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marketbeam · 2 months

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Revolutionizing Pharma Marketing: The Role of Amplification Platforms and Social Media Management Tools

In the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, navigating the complexities of marketing and compliance can be a daunting task. However, with the rise of digital marketing and social media, pharmaceutical companies have an opportunity to engage with healthcare professionals, patients, and stakeholders in new and innovative ways. In this article, we'll explore the importance of amplification platforms designed specifically for the pharmaceutical industry and the role of social media management tools in streamlining marketing efforts while ensuring compliance.

The Need for Amplification Platforms in Pharma Marketing

Traditional marketing channels in the pharmaceutical industry, such as print advertisements and sales representatives, have limitations in terms of reach, targeting, and measurability. Amplification platforms address these challenges by leveraging digital channels, data analytics, and compliance features tailored to the unique needs of the pharmaceutical sector. Here's how amplification platforms are revolutionizing pharma marketing:

Targeted Reach: Amplification platforms enable pharmaceutical companies to target healthcare professionals and other relevant stakeholders with precision. By leveraging data insights and segmentation capabilities, companies can deliver personalized messages and content to specific audiences, increasing engagement and relevance.

Compliance and Regulatory Support: Compliance with regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and guidelines from regulatory bodies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is paramount in the pharmaceutical industry. Amplification platforms offer built-in compliance features, such as content approval workflows, archiving capabilities, and audit trails, to ensure that all marketing communications meet regulatory requirements.

Real-time Analytics: Measuring the impact of marketing campaigns is essential for optimizing performance and demonstrating ROI. Amplification platforms provide real-time analytics and reporting dashboards that allow pharmaceutical companies to track key metrics such as reach, engagement, and conversions. This data-driven approach enables companies to make informed decisions and refine their strategies over time.

Content Personalization: Tailoring content to the needs and preferences of healthcare professionals and patients is critical for effective communication. Amplification platforms facilitate content personalization through dynamic content delivery, A/B testing, and audience segmentation, ensuring that messages resonate with the target audience.

Social Media Management Tools for Pharma Marketing

In addition to amplification platforms, social media management tools play a vital role in pharmaceutical marketing by enabling companies to manage and optimize their social media presence across multiple platforms. Here are some key features of social media management tools for pharma marketing:

Content Scheduling and Publishing: Social media management tools allow pharmaceutical companies to schedule and publish content across various social media platforms, ensuring consistent messaging and visibility. Advanced scheduling features enable companies to plan content calendars in advance and optimize posting times for maximum reach and engagement.

Community Management:Engaging with followers, responding to comments and messages, and managing social media communities are essential aspects of pharmaceutical marketing. Social media management tools provide centralized dashboards for monitoring and managing interactions across different platforms, streamlining community management efforts.

Social Listening and Monitoring: Monitoring mentions, conversations, and trends related to the pharmaceutical industry is crucial for staying informed and proactive. Social media management tools offer social listening capabilities that enable companies to monitor keywords, hashtags, and competitors, allowing them to identify opportunities and mitigate risks in real time.

Ad Management and Optimization: Social media advertising is an effective way to reach targeted audiences and drive specific outcomes, such as website visits or lead generation. Social media management tools provide features for creating, managing, and optimizing ad campaigns across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, helping companies maximize their advertising ROI.

Analytics and Reporting: Measuring the performance of social media efforts is essential for evaluating effectiveness and informing strategy. Social media management tools offer robust analytics and reporting features that provide insights into key metrics such as engagement, reach, and conversion rates. These insights enable companies to track progress, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.

Implementing Amplification Platforms and Social Media Management Tools

While amplification platforms and social media management tools offer significant benefits for pharmaceutical marketing, successful implementation requires careful planning and execution. Here are some tips for getting started:

Define Clear Objectives: Start by defining clear objectives for your marketing efforts, whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads. Align your goals with the capabilities of amplification platforms and social media management tools to ensure a cohesive strategy.

Select the Right Tools: Evaluate different amplification platforms and social media management tools based on your specific needs, budget, and compliance requirements. Look for platforms that offer robust features, user-friendly interfaces, and excellent customer support.

Provide Training and Support: Invest in training and support to ensure that your team members understand how to use the selected tools effectively. Provide ongoing education on compliance guidelines, best practices, and emerging trends in pharmaceutical marketing.

Monitor Performance and Iterate: Regularly monitor the performance of your marketing campaigns using the analytics and reporting features provided by amplification platforms and social media management tools. Use data insights to identify areas for improvement and iterate on your strategy accordingly.

Stay Compliant:

Compliance with regulatory requirements is non-negotiable in the pharmaceutical industry. Work closely with legal and regulatory teams to ensure that all marketing communications adhere to relevant laws, guidelines, and industry standards.

In conclusion, amplification platforms and social media management tools offer pharmaceutical companies powerful capabilities for reaching and engaging with their target audiences in compliant and impactful ways. By leveraging these tools effectively and aligning them with strategic objectives, pharmaceutical marketers can unlock new opportunities for growth, differentiation, and success in an increasingly digital world.

