Berbagi Buta

Berbagi buta, alias blind share itu adalah perilaku orang-orang di media sosial yang gemar berbagi tautan, baik itu tautan artikel, berita, gambar, dan video, tanpa melakukan proses verifikasi dan penyaringan informasi terlebih dahulu. Jangankan penyaringan, terkadang baca judul saja lalu klik share.

Saya mencoba meraba apa yang memotivasi perilaku ini, well, setidaknya introspeksi apa yang memotivasi saya ketika saya hendak berbagi konten digital. Umumnya saya berbagi tautan karena saya menganggap tautan itu menarik dan teman-teman saya perlu tahu. Tapi mungkin juga ada orang yang berpikir tentang jumlah like dan reshare. Menarik itu pun konsep yang terlalu umum, perlu didefinisikan dulu menarik itu apa.

Menurut kata teman saya ... yang mengutip pendapat peneliti yang saya lupa namanya dan saya sedang malas untuk mencari ulang ... unsur konten digital yang menarik itu biasanya mengandung hal-hal yang menggugah emosi, entah itu awe, anger, ataupun empathy. Oleh karenanya, sebisa mungkin kita perlu berpikir ulang lebih dari dua kali ketika hendak berbagi sesuatu yang didorong emosi.

Mungkin, daripada dilandasi emosi, lebih baik perilaku berbagi itu dilandasi asas manfaat. Apakah tautan yang saya bagi ini bermanfaat, baik untuk saya sendiri atau teman-teman yang bakalan melihat tautan saya?

Berbagi buta ini adalah salah satu perilaku yang dimanfaatkan bot-bot Rusia dalam musim pilpres 2016 di Amerika. Jadi, sebelum Indonesia dibuat kacau balau melalui media sosial (atau sudah?) ...

KATAKAN TIDAK, PADA BERBAGI BUTA.

Eid-Ul-Adha Excuse Letter

I was trying to write an excuse letter for my daughter. I browsed in the Internet and here is what I came up with :)

Dear Mrs. Murtha,

My name is Arkhadi Pustaka, father of Najwa Arifah who is in your 2nd grade class.

As Najwa’s parent, we would like to inform you that Najwa will be absent for school on Thursday, September 24, 2015, due to religious observance of Eid-ul-Adha.

Eid-ul-Adha is one of the two most important holidays observed by muslim community. This holiday falls on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar calendar month of Dhul-hijjah. It happens to fall on Thursday, September 24, this year. This holiday is also known as the “feast of the sacrifice” to commemorate the life of the great prophet Abraham (pbuh). Some of the muslim go for pilgrimage to Mecca on this religious holiday. For those who cannot go for pilgrimage, muslim families are required to attend morning mass congregation at the mosque. Thus, we would like to take Najwa to the mosque on that day.

However, we are fully aware that September is the Attendance Awareness Month. We are also aware that attendance is really important for Najwa to be successful in school. We will try our best to help Najwa to catch up with her schoolwork during her absent on that day.

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [insert e-mail] or by phone at [insert-phone-number].

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely yours,

[insert-signature]

Arkhadi Pustaka

England Journey Diary (2)

I went to London to attend my US visa interview appointment.

Uff, it is a long story thou. Well, I entered the US as dependent of my wife (which means my visa was F-2 visa). But then, I attend my doctorate program at Towson University. I have to change my visa status to F-1 visa, student visa, to be able to attend classes. At that time, I did not have any scholarship yet so I change my visa status "in-state" which means I did not go outside the US to gain my F-1 visa status. After several process (it took approximately three months) I got my F-1 visa status. But, the visa in my passport was still F-2 visa.

Then, I had to go to EE2012 conference in the UK on behalf of my office, September 18. I did not realize that I have to reapply for the visa once I go out the US. So I made visa interview appointment, and I got September 24. That is the background of how I got into London (and was stranded in the UK for 2 weeks).

***

In the UK, I stayed in my cousin's apartment on Newcastle. Apparently, I forgot to print my visa appointment when I departed to London using the train to King's Cross! And, I have to find a printing shop in London. Accompanied with my cousin (another one), I searched for printing shop, and I spent AN HOUR to find that place!

In case somebody needs to find an internet cafe and printing shop near King's Cross Station, London, here I give you the GoogleMap images:

And, here's the street view:

Hope this short and messy diary helps you :)