Microsoft Lebanon boards the social media ship

Microsoft Lebanon opened its doors to the social media for the first time on the afternoon of Monday 26^th September 2011, in its offices in Downtown Beirut, to celebrate the beginning of the global ‘Post-PC’ era and the Lebanese digital revolution starting with the launch of the 3G technology. 

“Last month was the 30^th anniversary of the PC, and just like the PC has revolutionized our lives 30 years ago over the past three decades, social media proved its capability to revolutionize social, political and economic conditions on a massive and global scale during the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt this year” said Ghassan Chahine, Developer and Platform Strategy Lead at Microsoft Lebanon. “Microsoft Lebanon has been present and active on social media for several years, but this year social media has remarkably signposted its weight and added value in our lives, so we decided, we got to do more there!” 

Numerous Lebanese social media activists representing blogs, Facebook groups and Twitter accounts, attended the event and passionately led the debate on the opportunities and risks facing companies in digital marketing, as well as Microsoft strategy and products, while tweeting live insights from the event as the discussions unfolded. The attendants, being vanguards of the digital media in Lebanon, also had the chance to witness avant-premiere demonstrations and previews of Microsoft’s latest technologies and products, including Windows Phone 7.5. 

“It is great to see that leading global corporations like Microsoft are a-door-knock away to us and I hope that other technology companies in Lebanon follow suit”, said Assaad Thebian, a journalist and social media activist who attended the event. “Opening doors for social media and presenting us with the latest products and upcoming technology shifts enables to develop ideas that galvanize these shifts in the society”.   

 This Social Media Day marks a new beginning for Microsoft Lebanon, which has committed during the event to increasing its presence in the social media realm, listening and responding to the social journalists and customers on social media channels.