#amplification platform designed for Pharma #social media marketing management tools #pharmaceutical social media #social media pharmaceutical marketing #social media for pharmaceutical companies

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bestwayadvertisement · 3 months

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Beyond Banners: Crafting Success with Native Advertising on Mobile

In this Infographic, we will get to know native advertising on mobile. Mobile native advertising refers to employing native advertising formats specifically designed for mobile devices…

#Native Ads #Native Advertising on Mobile #Seamless Integration #Performance Amplification #Social Media

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digitalmarketingfactsblog · 1 year

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There you have it, then! Everything you need to know about using content amplification to increase your audience and engagement. We hope it was beneficial and practical for you. It's crucial to keep in mind that everyone's needs for content amplification are different, so it's always a good idea to test out various strategies and find what works for you. - Digital Guider

#Content Amplification Tools #Content Amplification #Content Amplification Strategy #Social Media Amplification #Digital Amplification #Content Marketing #digital guider #sheridan wyoming

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impresarioglobal · 1 year

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Impresario Global is a cause amplifier

Impresario Global is a cause amplifier. Our Cause Central app will be the first-ever crowdsourced content-driven platform to promote pro-social behavior and initiatives. It will be supported with a ‘civic empathy index’, and through the use of data, will become a tool to measure the social intelligence of states, councils, corporates, and communities, even down to the minutia of each individual in the coming years. I.M aims to be a positive disruptor of societal stereotypes to democratize dialogues. We are committed to shaping the ideas of the common person into purposeful intent with high impact on the platform through creating, developing, designing, and disseminating content in a gamified format for different stakeholder groups. https://impresario-global.com

#Civic Empathy Index #Civic Action #Social Sustainability #Social Sustainable Development #Amplification #Sustainable Development #Sustainable Development Goals 2030 #Civic Action Programme #Social Change And Development

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neoscenes · 2 years

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quick comment

sotto voce (to brainstorms on the question of people’s music-listening habits): I reflected obliquely on this question in my dissertation, examining the concept of radio as a cultural ‘amplifier’ operated centrally (more or less) with the effect of inculcating cultural sameness and diminishing cultural idiosyncrasy — the technology aiding in the ‘formation’ of a collective social fabric. I find…

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#amplification #brainstorms #culture #difference #idiosyncrasy #music #radio #techno-social system #text

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robotlyra · 2 months

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I'm hesitant to ascribe malicious intent where greed and ignorance would be a likelier explanation, but the way algogen scraping is causing people to stop wanting to use the internet to share, cooperate and help eachother really feels like a sought-after goal for forces of authoritarianism who are threatened by solidarity.

Straight up banning and shutting things down would be too immediately suspect to the populace at large, and would cause folks to push back. A subtler, less easily opposed means of destroying the internet would be to make everything more annoying and less rewarding to use. It feels like the powers that be took a look at all the social movements and organization that's going on, and said "We need to stop this, and the best way to do that without being suspected is to turn the main form of communication into a shitty strip mall, where the only activities you can undertake are buying things, the only people who have informational amplification are businesses, and everything else is remixed indecipherable garbage stolen from anyone with honest intentions."

I mean, what's a better way to keep people disconnected and disorganized than forcing them to delete their entire internet social presence and search for a new place to hang out every year or so?

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blushweddinggowns · 1 month

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Eddie was having one of his favorite kinds of days. The kind where he got Steve all to himself, just to do jack shit together. They weren’t even really talking. Eddie was reading a book with Steve dozing off in his lap, Eddie’s chest his pillow as he came in and out of consciousness.

Eddie fucking loved it. He was going to savor all of the quiet moments they had while he could, before work came calling back to him. The idea of going back to the studio and tours, award shows and after parties, interview after interview, was starting to make Eddie feel a little sick. Sick enough to sincerely consider the idea of retirement.

Not that he would, or at least not yet. He loved music, he loved working with his friends, and just because the fame came with some downsides didn’t mean Eddie hated what he did. Even if the fantasy of leaving it all behind was starting to look more and more appealing.

Besides, he wasn’t trying to give Steve a heart attack here.

His therapist had mentioned how much he needed to slow down on the major life decisions, that making grand and sweeping choices about his life for what he thought Steve would want was never a good idea. It would lead to resentment, unresolved feelings, blah, blah, blah. Eddie didn’t really believe it. He was pretty damn sure he could retire to a mountain cabin in the woods and be completely fine, as long as he had Steve with him.

But he was in therapy for a reason, and one of those reasons was to keep Steve. So maybe listening to her wasn’t such a bad call.

He just wasn’t sure how he was going to survive long-distance when the time came. Not because he couldn’t handle himself or because he didn’t trust Steve. But his self-control was in the gutter. He was going to visit so often. Too often probably. And he’d definitely call too much. The amplification of his own clinginess would be impossible to ignore, and Eddie wasn’t looking forward to it. It was a lot easier to play it cool when his boyfriend lived fifteen minutes away.

Then again, if his own insanity wasn’t enough to scare Steve off, his neediness probably wasn’t going to do it either. Hell, even the fame hadn’t gotten to him yet and that had gotten way worse since everything came out.

