was asked to do, but all this I did during the free time I would get at work.
In my second role, I designed detailed documentation for the implementation of a new facilities management system and also created a statistical document to understand the efficiency of a new system the team was planning to implement. None of this I was asked to do, but all this I did during the free time I would get at work.
And I recently started my third role last week. And am already working, in my “slow time”, on something which I believe would be of use to the team. This too, I wasn’t asked to do.
Putting your free/slow time at work for something professionally beneficial does reap its rewards. It not only keeps your mind working effectively but also showcases your skills and reflects your strong work ethics and commitment to work.
And the best proof I have for that is my present and previous jobs. The second job I got on reference from my manager at the first one, and the present job I got after a strong recommendation from multiple senior managers.

So, what are you doing in your free time at work?

Artwork Courtesy: https://lingvistov.com/

Before I go any further, let me put it out there that this post is inspired by James Veitch.

Even though I started responding to scam emails before I saw his TED Talk, I have never been nearly as hilarious as him. Probably I’ll reach there someday.

From princes in Nigeria to lottery winners in London, we have received it all. Like everyone else who dreams of miracles, even I have too. How wonderful would it be that you’re scrolling through your email one day and someone out of the blue offers you a million dollars?

Oh well, life’s not a fairy tale and scams are as real as the fact that Manchester United is having a horrible 2018/19 EPL season. But I have always had a funny bone in me and nothing gives me more pleasure than having a laugh.

A couple of weeks back, I received an email which went as below:Continue reading