Can man live on social media alone? Well, one young man is about to find out if he can depend on the social web and the kindness of strangers to survive in Singapore for five days from February 9-15.
Armed with just a Nokia Lumia 800 and 10 items in a survival pack, Martin (#CanManLondon), from London, will have to seek food and lodging each day. He will also be issued daily tasks which will be posted on his Facebook wall.
At the same time, Daphne (#CanManSG), a 20-something Singaporean will do the same in London. 
This cross-city social experiment is to evaluate whether intrepid travellers can depend on nothing but the goodwill of locals and the power of social media to survive in a foreign city for over a week.
The experiment is part of the global Social Media Week, being hosted in Singapore for the first time, and which will kick off next week.
Martin will then talk about his experiences on Thursday, Feb 16, at a public event and guess what, I get the chance to interview him.
I suspect though he won’t find it hard. When I told my friends about this experiment, they took a look at Martin’s photo and said, “Oh, he’s cute, should not be a problem.” Ditto with Daphne. What do you think?
Still, it’ll be interesting to hear his stories.
Social Media Week, hosted by hosted by AKA Asia (formally impactasia Singapore), comprises a slew of activities from talks to debates to parties.
I will also be chairing the opening session on Monday where Henry Mason, Head of Research & Analysis at trendwatching.com will be speaking about how social media is giving consumers new ways of getting what they've always wanted.
Also speaking is Alan Soon, Managing Editor, Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the topic of “Social News and the Changing Habits of Consumption”.
Other activities include The Great Food Debate where a food critic, a blogger and a foodie will slug it out and a Girls In Tech panel moderated by Adriana Gascoigne, founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, a non-profit organization which celebrates women’s innovative and entrepreneurial achievements in technology and which recently opened a chapter in Singapore.
Social Media Week (SMW) is a global conference held simultaneously across 13 cities. Now in its third year, it attracted over 35,000 attendees worldwide last year.