Things had calmed down since that horrible video, but the lie of where Eddie was had been blown up. It was getting harder and harder not to be recognized, even with his incognito getup. The number of times Eddie has caught someone taking an unsolicited photo or video of the two of them behind his back were uncomfortably high. It didn’t help how Eddie had been spoiled with touching Steve however he wanted for months, never worrying about the consequences. Now, there were freaking TikTok compilations zoomed in on him touching Steve’s ass in public, which was just fucking great. As much as Eddie appreciated his fans, he loathed the obsession with his love life. Though… he could admit that him being in a relationship was pretty out of the ordinary.

But even if he could excuse the interest, he couldn’t excuse people showing up to his apartment. It had only happened a few times, but the fact that he was traceable to that extent was more than enough to make him move to a new, harder to access building. Especially when one instance involved Steve at his place, alone.

He fucking hated moving because people couldn’t understand boundaries, but Steve’s safety mattered more than his convenience. He was probably being paranoid, but he never wanted him to go through something like that again. Even if he handled it like a champ. They were lucky it had been a nice, though admittedly unwell, guy who went on his merry way. Eddie wasn’t going to risk any kind of alternative.

Besides, it wasn’t all bad. Steve having nearly no presence on social media definitely helped things. No one really knew who he was. They just knew that Eddie was in a semi-dramatic relationship from the crying video and all the ass grabbing. Without the context it was pretty hard to track down what was actually happening. At least Steve wasn’t getting harassed because of him. Or at least not yet. Eddie wasn’t sure how long that would last when they moved in together or when they got married but… that was on the list of big life decisions he wasn't supposed to be thinking of right now.

“You know,” Steve mumbled into his collarbone, pulling Eddie right out of his overcommitted thoughts, “We’ve been together for a while now.”

“Seven months and 21 days,” Eddie confirmed, as he turned back a page in his book. He had been too lost in his own head to retain shit and Steve cutely smiling up at him wasn’t improving his concentration.

“Do you remember our second date?” Steve asked.

Eddie nearly rolled his eyes. Of course he remembered, “Stevie, I remember our 23rd. Remember that? We found Twister and I had the most painful erection to ever-”

“Stop talking,” Steve said fondly, pressing a kiss to his lips, “Go back to the second. Do you remember what you said that night?”

“I think I said a lot of things,” Eddie grinned before setting his book to the side, “I remember you making fun of what is now one of your favorite foods. And how cute you were trying to cook-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m adorable,” Steve finished for him with a laugh, “But what else?”

Eddie raised a brow at him, “How about you just tell me if you’re so impatient?”

Steve was still smiling at him but it had a nervous edge to it. One that Eddie didn’t understand until he opened his mouth, “Whatever happened to tying boys up?”

From the newest chapter of this fic(which is done with one bonus chapter coming!)

#steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #damn your love damn your lies #oh my god i finished something #theres an epilouge but this is done #that now im scared to post because I fucked it up somehow yesterday but Ill get there by tommrorow!

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seafoamreadings · 2 months

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week of march 3rd, 2024

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: there is a lot of aries-favoring astrology this week especially where the lunar nodes are involved, so big things are happening even if they seem small at the moment. the one big thing to watch out for as a possible hiccup is mars square uranus; be very careful. your impulsive nature may get you into some trouble with accidents or fights. slow down and think carefully.

taurus: it may seem like everyone is trying to push your buttons this week, maybe all week long. try to be patient with them, they are likely inconsiderate but not truly malicious.

gemini: mercury conjoins neptune and then heads into aries at the end of the week. before that aries ingress, be cautious with the words others say as they may not be quite true, even if there is no outright or intentional lying. once mercury is safely into aries, though, social circles are likely to become much more fun, even a bit rowdy.

cancerians: especially if you've been wanting travel or try something philosophically or spiritually new to you, this week's new moon in pisces can be quite beneficial for that. set relevant intentions and watch them bear fruit over the next several weeks.

leo: this week it is important for you to stay out of debt, and try to be forgiving of what other people might owe you whether it's financial or otherwise. you can also set powerful intentions with this new moon to pay down credit cards, pay off loans, or simply form stronger interpersonal bonds with people you deeply care for.

virgo: do not neglect communication and connection in your closest and most important relationships, even if it feels a little bit confrontational or scary to do so. what is flimsy may fall apart but that is to make space for where you're really meant to be.

libra: if you can start out the week strong in your routines and rituals, your day-to-day life, making it fun and sacred, then by the end of the week your relationships are, one way or another, rewarded. probably in a huge way, due to the karmic nodal influences.

scorpio: overall amplification of pisces vibes suits you if you've been feeling kind of fizzled out, you get some juice. plus mercury into aries can help you make connections out in your day to day life. but none of it works very well if you sit home and pout too much!

sagittarius: you're widely known as more of a nomad than a homebody, but if you care for your physical base of residence and set kindly intentions around it this week, you'll be pleasantly surprised as to how much fun and excitement it opens up to you in seemingly unrelated ways.

capricorn: likely you're always the lee of the rock to your friends and acquaintances but this week especially you are a safe place, a calm harbor in what others are perceiving as a harsh storm. don't let them take advantage of your kind strength, but don't deprive anyone of safety either. your boundaries are important.

aquarius: your ideal schedule this week should start out with a lot of rest, cleaning and clearing, and planning, and then after the new moon continue with good, sturdy financial intentions. resources and abundance can flow to you if you have cleared the space and made good choices.

pisces: the new moon in your sign heralds many beautiful and favorable things to come. be clear in your intentions - it will result in more powerful manifestations, although you are manifesting whether you mean to or not. watch for signs and you will see your desires take physical form over the next few weeks.

