I have been keeping this great news for about two weeks to myself and was trying not to burst it out in the online public, but now officially: from March 1st I am joining the UN (KCEW department at FAO) and moving to Rome, Italy! w00000t!!!!!

I am so ecstatic as everything happened all of the sudden (well, there were some indications around New years Eve and during my conference in US).

I’ll be working for UN as consultant on metadata standards, semantic web, web applications, new projects within the house and with other major world wide organizations,  in a word: I will be participating in creating the future of the Web! w00t!

Going to UN is a natural continuation and the new start of the good things to come. I’m so happy and excited as all the years of my studies, practice, information technology visions, projects, permanent learning, writing, talking, communication, networking with others, activism, will be placed on the right spot, a place that is super stimulative and (for me) futuristic. Remember the connecting dots from Steve Job’s Commencement speech at Stanford? Well, this is exactly happening to me. Everything I’ve been working on since the age of six (6) and upwards have oh so meaning.

And about serendipities, real life serendipities: I remember in 2002 I was in Rome at Semantic Web conference where I was for the first time professionally and deeply introduced to semantics on Web, and later I’ve tried through talks, presentations, writings to spread it to my country but seems then and now noone was really interested in this. I never thought that I will go back to my long forgotten passion. Also, a colleague who was on that SW conference reminded me the other day that I was throwing the coins (oh well, I remember valuable 2euro coins and eating gelato whilst sitting on the edge of the fountain) in Fountain di Trevi assuring me that I’ll come back to Rome, as I never thought about this possibility afterwards. Looks like that the future of the web has reached me and I am so overwhelmed, everything is new for me and challenging.

In the next few days I am getting introduced to a new system, programs, new colleagues, projects, but before that I am finishing what I need to finish in Belgrade and beyond, packing (boxes, luggage’s and mess around me), and looking for a new apartment in Rome. I will reside in Rome (w00t!) which is wonderful as I will be working and collaborating with International team and speak and use English, but after work I will learn (or re-establish my forgotten Latin) Italian, and soak myself into Italian culture (super ecstatic as I’ve always inclined to Mediterranean lifestyle). I started to read Repubblica’s technology and science section with a little help of Google translator, but you’ll see me talking fluent Italian very soon. Those who live in Rome, say Halo or Ciao to me when you see me!

Did I tell you that I am super excited that I will work for the great cause and create the dots for the futuristic Web, participating in great world wide projects?  I can’t wait to begin with my new job, programs, and feel so blessed to be a part of an invigorating web of science, IT environment.

Two weeks ago I’ve finished with giving lectures on Social networks at the School of Web Journalism. This was my gig for the second generation of students who urged to learn more about Web 2.0: understanding it, writing, using, evaluating, communicating, reporting, exchanging information, helping in Cause, practicing activism in real life situations.

I have to say I’m really suprised that this second generation is very advanced and pro-active, innovative and creative and I really enjoyed working with them. Those who don’t know my approach in teaching (in this case of lecturing) – I practice non-linear and non-traditional but again very disciplinary, engaging and participatory practices.

The course I have created this time was Social networks and beyond. We’ve been working on the Facebook  for web journalists’ needs in everyday, practical work: from feeds (news and live feeds), publishing on Facebook through different modules (posted items, posted notes, etc.) through promotion, marketing and PR, to micro communities and forums within Facebook (groups and pages). More about this is also available on Slideshare. The next action was introduction to Facebook advertising for web journalists throught different methods and practices for different purposes (brand, person, blog, cause, event, organization, businesses, etc.). Afterwards, I wanted to see how they would create and coordinate a real life situation in the form of the Cause that reached the media audience outside this social network. More about this on Slideshare, and an overview on the Rising/Global Voices.

When Trebor Scholz asked on his Twitter stream if someone can recommend a good video on the history of B92, I realised not only that there’s no such representative video, but also that Youtube B92 account was suspended and the video was moved to Blip.tv. Anyway, I’ve exchanged some links and ideas with Trebor, browsing through the web history, the online pages and found some archive of B92 correspondences and BBS trays from the 90′s that could be useful for his class.

Then he asked me if I could be a guest speaker in the form of iChat lecture/conversation and record online video for the students, and I thought: well, why not? In general, I don’t like to go back to history events, especially back to the 90′s but then in the context of web activism I had professional urge to act and give the feedback. The outcome is the video I’ve recorded on the Seesmic for the students, where I was dwelling through the Internet history of b92 Opennet and BBS’s, forums, and how the citizens used online media to undermine the current regime, and all social, political, economic turbulences that have marked the 90′s. Initially planned 10 minutes of the video talk extended into 18 min of my scattered thoughts (was recording at 2 am European time, after the tweet-up, so I could deliver it before Wednesday’s class) and I realised there are lot of things to say not only about the online history of B92 but the birth of the citizen journalism in Serbia as the major point in social media in the 90′s.  In Trebor’s presentation – slides you can find out more about above said, the Social Media and War in Serbia, as a part of his Global Internet Activism series.

This Monday, a small group of Twitter enthusiasts got together in the very downtown of Belgrade to meet, interact, chat (longer than 140 characters), and have fun.  Actually, last week I’ve asked on Twitter if anyone is interested to meet up, and then set up the date and time. I’ve managed a reservation near the Politika building, and people started to gather.  Few of us appeared since it was some national holiday and many people were off town, but it was definitely nice to meet some of the new Twitterers and talk about social media, issues on Web, micro-blogging and life. All of us are in the information technologies, either programming, marketing, blogging, journalism, online media and it was easy and interesting to communicate on some things from different points of view. Check out some of the photos of this cool Serbian Twitter crew.

In the last three weeks my Twitter account is flooded with followers who are marketing agencies, web sites offering super effective strategy for you and your company, that can teach you make money from nothing and easy-fix tips and tricks. If you go to their profiles and web sites, you can find a single page with entire presentation and tons of blinking Web 1.0 ads, free newsletters, trials, twittenars, promotion talks on the ground, boat and airplane (?!$%^&), while the others just inject the buzz single update “how to earn $500 in few minutes”.  Some people on my surprise get hooked by following those accounts with so called auto- robots.

In the last few days I am carefully following what’s going on in my twitter stream and boy, oh boy – I am thinking to reduce the noise. Give Twitter in a hands of people who perceive it as an outlet in personal, professional life, with offending words, abusive comments – things can get out of control. Even for people in IT business.

This kind of communication performances with pushing nature of information, denotes (oh it is!)  the society in crisis (who mentioned global economy?). I am wondering  in which direction social media in the networked world is really going? Now, I’m starting to believe that you are who you are following. Twitter is digital, modern Greek agora but with democratic misinterpretation.

So, still craving for more followers? Here are three simple tips:

1. Be as massive as you can be: tweet and spam your friends, contacts with chat-alike tweets, blip.fm’s, retweets like: “how to ..”, “guide to…”, “grow your follower numbers to over 10,000 in a week..”, ‘follow me and win a prize…”, etc.

2. Don’t forget to mention Britney Spears in your tweets and some mainstream media buzzwords such as ‘marketing’, strategy’,  ‘solution’, ‘guru”, etc.

3. If you are female -upload attractive profile photo, if you are male – wear a moustache or left-eye-wink

Even if you are decent Twitterer with the respect for the people you are following and not that involved in twitterati’s fuzz, don’t be misleaded that Twitter’s curse won’t get you down: “Let the massive marketing twitter accounts that offer strategies follow you till the rest of your (digital) life!