Substack, Schmuckstack
I know that creators out there need a way to make money from their content and create substack newsletters but frankly, I’m really sick and tired of hearing about it. There’s a lot of hype around it. These platforms come and go like waves. First there was blogging, then there WordPress, then there was Facebook, then they moved over to Medium then every man and his dog is creating a substack account. Thing is, I sit back and watch all this and all I see are people scrambling to build out content and moving it from one platform to the next. They spend more time doing this than building out and refining their expertise and programs – in this world, they need to be marketers now ON TOP of what they do. It’s MADNESS.
BUT OF COURSE, what would I know? I’ve not done this – I’ve just used MailChimp, WordPress and Active Campaign (for work) for writing and sharing newsletters in the past. Nor have I made any money from them (maybe I should have monetised but I see for many that the level of effort does not ultimately pay in the end…too much effort for little reward and plenty of headaches. Cost your time to set all these up, add the fees and you’ll see that you’re going to need a lot of subscribers paying to make it all worth your while).
Also I do worry when I see droves of people moving over to one platform (then raving about the platform as if it’s the best thing since sliced bread – and “if you’re not on it, you’re a luddite!”) while drowning out other competition (WordPress, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, Revue, Ghost, Mighty Networks etc) at the same time.
Really, at the end of the day is Substack any different to the other platforms or is it just hype? Enough with the cult mentality around products. I’m over it. A product is a product is a product….until another one comes along.
https://www.wired.com/story/substack-future-chris-best/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/apr/29/substack-news-writing-pyramind-scheme
Lesson in Learning: If everyone is jumping on a bandwagon, stand back, wait.
How does Networking Change in this Post-Pandemic World?
Good question, Mark Carrigan. In his post, an Introvert’s Guide to Post-Pandemic Networking, he talks about the difficulties – and the changes in the way academics network based on how their work and conference set up is changing.
What I’m seeing is that everything I’ve been espousing over the years on building communities, working out loud, sense making, networking on social media (before the platform capitalists SHAT on that for all of us), the value of blogging, the value of more smaller collaborative project based learning teams are now coming to roost. Will anyone still fail to see the value of these skills to help people build their networks beyond just their work teams? (I must refrain from falling down the route of cynicism).
Lesson in Learning: Yes, quite easily you can network but it means you have to INVEST time to do it to get value out of it.
Quiz: What is the Meaning of Your Life?
In this post by Manfred Kets de Vries, he has a self-assessment Meaning in Life Questionnaire that may be of interest to take. He talks about the 5 pillars of meaning which are Belonging, Purpose, Competence, Control and Transcendence. Take the questionnaire.
Going through the questionnaire, I realise I’m already living quite a fulfilling life albeit some gaps in helping others in my community and the lack of motivation and purposes in my day job. Overall though, I make up for it with life outside my work. I’m pretty much right.
Lesson for Learning: Find meaning in your life then go for it.
Is Google Stealing Your Content? (Of course they are!)
Jeff Bulla’s blog Is Google Stealing Your Content explains how Google scrapes content from various content providers on the web and summarises all responses into a post thereby preventing any click throughs to the actual content. They maximise the traffic to Google and minimise it to yours. Nice one evil Google.
Lesson for Learning: Be mindful of what you put out there – it’ll be used by others who’ll expect to get it for free or sell it under their own name/banner/platform but at the same time, don’t fear it.
“The new media moguls are now the new kings of the universe. They are the new gatekeepers to your content.”
Role Modelling is a Key Dimension of Community Leadership
This is a gap in my current role as Community Manager and I’m scratching my head to come up with ways to enable our leadership teams to share more, contribute more and engage more in people’s posts in our enterprise social network. Or to see how critically important it is for them to engage in an informal and social manner about what’s happening in the company as role models of new leadership styles for modern workplaces.
This post by Fabian Pfortmuller talks about the social experiment in the 1950s about how values, ideas and rituals are transmitted socially through role modelling.
Lesson in Learning: Be the role modeller; stand out of the pack; be someone who people aspire to.
Heart Touching: Removing Barnacles from a Rescued Sea Turtle
I love watching videos of animals being rescued. It’s touching that there are individuals and organisations doing this for our precious creatures of the sea too. They’re my ‘feel good’ videos that I need to see at times. Initially I thought he was going to get a small grinder but it looks like he’s using a coin to snap these things off.
Lesson in learning: The world is beautiful and some are helpless within it. Do your bit.
Watch This And Be Curious: What Do You Think She Saw?
This turned up in my YouTube feed and it had me mesmerised.
- Why are they dressed like that?
- Where are they off to?
- Why was there a disco in the barn?
- What did she see?
- Why did she react this way? So many questions. I have no idea what I watched. So….naturally, I’ll need to search for this on Netflix.
Stay curious people, keep asking questions – the more the better.
Mental Health: Be There For Someone
A short and free course that helps you learn the signs and what to do if you have a friend or family member who is struggling with mental health.
Lesson in learning: Ask if you’re okay. Listen more.
Why Some Things Don’t Work
When it comes to learning, people have and use different study skills (NOT different learning styles)!, different levels of expertise (see, for example, the expertise reversal effect[1]), different amounts of knowledge of the subject (not necessarily the same as expertise), different learner needs, different motivations, and so further.