#horoscopes #horoscope #weekly horoscope #weekly horoscopes #astrology #signs #zodiac #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

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funnelamplified · 2 years

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Organizations of all sizes and types have found FunnelAmplified's Digital Marketing Platform to be a powerful tool for increasing content reach, sales, and revenues. Interested in knowing more about this? Contact us today!

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exsanguidus · 8 months

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Controversial opinion; I think Ascended Astarion is the true Astarion. In DnD lore, vampirism amplifies a person's traits for whoever they are at the time they become a true vampire. A Paladin wanting to save people will end up ruling a city with an iron fist to keep people safe. A mage wanting to heal those they love will hurt everyone else to heal them. Astarion was on a journey with Tav - one from being controlled, owned, and tortured to being free, curious, and even powerful. Becoming a full vampire and ascending just amplified that. It forced a self-actualization, not a descent into villainy. I think Ascended Astarion is cannon Astarion. He will always be a vampire, and vampires in DnD are always the amplification of a true self. Without ascention, he is still malleable - but I don't think its what he wants. He wants to be powerful (protected by his own power too - his power being a means to self-preservation), he wants to be loved, seen, and free. Free of hunger, free to walk in the sun, free of Cazador. All these things are true regardless of the path you choose. But, they are all only attainable through ascension. When you ascend Astarion - he gets everything he wants and becomes who he truly is.

I'm going to start this with a disclaimer:

I work in the mental health field professionally and majored in Social & Behavioral Science, which is partly why I felt drawn to Astarion as a sort of case study. Characters rooted in trauma are interesting to me and I enjoy picking them apart to judge how real it feels. I utilize my educational and professional background to essentially guide how I write Astarion on this account.

That said, despite me being a professional in the field, all of what I have to say is my personal opinion and interpretation of Astarion's character based on how I interpret the material Larian gave us and the material that can be found in DND lore. Even in real life, things have variation and not all mental health struggles (getting over trauma is part of mental health) present the exact same way. There are theories that exist to try and explain some trends in mental health studies, psychology, and sociology, but again they're called theories for a reason.

Now, my response to this question will be under the cut and will include spoilers.

I know what lore in particular you're referencing, anon, because I've been going back to it a lot ever since I opened this account.

Astarion very much has an insecure attachment style born from his abuse at Cazador's hands. Specifically, an anxious-avoidant attachment type that leans more towards avoidant when he's first met and then begins to swing more towards anxious as he begins to get closer to Tav and the other companions.

Anxious-avoidant attachment types (also known as the “fearful or disorganized type”) bring together the worst of both worlds. Anxious-avoidants are not only afraid of intimacy and commitment, but they distrust and lash out emotionally at anyone who tries to get close to them. Anxious-avoidants often spend much of their time alone and miserable, or in abusive or dysfunctional relationships. Anxious-avoidants are low in confidence and less likely to express emotions, preferring to suppress them. However, they can have intense emotional outbursts when under stress. They also don’t tend to seek help when in need due to a distrust of others. This sucks because they are also incapable of sorting through their own issues. Anxious-avoidants really get the worst of both worlds. They avoid intimacy not because they prefer to be alone like avoidants. Rather, they avoid intimacy because they are so terrified of its potential to hurt them (Mark Manson, Attachment Styles and How They Affect Your Relationships).

Typically, most studies of Attachment Theory focus on the relationship of parents-children or romantic partners, but it can also be applied to any significant relationship someone has in their lifetime. Attachment styles thus are capable of changing based on new relationship experiences.

If you end up giving him the "good" ending where he denies the Ascension, it's implied in his final dialogue that he's actively working towards having a secure attachment type due to the influences of his fellow worm-afflicted associates - particularly Tav.

I think that it's important to also note that, even if Tav doesn't romantically connect with Astarion, he shows hints of desperately wanting someone to care for him, support him, and love him. He does want to know what sex would be like as something other than a tool, and especially what it would be like to actually want to have it just for the pure sake of enjoying having it.

You have to understand that Astarion doesn't even understand the concept of casual sex or friends with benefits. All those times he had to seduce people for Cazador was not casual sex or a friends with benefits situation. All of them were transactions with a means to an end. He got nothing out of seducing those victims besides the possibility of not incurring Cazador's wrath that night - but even then, there was still a possibility because Cazador was an abuser.

