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	<title>Love of History &#187; social media</title>
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	<link>http://loveofhistory.com</link>
	<description>A historical perspective of current events</description>
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		<title>Direct Democracy in Athens, ancient and modern</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/direct-democracy-in-athens-ancient-and-modern/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/direct-democracy-in-athens-ancient-and-modern/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:20:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[athens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[direct democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greek crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greek debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greek revolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IMF]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[syntagma]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=1008</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last night I was checking my twitter account, when the most amazing message appeared on screen. &#8220;50.000 Greeks obstructed the exits of the Greek parliament at Syntagma square and did not allow the members of the parliament to leave the building&#8221;. Similar messages continued throughout the night. Eager to find out more details on the subject I turned on the Greek tv. The silence of the traditional media was deafening. Not a single channel reported the news. In the meantime, twitter live stream was buzzing with updates. I tuned into #syntagma #greekrevolution #m25gr to learn more about current events in Athens. For those of you who have not been informed of the news, a political revolution is taking place in the cradle of democracy. Since last week dozens of thousands of people gather around the boule (the modern Greek parliament) to protest against the economic measures imposed by the IMF, to disapprove of corrupt politicians and to ask for a better future. The call for such protests came through Facebook and twitter. No political party can claim the organisation of this crowd. The gathering in several squares in Athens and other Greek cities seems to be spontanteous. In a matter of days the unlikely crowd organised itself into committees responsible for the cleaning of Syntagma square (both literally and metaphorically speaking), legal advice, medical aid, food provision etc. Above all, we witnessed the establishment of an open Assembly. During the first day, no more than 100-200 people attended the talks. A week later, though, more than 2-3 thousand citizens become involved daily at the procedures. The Assembly is organised in a way that promotes Direct Democracy, according to the ancient Athenian model (in general terms). Everyone who wishes to speak is allowed to take the stand for no more than 3 minutes. Several attendants keep records of what has been said, while fellow twitterers report on the results. After only a few days of talks the same themes seem to be emerging. The protesters ask for 1) an official rejection of the imposed economic measures, 2) punishment of the politicians who have stolen the money, 3) a restriction of parliamentary service to 8 years and 4) Direct Democracy. The Greeks are turning back to centuries of democratic tradition in an attempt to reconstruct the ancient model of popular government. Whether it will be successful or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the current government and the traditional consider the movement dangerous. Why else would they suppress such significant news? On the other hand, the devotees of social media continue disseminating significant information from the Athenian political front.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Annual Baynes Meeting for Ancient Historians: The Great Depression</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/annual-baynes-meeting-for-ancient-historians-the-great-depression/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/annual-baynes-meeting-for-ancient-historians-the-great-depression/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 08:15:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baynes meeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cuts in academia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This weekend I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at Stevenage. You are probably wondering what on earth I was doing in such an unlikely town, as it is devoid of any historical or archaeological interest. And yet, its obscurity means that overworked and underpaid Ancient Historians from across the UK could afford to pay the modest hotel bill for one night (the whole experience cost us around 100 pounds) and hold there the important Annual Baynes Meeting. It is worth mentioning that, despite the lukewarm service, the nearly edible food and the very basic facilities, we will probably hold the Meeting in the same place also next year. The low price and the convenience of public transportation are the main reasons for such a choice. The quality of the hotel matched the depressing atmosphere of the Meeting. It became obvious from the very beginning that most of my colleagues were concerned with the situation in Higher Education. The impeding cuts at the University of Leeds and King’s College London hit a nerve earlier this year. Everyone agreed that this is the beginning of a long freeze in recruitment and possibly also payments. It is expected that the majority of the universities in the UK will not hire any ancient historians in the next five years. This could only mean that fresh PhD and Postdoctoral researchers will not be able to find permanent or even three year posts. Instead, they may have to seek alternative means of survival, until the crisis is over and departments manage to balance their budgets. In subsequent posts this week I intend to give more specific information about individual universities and their current state of affairs. So, what are we going to do about it? The first measure that has been suggested is an immediate change in the nature of British Academy Fellowships. For example, it has been noted that during the 1980s, when another freeze was imposed to university posts, these Awards were given to older, more experienced Ancient Historians. This way several members of our profession stayed employed and went on to find permanent jobs much later, in the beginning of the 1990s. Now, we may be facing a similar situation. If some of our skilled historians find themselves without a job in the near future, then, instead of seeking another post, they would probably be allowed to apply for a postdoctoral British Academy Fellowship. Of course, such a course of action will have severe implications on the future of current Ph.D. students, who will be left without true prospects in Academia. Another step that should be taken is to try to bring the community of Ancient Historians closer together. Several of us believe that a meeting once a year in Stevenage is not enough to discuss the problems arising from the current situation in Universities across the UK. So, we have seriously started discussing the usefulness of social media in creating an online community of Academics. I can assure you that the discussion in the Meeting was particularly heated (even by British standards) and that the delegates were divided in two distinct parties: the ones in favour of the scheme and the sceptics. As we agreed to disagree, we also came to the conclusion that there is no harm to try to use social media in order to raise the profile of Ancient History in the eyes of the public and at the same time create a forum of discussion for academics. With these aims in mind over the next few days I will set up a blog in which all Ancient Historians and Classicists will be able to post their views. The comments will be open to whoever wants to participate but the posts will be written only by members of Staff in UK universities. At the same time I will set up a facebook group, in which Ancient Historians and Classicists (again only UK Staff) will be able to participate in the discussion. When these two platforms are ready you will be contacted via email. If some of you are not contacted and you wish to participate, please, let me know about it. In the meantime, if you wish to share your views with the rest of us, you can post them in my facebook page called &#8220;Love of History&#8221;, which is also open to the public.