Let's blog!

You know how you make a plan and you decide what you are going to be doing every day, you have it all scheduled out neatly, so that you get everything done?
Yeah, that was me at the beginning of this year. One of my resolutions was to organise my time better, so that I find time to do what I love while still doing all the stuff I have to. It sounds great, doesn't it? That's what I though, and it works perfectly, in theory.
Sadly, real life takes over pretty quickly and you get, let's say sidetracked by certain things, be it fun activities, a new job opportunity, or learning something new. To sum it up, life happens. You can't really plan for that. So needless to say my perfectly planned out schedule became pretty irrelevant fast. I'm still trying to find that super-organizer that will adapt to my life, preferably on it's own, ha ha. So that it can keep up with everything I have and want to do.
Wow, quite an introduction to what I wanted to say, which was, my blog has been "silently" screaming for attention, ha ha. So here I am, to the rescue of my blog that I'm pretty sure has been feeling like that kid in the back of the class that eats it's hair and has no friends. Be it, my white horse is missing, also my shining armour is at the cleaners, but hey, those are just details. Sneakers and jeans should get the job done just as well. You see it's Friday, so that means casual clothes *hah, who am I kidding, casual-comfy clothes are a constant in my life*.
Okay, enough of this blabbering, let's catch up! Let's see, work is pretty much a given, started learning new skills, checked out the Adwords conference that brought us the new updates *how awesome was that?!*, kept up with friends and life in general also, my Instagram has gotten a lot of my attention lately.
Let's chat a bit about that, what do you all think about Instagram? Everyone else find it incredibly addictive, or is that just me? I'm pretty much on it 24/7 checking for updates from my favourite 'grammers or just searching for new inspiration. It's also a pretty great platform to make new business contacts. I got to step out of my comfort zone and collaborate with a clothing company, which was pretty awesome! I'm also in the process of planning some sort of summer getaway which might turn into an early-autumn getaway, but oh well, vacation is still vacation. Am I right?
So that's pretty much what has been keeping me busy, what about you guys? Anyone have any fun adventures to share? Or fabulous updates? I'm all ears.
Till then, I'm going to start my friday tradition of a 30 second dance party and get this day started.
Geek out!

How Social Media Became the New Normal

Starting with the morning news - leading up to the daily Facebook posts, to ending the night with an Instagram stalking session, I think it's pretty clear what the one big common factor in every one's day to day life has become. Social Media.
Long gone are the days when you stopped at the corner kiosk for your morning newspaper that you read while sipping your coffee at the office or on the subway, train or whatever means of transportation you preferred. It was the universal morning ritual. This has now been replaced by your phone, tablet or even laptop and you scrolling through hundreds of headline news. Preferential reading pretty much sums up the morning news experience today. While the "hard copies" are still available, aka the newspaper, it's reign has sadly taken a back seat to that one site where all the world news can be found or the gossip sites that make sure everyone is up to date with their "crucial, life changing" latest starlet scandal.
The mid day break was replaced by a constant Facebook presence. Securely running in the background it makes sure to notify you of every little detail happening while you are away or to busy to keep staring at your screens, both on your phone and computer. It's become an hourly habit, *and I'm low balling here*, to check your feed and notifications, putting the original purpose of Social Media to the back burner. Connecting with people. That's where it all started, the original purpose and idea of the online world. To be able to connect with people all over the world. Great idea, great purpose and even great results. The only problem, it's lost sight of that and has gone on to become a hungry online content monster that consumes everything within seconds and creates the need for more and more content.
And right about now you're sitting there reading this and thinking, ok well you're from a different generation,you don't get this or you're too old to get this. I'm not, trust me, I'm in my twenties, and I'm just as addicted to the online world as the next person. Even though I try to turn my phone off or plan "offline" weekends if you will, I do end up checking my Instagram or my Facebook. It's become human nature. And that right here, is my problem and the reason for this post. Social Media has become human nature. How absurd does that sound? That an app or a platform could have such hold over us that we let it become the new normal. The online world has became the new world, keeping us plugged in and listening at all time.
It does of course offer it's benefits, don't get me wrong I'm just as addicted as the next blogger, Instagrammer or online marketer. The world is constantly changing, it's part of life. So we take the good with the bad, like with everything else.
Geek out!

Here's Why Instagram Is The New Social Superpower

The giant himself.

We live in a busy world where technology seems to be our best ally. Even though we are drowning in social platforms and new apps that are being developed every day, there are a few platforms that remain "Social Superpowers" as I like to call them. In a time when there are hundreds of copies made of a new app every week, some of them hold their own by following some simple rules, mainly one rule: UX. I think the user experience is one of the most important factors in creating anything that is meant to be used by everyone in the world, since ultimately the users have the power to make or break it. 

So in the arena of Twitter and Facebook, comes Instagram. One of the fastest growing giants of them all, with over 400 million monthly users it surpasses even Twitter. So let's get to it, what is this undisputable's giants secret?
The first reason Instagram is so popular is that it's very user friendly. The interface was created for the every day user. The upload process, the profile settings and even following new profiles is easier than ever.
Then there's brand awareness. While we may not like to admit it we are influenced by society and marketing. Recommendations and advertisements play an important factor in our decision making process. We follow what others do and try new things based on what we see.
The 3rd reason is the freedom it provides. No longer are photographers defined by professional camera's and the technical details. With one smartphone users become 21st century photojournalists. Sharing their view of life and stories with their followers, not unlike a photographer does at an art gallery, turning Instagram into their showing room and followers into their captive audience.
The 4th reason are the number of edit settings. No longer do users have to turn to Photoshop or Illustrater to make their pictures perfect. Instagram offers a wide variety of filters as well as individual edit options to fix everything from lighting to contrast. Giving every day people the chance to be recognised among the best.
The 5th reason are the opportunities it creates. With high quality content comes opportunity. Companies often enter partnerships with Instagrammers that have a big following to promote their services or products. Giving marketers access to a new and real audience and Instagrammers the chance to make a living by doing what they love.

So there you have it, Instagram came - gave users what they wanted - and secured it's place among the giants of today's social media platforms.
Geek out!