Abusers are incapable of providing genuine safety, but can manipulate their victims into believing an illusion of safety. Often times, they manipulate their victims into this by using phrases like "you made me do this by being disobedient", "it wouldn't come to this if you just did what you were told", and then weaponizing basic needs such as shelter, food, and social interaction. The bare minimum becomes something the victim is expected to be grateful for and viewed as a favor, which means anything beyond the bare minimum is expected to be viewed as a theatrical showing of care and love.

In game, Tav has the chance to hear Astarion tell the story of how Cazador turned him. He basically states that he got attacked by a mob due to a ruling he handed down when he was magistrate and then Cazador saved him and offered him immortality. It can be inferred that in his pre-vampiric days, Astarion had no idea that Cazador was abusive to his spawn.

This is likely because it seems that Cazador is careful about his public image. He doesn't allow his spawn to drink from humans, very likely not just as a means to further oppress them and dampen their potential power they could get from drinking people's blood, but also as a way to ensure there's not just a bunch of people out in the city being bitten and left alive to tell the story - or left dead on the street suspiciously.

He has his spawn seduce and lure people, particularly lower class people that would be harder for general society to realize is missing or just that he knows people who could actually challenge him wouldn't care for (you learn that reading some of the books and notes in Szarr Palace). The only exception to this is the kidnapping of Gur children, but even then it seems to fit his MO as it seems Gur are considered somewhat outcasts from the rest of Baldurian society due to their cultural differences.

It should also be noted that he himself doesn't do these seductions or kidnappings. He specifically chooses spawn to be his lackeys and that's likely so, if shit hits the fan and the spawn gets caught, he has deniability since he wasn't there. It's methodical and thought out to keep as many eyes away from him so he can still obtain what he wants and keep sailing under the radar.

Cazador is this methodical and purposeful as a result of his own trauma, which we learn about from the skull of his master in the dungeon of Szaar Palace. There's one interaction in particular with the skull in which Tav can learn that, at one point, Cazador attempted to rebel and usurp his master. Cazador failed and his master punished him via impalement. Not because Cazador had the audacity to try and usurp him, but because Cazador tried and failed. Cazador's master punished Cazador via torture because his master was disgusted by the fact that his spawn was too weak to succeed in such a plot.

Which brings me to my next point... it's not uncommon for victims of abuse to later become abusers. Hence the term Cycle of Abuse exists. Many abusers who were once victims often have the mentality of either "I'm not nearly as bad as my abuser was, they should be grateful I care enough to not be so bad" or "I survived and it made me tougher, they need to suck it up and let it help them build character" or both. They often fail to view their abuse as abuse and fail to recognize how their experience as abuse victims contributes into making them toxic and abusive to others.

There's many peer-reviewed scholarly articles you can find about the cycle of abuse, but one I particularly find useful is Editorial: Dissociation, and cycles of abuse across generations by David P.H. Jones. It talks specifically about parents and children, but I believe some of the general points made can be applied to Cazador and his spawn, as he crafts a very family-like setting that can be seen in the way that his spawn refer to one another as brothers and sisters.

This would thus make him the father figure, a role exponentially made important by the fact he denies his spawn education on things that could serve to give them ideas or the ability to leave him (for example, Astarion mentions that none of the spawn were permitted to learn about the language of the various symbols around the palace) and he consistently chooses his Golden Children (Favored Spawns) as a means of providing more false security. Do what he says, when he says, exactly how he says and don't complain then you will have benefits. You will be Favored, and to have his favor is the highest honor you could achieve.

Torture is clearly presented as Cazador's primary go-to for discipline. Research has also concluded that trauma has a way of affecting the brain and memories.

Trauma can prevent information (like words, images, sounds, etc.) from different parts of the brain from combining to make a semantic memory. The temporal lobe and inferior parietal cortex collect information from different brain areas to create semantic memory (The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine).

Astarion mentions a few times in-game that he can barely remember his life before Cazador, if at all, and a huge part of that is likely because of all the trauma Cazador inflicted upon him that exacerbated the natural occurrence of memory loss from aging (if vampires experience natural memory loss from aging, that is). This is most likely true for all of Cazador's spawn.

I say all this as a set up to truly answering you, anon, specifically where you say: "from being controlled, owned, and tortured to being free, curious, and even powerful. Becoming a full vampire and ascending just amplified that. It forced a self-actualization, not a descent into villainy."

I can argue that Astarion did not feel free up until after a decision to Ascend or not was made. And I argue that stance due to some dialogue he can have with Tav here he basically states that the power Ascension could guarantee that no one, even someone after Cazador is dead, could ever come in to oppress and hurt him again. Even with Cazador dead, he has such an intense fear of being enslaved and used that he turns to catastrophic thoughts as justification to why he needs to Ascend.

Catastrophic thinking is a cognitive distortion that occurs when people have a hard time weighing the likelihood of certain outcomes and believe that terrible or catastrophic outcomes—which are highly unlikely—become, in one’s mind, salient and extremely likely. (Tom Zaubler, MD, MPH).