Paul Kirschner and Mirjam Neelen
In this post by Kirschner and my friend Mirjam, they explain 5 study skills that are proven to be wrong when it comes to learning. You’d be surprised at what these are as you’re probably already doing them.
Trip to Paris: The Musee Nissim de Camondo
One of the most beautiful museums in Paris and relatively unknown in the 8th arrondissement.
Lesson in Learning: Explore beyond where most people go.
To Look Forward To (or not): Twitter Confirms it’s Working on a Built-In Notes Feature
Not enough to get me back on I’m afraid. So it looks like Twitter is testing out a blogging feature called Twitter Notes. If there’s one thing I learned getting off social media is that I should have had ALL my content on my OWN platform (this one – which I’m paying for) and not on some third party application. Besides, seriously, WHO reads long form anymore?
I know many people can’t be bothered. The clincher of this article, “Twitter would make the text indexable for marketing and search purposes”.
Lesson in Learning: Explore how you can take notes anywhere – any way – not just on a social media platform that will use these notes to sell to you.
Listen to Mozart Played on 4 Guitars
Thanks to Lori Dorn from Laughing Squid for sharing this.
Lesson in Learning: Marvel and awe at the beauty of humans playing music together.
Innovation: is Going Against The Grain
This article by TeachThought says that innovation means “Going Against the Grain”.
I’ve often believed this and in some way feel like my removing myself completely from social media is reclaiming a bit of my own thinking and creativity back.
When you’re “in the pack, you think like the pack” and that’s a place I NEVER wanted to be in because it stifled me. I was continually explaining WHY I didn’t want to follow best practices, hacks, models and frameworks that “thought leaders” said we should follow. I always believed that you make your own – and then you commit to the process – and seek out people who “get” you and your thinking. Be more like an artist than a robot.
Unfortunately at times this can be difficult.
Lesson in Learning: Always go against the grain to break the comfort zones.
Personal Growth: We Grow What We Go Through
A post by Chris Corrigan resonated with me. Often I have believed too that ALL of my projects and things I do all go in learning something new and something about myself.
Lesson in Learning: Everything you do, you’re learning about yourself. Take time to reflect on what it is you’re doing and why.
Modern Work: Does Apparatchik Have a Place In Today’s Work?
I wondered whether this word apparatchik can be used in a modern workplace current corporate culture sense?
An apparatchik was a bureaucrat who worked for the communist party. The person who just followed orders and didn’t question the grand plans. “Members of the apparat (apparatchiks or apparatchiki) were frequently transferred between different areas of responsibility, usually with little or no actual training for their new areas of responsibility. Thus, the term apparatchik, or “agent of the apparatus” was usually the best possible description of the person’s profession and occupation” (Wikipedia)
I don’t know why that word keeps popping up in my mind. Maybe I’m seeing and hearing a lot about companies who have these apparatchiks who just don’t question, do what they have to do and let the higher powers get on with their power plays. The question is recognising who the apparatchik is in your workplace and somehow staying out of their way – or hidden – as they are. Here’s an article of interest to learn more.
Lesson in Learning: If a word keeps popping up in your head, it’s time to explore why. See the journey it takes you on.
The Secret to Remote Onboarding (well, it’s no secret really)
Okay, let’s face it. Virtual and remote work has increased loneliness in the workspace (there HAS to be some research on this) because I’m just going with my gut – and my own personal experience. So when it comes to onboarding people, how do you onboard them without them feeling lonely and disconnected from their peers. Admittedly, you need a good program that caters for incorporating meetups, meetings and check ins as well as learning groups and feedback sessions. It’s not a ‘set and forget’ thing.
This article explains how focussing more on incorporating more collaborative learning. (I can see an opportunity for communities of practice to be incorporated into programs of induction, onboarding and graduate and talent development programs).
Lesson in Learning: Make links to what you read and your own life experiences then ask why and if there’s a pattern there.
Interesting: The Catwalk
I noticed this with Pud, our cat. There has to be a reason why they evolved to walk this way – I think it’s because they hunt and are predators (well, not Pud, he’s the laziest cat ever and yet, he walks like this). Sure enough, someone made a video about it….
Lesson in Learning: Sometimes you ponder on a question but never take time to find an answer. Usually wait a while, the answer will come in other ways.
Fashion Has Abandoned Human Taste (not just Fashion, says Helen)
Thing is, not just fashion. It’s EVERYWHERE. Everything has been commoditised, churned out and lacks creativity. Algorithms churn out the SAME things to you ad nauseum. It’s about the “experience, darling!” It’s actually ALL SHIT. (My words).
Lesson in Learning: If it’s been mashed up, hacked, commoditised, productised, streamlined, marketed as ‘best practice’, it should ring alarm bells. Stay away from it.
Consumable products are everywhere, and maybe the most we can hope for is that their persistent joylessness will eventually doom the corporations that foist them upon us.
Amanda Mull, Fashion has Abandoned Human Taste
Learning Begins with Just About Anything!
Love this post that has 12 authentic starting points for learning.
- A person
- A place
- A question
- A Circumstance
- A Need
- Research or Data
- A Problem
- A Model
- Tools and Technology
- Previous Work or Experience
- A Knowledge or Skill Deficit
- A Strength
Lesson in Learning: There’s are lessons for us everywhere. We just need to take note and reflect on them.
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