When I scroll through your timelines on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, all I get is a neatly curated list of highlights. But how are you actually doing?
What are you working on, what’s on your mind? It’s usually too mundane to post, but that’s exactly what you want to know. How’s Reiner going over in Australia, what’s he up to? A few months ago I created a dedicated page for that — my /now page. I update it every so often, and it gives you the big picture of what I’m focused on. The concept comes from Derek Sivers, and once you get it, you wonder why everyone doesn’t have one.
It fits neatly into my new social media strategy, which is all about stripping back to the essentials. I’ve set Twitter and Instagram to private, and on LinkedIn I’ll only post updates that are genuinely about my work. Instead, I’m pulling everything personal back to reinergaertner.de. Back to the roots. Back to the Indieweb. I publish what I want and stop worrying about what might please an algorithm or an audience.
It simplifies everything and reinforces the original idea behind this blog — sending notes to myself, really. If other people find them interesting, that’s lovely. If not, that’s fine too.
This post first appeared in German on reinergaertner.de, where I’ve been writing since 1997 — back when the internet still had that new-car smell. An AI assistant helped with the translation under my supervision. If something reads a bit odd, blame the Denglish in my head.