Aside from the Gur, whom Astarion can manage to evade and even kill perfectly fine as just a spawn, we're not presented with any hints of another big bad in the vampire world that could possibly want Astarion. As such, there's not really any tangible threat, but rather a perceived threat that he believes is destined to darken his doorstep at any time.

His catastrophic thinking is a trauma response. His belief that he needs to be the most powerful being in the room as a way to be truly free is a trauma response. Cazador broke him down emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually to make him believe that he was weak and trapped. Furthermore, that he remained trapped because he was too weak to do anything about it.

You see how this goes full circle into how Cazador's master punished Cazador for not being able to successfully usurp him? It places blame on the victim, allowing shame and helplessness to root that the abuser can manipulate. We know that Astarion definitely feels shame because he tells Tav that. For most of his dialogue until the boss fight, he's constantly bringing up that he did what Cazador wanted and acted obedient because he had no choice.

This is true, he had to act in self-preservation to survive and unfortunately that meant he had to be subservient. A few dialogue choices you can have your Tav pick can challenge Astarion and say he could have still tried, to which he'll rightfully tell Tav that Tav has no right to judge him for the choices he made to survive.

When Astarion encounters Sebastian in the dungeon, its made pretty obvious how much guilt and shame he truly feels. Furthermore, that for all Astarion's protesting and exclaiming that no one has the right to judge him, a part of him did believe that he didn't do enough to try and escape enslavement. A part of himself blamed himself and believed he allowed himself to be abused when, in reality, he was put in a horrible situation with very limited options. He did the best he could in the moment, with what information he had in those moments.

I also want to argue that who Astarion is when we meet him isn't his true self. It's who he had to become in order to survive Cazador. Astarion doesn't even know who his true self is because he didn't have the opportunity to explore his own likes and preferences. Cazador molded all of his spawn because he had a specific purpose for them.

Not only that, but since Cazador would have to more directly deal with these spawn since he used them as lackies, he also would have molded them to behave in ways to his preference so that he wouldn't find their presence unbearable and feel inclined to murder them out of annoyance. This is also where the Favored Spawn being separated and set on a pedestal comes into play. Those who could please him and play to his wants and needs had better benefits. If all of the spawn are acting in self-preservation, they would want to be favored and thus would want to adapt themselves to things Cazador liked and approved of.

This would mean learning to be cruel to those less fortunate and not doing anything as charity. This is the reason why Astarion approves of some questionable decisions Tav can make. Astarion learned his ideals and morality from Cazador because he had to so he could know how to please Cazador and stay in his master's good graces. After a while, even if you started off disagreeing, forcing yourself to act a certain way can become a habit that sticks with you. You convince yourself to enjoy it too so it's easier to swallow.

Astarion craves power because he knows that power is the quickest, easiest, and - what he believes - most effective way to prevent him from having to use that method ever again. It's logical to want power to solve that.

You said in your ask: "He wants to be powerful (protected by his own power too - his power being a means to self-preservation), he wants to be loved, seen, and free. Free of hunger, free to walk in the sun, free of Cazador. All these things are true regardless of the path you choose. But, they are all only attainable through ascension. When you ascend Astarion - he gets everything he wants and becomes who he truly is."

In the most literal of terms, yes, Ascension gives him all of those. However, since the basis of him believing he needs power to be free is rooted in fear, that's not actually really freedom. That is still his fear ruling over him.

There's a stark difference in what someone wants versus what they need. He wants power, to be seen, to be loved, and to be free. What he actually needs is security, stability, support, consistency, empathy, and autonomy. The things he wants is what he believes will solve the empty cups of what he needs, and he believes that because the only example he had on how to act to get what you want - until the events of the game - was Cazador. He literally had no other example of how to get your needs met except through selfishness, cruelty, force, manipulation, and abuse.

Again, I reiterate. The Astarion we first meet is not Astarion's true nature. Astarion's true nature was corrupted by his abuse from Cazador and the subsequent trauma that followed. If it had been his true nature, he would have happily been Cazador's subject because their true natures would have been in alignment.

It only becomes his true nature if he allows that trauma to define him and decides that he needs to embrace it rather than fight it. That is then what gets amplified because that fear that roots those wants becomes amplified.

Honestly, it's impossible to say what would be canon for Astarion because there's too many factors.

Studies have shown that having more supportive and positive influences, even if its later in life after leaving the abuser, tends to work in favor of the victim breaking the cycle of abuse. As such, I think that if you make a Tav who's core values are autonomy, consent, second chances, and redemption and somehow manage to get high enough approval that he'd even consider caring what they think; then its more likely that Astarion would reject Ascension due to observing how much softer, kinder, patient, and merciful Tav is.

But if its a Tav that has no interest in getting to know him beyond the surface or Tav doesn't exist at all, I honestly think he would end up going through with Ascension. Mostly because, to me, it seems like he didn't really bother to have more than surface level interactions with the other companions and the other companions really only ended up getting to know him better as a result to Tav managing to get past his masking. He does not lower his mask on his own accord, only after certain things are done and said by Tav.

