Hobbyist Academia #39
First, an order of business. As I’ve gotten clearer about what I write about here, I’ve been feeling like the name Hobbyist Academia doesn’t convey enough about the content of the newsletter.
The name originally came from this being a place for me to research and think and write about all the academic subjects I would combine into a PhD, if I ever went that route. But the more I’ve written at the intersection of digital sociology, design, business, and personal development, the more I’ve concluded that that intersection is how to be a connector in a hybrid world.
I still want to keep the media recommendations aspect of the newsletter, but I also want to share more original writing about my systems thinking approach to building relationships and creating feelings of genuine connectedness in a hybrid world. I’m developing an actual system that you’ll be able to implement in your own life.
I may start sending out some of the shorter thoughts and posts as standalone emails- Seth Godin style. I’m inspired by people like Seth, Wes Kao, and Priya Parker, while aiming to share my unique perspective in my own way.
What do you think? Should this newsletter stay Hobbyist Academia or should this be Connector Mode?
Engage and Interact
This was Jimmy Cerone’s Product of the Week in his latest newsletter, and it’s one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time about how technology can be a tool to actually help facilitate IRL interactions and relationships. Mozi is an app that lets you privately share travel plans with your contacts, and then alerts you if you and a friend will be in the same city at the same time or attending the same event or conference.
Read
One of the co-founders of Mozi wrote about the story of how Mozi came to be, and it’s a delightful journey of touchpoints, connections, and relationships. It’s also an elegant explanation of the problem (social media has devolved into just… media that has nothing to do with being social) and their current iteration of a solution. Ev Williams and Molly DeWolf Swenson, can we be friends?!
Speaking of which, Rachel Botsman’s recent newsletter about the essentiality of friction in community design speaks to exactly this. “That’s the power of platforms that effectively use the internet to get people off the internet and form connections face-to-face.” She explains that that power comes from friction: the oxygen of community. If the world is trending away from friction, how do we supplant that oxygen supply in our communities?
David Mattin has returned to his newsletter, New World Same Humans, after a bit of a hiatus. He’s a deep thinker, writing about how evolving technology impacts society and the thinking and feeling part of being human. In 2025, he’ll be sharing a weekly postcard-style note and relaunching digital community salon conversations. I enjoyed his explanation of how he arrived at this plan.
A recent edition of Culture Study dives into why many people are reevaluating what we actually gain from posting on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, etc. and ultimately concluding that it’s not worth the resentment and anger the apps seem to be trying to foment. People in and outside of the media production world are opting out of the performance of sharing every detail of our lives on social media, as we realize that it’s not creating genuine connection. (This all certainly resonated with me- I’m mostly off social media except for LinkedIn, which feels like a very different platform and purpose compared to the purely “social” apps.)
Casper ter Kuile’s latest newsletter profiles the Cake Picnic, an innovative new gathering idea that’s simple enough and interesting enough that people want to show up. Read on for his interview with the founder and subsequent analysis of why the structure seems to work so well.
Browse?
This one doesn’t quite fit in the Read category, even though it’s a book-ish format. It’s a printed photography zine, a collaborative creative project forged in documenting offscreen experiences and communicating them in an offscreen medium. Facilitated, of course, by a digital medium. It was created by Will deFries of Sunday Scaries and his friend James Tedesco.
(I’m not sure I can explain the thread exactly from “how to be a connector” as a theme to this particular recommendation, but this is absolutely the type of thing I want to share in this newsletter.)
Save This for Later
Just one new book for the list this time.
For more, check out The Collection on my website for curated media recommendations at the intersection of digital sociology, design, business, and personal development.
[I will receive a small commission should you purchase a book using the Bookshop links included in the newsletter. Bookshop is an Amazon-alternative online bookseller that supports independent bookstores in your local community.]