Posts tagged: Instagram

The internet became a terrible place. It seems that today we need to give our data, content and attention to others in order to receive a virtual form of social affirmation. This is my answer to that.

Attention as a currency

I don’t like this. I have trouble managing my attention and I noticed I started to develop several nervous habits. I am a child of the internet, a true early adopter. Hence I used to be an avid user of any services that had gained traction. It was interesting to see platforms rise to the liking of the crowds, but also to see them disappear again to be forgotten. The end result seems to be a war of titans, with monopolies fighting for our attention and content. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google {Home|Photos|Mail|Drive|etc}. The patterns and habits we develop in using these services and apps are new. When we pat each other on the back and talk about rising engagement numbers or stickiness, what does that mean to the person that has been using your app? Did we solve a problem? Maybe. Did we improve that person’s quality of life? Probably not. Not really, at least. But to keep these services running we need to monetize them, make money off the attention that we’ve generated.

Phil in Berlin After moving to New York, Phil visited Berlin and met up with me for a beer at Kasck. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTPaF8yA0pL/

Fabian and me in the sun on a Berlin rooftop. Photo by Jens. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/3eipE_kfMC/

It was a great evening when we surprised Connor for his birthday at Lokal Photo by Jens. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/1TAAgGEfLG/

It’s past midnight in Berlin, happy new year! I was ill, we were at home but we went out to see the fireworks. Here’s to a new year! Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/xSmyFVEoPt/

I like Post-its As a product manager, you work with Post-its a lot. Jakob took a photo of me. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/tk3dc8JBcs/

Roel and Noortje being happy campers on their bikes. Amsterdam we missed you. We stayed with Rolf and Linda, they lend us their bikes and made us happy! Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/w6qaglkoAo/.

You can still hear the echoes! Noortje and I did some urban exploring and found ourselves on the Teufelsberg mountain to inspect the abandoned NSA spy station from the Cold War. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/mtHF_NkoCI/

Photo by Ian Hooper Ian, Carsten and Roel went climbing at Bertha Bloc in Berlin. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/kbszxhqtjI/

Roel at a DIY standing desk at SoundCloud. Working with creative people has its advantages. Here I was trying out a DIY standing desk at the SoundCloud office. The photo was shot by Phil Calcado. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/eusby6kqrH/

After work it’s time for monkey business.

Having dinner with Parker After Parker moved to New York, he visited Berlin and we had dinner at Rocco und seine Brüder. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/aDNRbGuuYp/

Happy travels! A happy snap shot of us just before taking off. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/JfPlMykoGB/