Unfortunately, I just don't really think any of the other companions you can pick up in-game would really be able to provide support and determined consistency in the same way that players can make Tav. Hence I don't think he'd end up caring enough about any of them to ever start to think that perhaps freedom can be defined differently than the way he initially believes, and would view Ascension as the only right way to get his needs fulfilled.

#hc ; in one's blood #long post #bg3 spoilers #cw: trauma #cw: abuse #penned by grim ;#askbox ; blood oath

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the-garbanzo-annex-jr · 2 months

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by Hadar Sela

Hot on the heels of the discovery of a Hamas data centre in a tunnel complex located underneath UNRWA’s headquarters and an UNRWA school in Gaza City (which received only minimalist coverage from the BBC) came a story about an Al Jazeera journalist in the Gaza Strip.

“A Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera appears to also be a commander in Hamas’s military wing, according to images and documents recovered by the IDF in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war against the terror Palestinian terror group. “In the morning, he’s a journalist on the Al Jazeera channel, and in the evening, a terrorist in Hamas!” wrote Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, in a Sunday post to social media platform X. Adraee said that several weeks ago, troops found a laptop in a Hamas base in northern Gaza that belonged to a man by the name of Mohamed Washah. Washah, from central Gaza’s Bureij neighborhood, has been featured in Al Jazeera broadcasts in recent months, with the Qatari-owned station calling him one of their journalists. Adraee said that documents recovered from the laptop revealed that Washah, 37, is a “prominent commander” in Hamas’s anti-tank missile unit, and in late 2022, he began to work in research and development for the terror group’s air unit.”

As others have pointed out, Washah’s social media accounts also include some interesting material.

Two days after that story emerged, Al Jazeera reported that two of its journalists in the Gaza Strip had been wounded in an Israeli strike north of Rafah.

“Al Jazeera says two of its journalists have been wounded in an Israeli airstrike near Rafah in the Gaza Strip, with one having to undergo an amputation.

The pan-Arab broadcaster, funded by Qatar, reports the strike and identifies the wounded as cameraman Ahmad Matar and reporter Ismail Abu Omar.”

As later reported by the Times of Israel and others:

“Ismail Abu Omar, an Al Jazeera reporter who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike near southern Gaza’s Rafah yesterday, is also a Hamas commander, according to the IDF.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says that Abu Omar, in addition to working for the Qatari-owned station, serves as a deputy company commander in Hamas’s East Khan Younis Battalion.

On the morning of October 7, Abu Omar infiltrated into Israel and filmed from inside Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s onslaught.”

Footage of Abu Omar at Nir Oz on October 7th as well as documentation of his praise for the massacre committed on that day is available online.

As readers no doubt recall, the BBC has produced no small amount of content in recent months (and also before the current conflict) promoting the allegation – including from Al Jazeera – that Israel ‘targets journalists’ and whitewashing the terror links of some of the journalists killed in the region in recent months and years:

BBC NEWS WEBSITE REPORTING ON THE DEATHS OF JOURNALISTS

MORE UNCRITICAL BBC AMPLIFICATION OF CPJ MESSAGING

MORE BBC AMPLIFICATION OF AL JAZEERA’S ‘TARGETING JOURNALISTS’ FALSEHOOD

BBC NEWS STICKS TO THE NARRATIVE AFTER ‘JOURNALISTS’ EXPOSED

It therefore perhaps does not come as much of a surprise to find that the BBC has to date shown no interest whatsoever in informing its audiences about the latest two stories concerning the additional activities of some Al Jazeera journalists.

#abu omar #al jazeera #bbc #media bias #hamas #gaza #nir oz #mohamed washah

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marketbeam · 5 months

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Reaching the Pinnacle of Social Media Excellence: A Maturity Model for Pharma, Biotech, and MedTech

Join us for an insightful webinar on the evolving landscape of social media in the Pharma, Biotech, and MedTech industries. This session is dedicated to unraveling the intricacies of digital excellence through a comprehensive Social Media Maturity Model.

We will cover tools and techniques.

As we delve into the specifics, we'll explore the critical stages of social media maturity, helping you identify where your organization currently stands and the strategic steps to ascend to the apex of social media proficiency.

Key highlights of the webinar include:

Identifying Your Current Stage in the maturity model

Roadmap to the Top

Discover the importance of vigilant social monitoring and effective AE tracking and reporting

Compliant and efficient social media management

Discover how to navigate and excel in social media for Pharma, Biotech, and MedTech industries in our webinar.

Date - Dec 7, 2023 Time - 9 AM in California

Meeting Link - https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7F2rr8R3SXaIWDEdooDLDg

#employee advocacy software #employee advocacy tool #social media advocacy tools #brand advocacy #importance of employee engagement #amplification platform designed for Pharma

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drdemonprince · 10 months

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Heyyyy. I just had an unsettling thought. So I’ve been learning about the oxygen of amplification and thinking about whether I’ve been giving “free food” to bigots by paying too much attention to the wrong things.

You’ve written about being “a vault” being a benefit especially when it comes to health care, and lying to employers, and, basically, intentionally using masking to get ahead.

