Blog

Weeknotes #043

— 15 minute read

Enjoying a bit of a break and the hot weather in Spain.

"The ability to publish anything, anytime, anywhere, to anyone, is a world-historic shift.” – Clay Shirky

Good things

Andrew Keen was right

I recently received a call from an old friend, Juliano Spyer (Juca), who is an excellent conversationalist, writer, and anthropologist. I’ve had the chance to hang out with him several times in São Paulo and London. He’s such a fantastic person to talk to, always full of exciting stories. One of the key lessons I’ve learned from Juca is how to effectively share your thoughts on the web.

Most people might be surprised to learn that I used to be shy and nervous when speaking in front of audiences. That changed after working with Juca and other talented people at Talk2. While we worked together, Juca led a project called Talk Show, a podcast where we interviewed “digital” personalities. It was recorded live on Twitter, using clever hacks to capture Skype calls, broadcast them, and handle questions—something easily done with apps today.

Many of those episodes are lost now—it’s been over 15 years! But I managed to recover a quote from an episode where Juca interviewed Andrew Keen.

At the time, Andrew was promoting his book The Cult of the Amateur, which critiques the impact of user-generated content on society. You can still listen to the entire episode (skip the first five minutes if you don’t understand Portuguese), but I want to share a specific quote about the web and business models:

“Clay Shirky and I are friends, and it’s interesting because many people think we disagree on most things. We agree on most things. He’s right. And he’s coming closer to my position. Because the assumption three or four or five years ago was that old media would die and be painlessly replaced by new media—this massive seismic shift from newspapers to bloggers, from the movie or television business to YouTubers. And that hasn’t happened. In my book, I argued that the old was dying, but nothing new was replacing it. And that’s even truer today. Old media is in crisis. Still, no viable business models exist to build new media companies.”

Clay Shirky’s point, which Andrew referenced, relates to the idea of value generated by communities. Shirky argues that:

“the absence of a business model actually allowed the creation of a value that the presence of a business model prevented.”

It’s fascinating to reflect on how this conversation has aged. We now face different risks and benefits, many of which we couldn’t have imagined back in 2009. I was always optimistic about the web, so I was leaning on Shirky's side. But now, in reflection, I can see that Keen was spot on. Erosion of quality, misinformation and the cultural devaluation -- all the things he was concerned in 2007 became incontestable aspects of using the web in 2024.

On top of that, the reckless use of our personal data for profit, and the complete inability of opting out of the algorithmic recommendations... It's hard to keep the optimism. But we keep swimming.

I still see writing and sharing great content as a way to be generous with the web community you serve. Over time, it creates value that isn’t necessarily tied to financial metrics. And I believe it's also a personal statement: we share, because we (still) can. And everyone should be nurturing their own web properties. It's a small part of this idea of Rewilding the Internet and core to the philosophy of the Indieweb.

I do it because I believe in fostering serendipity and human connection. Because I still inspired by the cluetrain manifesto. Conversations are still essentially a human thing and that we can and should nurture.

Sometimes, it feels like sending a message in a bottle—unsure of where it will land or who it will reach. But when it does find its way, the connections that form are invaluable.

Learned things

Maslow and the Blackfoot

I've been researching the topic of "user needs". I'm using ironic quotes here as I find the term extremely reductive. In my research, I was reading the famous "A Theory of Human Motivation" paper by Abraham Maslow. Maslow is well known for his Hierarchy of Needs. But according to this amazing article, Maslow himself never thought about his hierarchy of needs as a pyramid. And that his theories were probably influenced by the Siksika Blackfoot way of life.

"According to Blood and Heavy Head’s lectures (2007), 30-year-old Maslow arrived at Siksika along with Lucien Hanks and Jane Richardson Hanks. He intended to test the universality of his theory that social hierarchies are maintained by dominance of some people over others. However, he did not see the quest for dominance in Blackfoot society. Instead, he discovered astounding levels of cooperation, minimal inequality, restorative justice, full bellies, and high levels of life satisfaction."

I am always impressed with the wisdom of the First Nations. The key lesson in the article is the communal aspect of fulfilling needs. More on user needs and this research in the end of this post.

Things that bring me joy

Swimming

I never thought I would appreciate swimming that much, but here we are. With 40 degrees in Valencia, it's becoming a good habit with positive effects on my health. Sometimes I am feeeling adventurous and I go to Malvarrosa. Be in the water, my friend.

Web Designing

Working with Leili on her food styling business has been a joy. This week we redesigned her website. After using markdown and eleventy for years, it was quite hard to get used to Wordpress blocks and all those bells and whistles. But it's live, we moved out of Squarespace. And now we're ready for the next stage: evolving the content, localization. And the marketing strategy. Onward.

The neuroscience of trust In “The Neuroscience of Trust,” Paul J. Zak breaks down how trust is the secret sauce for boosting employee engagement, productivity, and retention. He says companies that build trust see big wins—like 50% more productivity and 76% more engagement. Zak’s research highlights eight trust-building moves for managers.

Abductive reasoning in research In product, we always discuss the topic of evidence-based decision making. But teams learn in different ways, and all thinking tools are welcome. This definition of abductive reasoning and how it compares to inductive and deductive reasoning is refreshing:

"Abductive reasoning is a logical process where one starts with an observation and then seeks the simplest and most likely candidate explanations. Unlike other forms of reasoning that start with a theory or observation that cannot be explained by any existing theory, abductive reasoning begins with an unexpected fact or occurrence and works backward-and-forward to find the most plausible theory."

Perceiving Needs Professor Rolf Faste explored the same question I have: the difference between needs and wants. The paper is from 1987! This quote about how the discovery of needs impact the health of the teams is epic:

"A clearly defined need also attracts talent and provides motivation for employees. Thus needs are not just a sales issue, but significantly affect the entire health of the organization. Just as they do for students, good problems generate energy: they attract the best people and the best efforts of the entire organization"