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://loveofhistory.com/annual-baynes-meeting-for-ancient-historians-the-great-depression/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>20</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Overcome Internet Procrastination Habits</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/how-to-overcome-internet-procrastination-habits/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/how-to-overcome-internet-procrastination-habits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:46:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[addiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[procrastination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=325</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have always been prone to procrastination but, since I started blogging, the problem increased ten-fold. So, in an attempt to recover from my addiction, I would like to admit publicly that I have been abusing the use of social media on a daily basis! I find blogging, twittering and checking out my facebook account a source of excitement. I absolutely love reading the blogs of my peers. In fact, I get a kick out of writing down my own comments, while waiting for the well deserved answer. Over the past few months, I met more interesting people online that I could ever meet in person during the same period. And yet, the obvious advantages could be overshadowed by the disadvantages arising from using the internet as a procrastination tool. The line that divides the use of social media from their abuse is very thin indeed. It is so very easy to forget how many hours I spent in front of the computer screen, at the expense of my teaching and research responsibilities. Under different circumstances, skipping research would have laden me with enormous guilt. Not in this case, though, for a multitude of valid reasons. First of all, there is the perception that blogging and twittering enhances the dissemination of knowledge to a wider circle of people (something that I cannot achieve solely through university teaching). Secondly, internet is a constant source of entertainment. I have never read so many articles, which are both relevant to my work and they provide daily amusement at the same time. Last, but not least, communicating online with my ‘friends’ takes my mind off serious problems at work and gives me a much needed emotional support. Stress relief follows immediately after. Despite the advantages of social media procrastination, I feel that I should restrain myself. Therefore I intend to set here the rules I will follow over the next days, weeks or month: 1) I will write my posts, micro-posts and answers after 6 o’clock in the evening, when I am tired (exhausted is more accurate). 2) I will not spend more than an hour per day on the task. 3) I will use blogging as a reward for a productive day (in terms of research and teaching).. 4) I will make myself accountable to ….myself in the evening. If I have not complied with the above rules, I will force myself to stay without internet for the next day. (I apologise to my colleagues in advance for not answering their emails, while I am being punished.) Let us hope for the next 21 days I will keep my resolve, after which time I hope that a new habit will be formed. If you have any further advice, please, let me know.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://loveofhistory.com/how-to-overcome-internet-procrastination-habits/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ancient History Group in Ning</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/ancient-history-group-in-ning/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/ancient-history-group-in-ning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:30:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ancient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[platform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seth godin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of you will be wondering what Ning is. To my opinion, this is one of the best social networking platforms that could serve effectively the needs of our clan. I found out about it from a small but interesting book called ‘Tribes’, written by Seth Godin, a social media guru. My initial reaction was one of scepticism at the content and dismay at the style of writing. Despite the volume’s shortcomings, I was intrigued by the information it included on Ning. So, I set out for a new online adventure; that is, trying out the platform and reporting back to the community about the outcome. I have already created a group in Ancient History that immediately attracted the attention of eminent scholars in our field. The platform operates in a similar way to facebook. For example, in the main page you can leave short messages or update your status. You can upload photos or videos and you can communicate directly with the other members of the community. Given the similarities, my first impression of Ning was that it did not offer anything more than facebook. Well, I admit that I was wrong. The videos and photographs you include become immediately a permanent feature of the main page. They do not come and go in a stream of news, as in facebook. So far, I downloaded around 26 educational videos from youtube and 20 photographs from my own archive. All of them can be used for teaching and some of them may be used for research. There are a few that are there for fun; jokes appreciated by Ancient Historians only. Furthermore, Ning provides us with a calendar of events, which I update regularly based on the information I receive on academic activities in the UK. I also included a blog, where some of my best and most relevant Love of History Blog articles appear. Ning is not the site where you would exhibit the most personal of your photos or the place where you would hook up with friends from your sinful past. Instead, it facilitates the building of online professional communities. In our case, it is the perfect platform for bringing together ancient historians or enthusiasts of Ancient History, who are willing to participate actively, to share their published, unpublished or unpublishable material online, to express their views about current affairs and to communicate directly with the other members. Above everything else Ning allows us to network in an efficient and yet informal manner. If you want to become a member of the Ancient History group in Ning join us at http://loveofhistory.ning.com/]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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