Author Archives: ivanagas

Encouragement is Actually Important

As much as we don’t want to admit it, encouragement is actually important. As individuals, we often believe we don’t need encouragement. We think “I am passionate, smart, and tough enough to do this without support.” Many fail to realize that encouragement is responsible for where we are now. We also learn to be distrustfulContinue reading “Encouragement is Actually Important”

Offensive and Defensive Community Onboarding

Onboarding in a community is all about information. New information takes energy for members to process. Every step of the onboarding process takes energy from members, and every member has different energy levels. When the energy runs out, they lose interest in the onboarding process, or worse, they leave and never come back. This isContinue reading “Offensive and Defensive Community Onboarding”

Always Be Onboarding: Creating Community Arcades

Many people think of onboarding only when a member first joins a community, but onboarding happens every time a member re-enters a community space. Communities should always be onboarding. Onboarding is the process of providing members with the context necessary to function in the community. It is needed because context changes constantly. Communities create aContinue reading “Always Be Onboarding: Creating Community Arcades”

How to Create Social Capital Like Travis Kalanick

Social capital is the dark matter that forms connections between people. It is what makes people want to give you opportunities and help you succeed. Building social capital means people are willing to do things for you, and it gives you power. Few people think strategically about building social capital, but it can be justContinue reading “How to Create Social Capital Like Travis Kalanick”

Community Information Bankruptcy

Have you ever visited an internet community, seen an overwhelming number of posts and messages, and decided to “mark all as read” or give up on reading any of it? In doing so, you are declaring information bankruptcy. Information bankruptcy is a common problem for communities to have. When there is too much information toContinue reading “Community Information Bankruptcy”

NFTs Are All About Access

NFTs provide access to things people want. People value access to scarce resources; therefore, access is worth money. Money has always been traded for access and will continue to do so. NFTs are internet-native keys to access events, communities, identities, future benefits, people and status. The type of access they provide can be broken downContinue reading “NFTs Are All About Access”

Building and Bending Frames with Friends

We see the world through frames. A frame is how we view and react to the world formed by our values, identity, and perception. Through a frame, we understand and perceive new information, react to situations, and make decisions. It is formed subconsciously but impacts everything you perceive and think. Frames play a large roleContinue reading “Building and Bending Frames with Friends”

The Group Chat Could Be So Much More

The untapped potential of the group chat is massive. It is how groups of friends hang out online but doesn’t come close to how they hang out in-person. No one ever plans to hang out on a group chat because there are fewer experiences to have together. The group chat doesn’t have the same feelingContinue reading “The Group Chat Could Be So Much More”

Observers of the In-Between

There are places in-between the spaces we live. We rarely “see” them, but they are there. I’ve realized many of my favourite writers, video makers, and photographers are constantly exploring this space in-between. They travel and then observe the space between where they start and finish. Their destination doesn’t matter, it is someplace you’ve neverContinue reading “Observers of the In-Between”