Over the past five or so years, I have tended to go in a different direction - being more vocal about my disabilities and the disabilities of others, in the hope that I’m being an advocate for awareness and acceptance. I’ve had a lot of people tell me I’m “brave” for behaving that way and it always confuses me, because it’s easier for me to be honest than it is for me to lie or hide the truth.

But I am reminded of being on a conference call with the California board of law examiners (the people who make the bar exam for California) at the start of the pandemic. I spoke on the call about how law school makes people (if I remember correctly) as much as three times more likely to be depressed between the time they enter and the time they leave. There’s additional context here that I could add but I’m not sure if it’s necessary.

Anyway, while I was speaking, one of the people on the board (at least, my colleagues and I were pretty sure it was) very loudly yelled at me to “FUCK OFF.”

I wonder if disabilities are something, unlike other categories of oppressed people, where the more evidence you provide that we are human and deserving of accommodations, the more bigots get pissed off and want to deny us those accommodations. Because they think our disability inherently makes us undeserving.

I think, because I’m in a position of privilege economically (and my family culture isn’t particularly tumultuous), I get into this moral headspace where I think, okay, maybe others have to lie to get ahead. But if, because of my unique set of circumstances, I don’t have to lie to get head, isn’t it my duty not to?

I actually think I wrote a paper about that in law school. Maybe I’ll try to dig that up and we what I had to say.

But now I’m wondering if I’m just making things worse by being so vocally honest. Giving ammo to judgmental people who will hold what I say against people who are not as fortunate as I am.

You’ve also spoken about how you’ve become less of an advocate and I wonder if this sort of thing factors in to that decision.

Yeah for me, it's about developing a greater sense of tactics.

Most people are not persuaded by data or objective information. Most people do not have coherent or consistent political ideologies, either (see Phillip Converse's groundbreaking work on nonattitudes -- most people, when asked about a political topic, will just make up an opinion on the spot based on what they've heard most recently, and that opinion will not remain consistent). There's a robust research literature attesting to this. I abandoned the field of political psychology because the research on fostering attitude change and open-mindedness is so dismal.

Instead, what most people find the most compelling is a combination of emotional appeals, social pressure, and their own material, economic self-interest.

What this means is that a great many people will not be moved by additional information on a topic, until it becomes economically costly or socially perilous for them not to rethink it, and even then, they might just dig in their heels if they've already incurred losses in order to justify the pain they've been in. It also means that if someone has an ignorant perspective and no desire to change it, well, you talking more isn't going to change their perspective, but they will try to shut you up so that it doesn't change anybody else's.

The liberal perspective on change is a highly individualistic one. Disabled people are supposed to share our stories, victims of sexual assault are supposed to name our abusers, fat people are supposed to just feel more positively about themselves, Black and brown people are supposed to spell out to us white people exactly what we should do to guarantee their liberation, but only in a very gentle tone, and everybody, everywhere, is on the hook for fixing the injustice of their own social position.

This is a perspective on change that employers, governments, and institutions benefit from us believing in, because it keeps us busy showing off our vulnerabilities and behaving as individuals, rather than pooling our power and demanding something better for all of us collectively.

And this individualistic approach is of course is never how change actually happens. The federal government didn't suddenly start unrestricting access to AIDS meds because some individual gays came forward and told very persuasive stories about their battles with the disease. ACT UP activists crowded federal offices and covered politicians' homes in giant condoms and marched AIDS victims' corpses down the street.

Sickle cell anemia did not become a subject of medical research because Black patients individually shared their stories of the disease. The Black Panthers created their own health clinics to test for the disease and educate the public about it, and they also gave out free childcare and food, and the federal government found this so threatening they began taking sickle cell seriously themselves so that more people wouldn't go running to a communist, anti-racist group.

The ADA didn't pass because disabled people made ourselves vulnerable, it passed because we made ourselves strong, clawing our way together up the statehouse steps and blocking traffic with wheelchairs during rush hour.

We've been propagandized by capitalist individualism and representation politics to believe the most empowering thing a marginalized person can do is stand solidly as a single person. But it's not true. In fact, some of the steps we take to broadcast our marginal status and tell our stories makes us more vulnerable in the end.

Many companies now encourage their disabled employees to come out and be proud of their status, for instance. I've given workshops at companies like that. At every single one, I've later heard from Autistic and ADHDer employees that the second they actually identified themselves publicly, it became a target on their back. They were scrutinized, denied accommodations, pushed out of the office, threatened with their boss calling 911 on them, forced to quit.

The real way to make a change happen is through organized, collective power, not through personal vulnerability, individual pride or sharing every last drop of energy that we have educating people who have a vested interest in not understanding our concerns. Winning the hearts and minds of the ones in control is not the answer. We must organize to take control.

I've done all kinds of activism all my life since I was fourteen years old, from phone banking to voter registration drives to jail support to writing my congress people and more, and much of it was a waste of my time. It was designed to waste my time, to convince me that by being a good little boy and playing within the system I would be freed, when really I needed to be joining forces with other people to dismantle it. That's the way forward, that's truly what I believe now.

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