Published in Product and Engineering at The Economist·Mar 27, 2019News reporting isn’t enoughBuilding trust with news consumers requires conversation too — Social media were supposed to make society better, but they may have just made us all angrier. For a long time in my job on social media for The Economist this problem has troubled me. I work for a newspaper that seeks to offer a rational and respectful view on…Journalism4 min readJournalism4 min read
Published in Product and Engineering at The Economist·Mar 18, 2019Social media fellowshipHelp to shape The Economist’s digital future — The Economist was founded as a print newspaper in 1843, but today our analysis reaches over 40m people through social media. More people than ever discover us for the first time on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, perhaps through a video or an eye-opening infographic. The social media team comprises creative…Social Media2 min readSocial Media2 min read
Published in Product and Engineering at The Economist·Feb 25, 2019Together again, and againA social-media team needs both a fear and a joy of missing out — A social-media team needs meetings. But how do you make sure that gatherings are useful and not useless? And how do you cater to those people on your team who might prefer to be left alone? I know this seems like a boring topic, but I’ve learnt that it’s the…Meetings4 min readMeetings4 min read
Published in Product and Engineering at The Economist·Feb 15, 2019Productive conversationIntroducing a series on digital product development at The Economist — I’m sure everyone who works in an editorial social media team has heard a colleague say, “Hi, you’re lovely, but I have no idea what you do.” It happened to me recently, nearly four years since we set up a social media team at The Economist. The colleague is…Journalism2 min readJournalism2 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Nov 11, 2018The lost boyHow the desire to help is linked to sex — One of the things that makes A Star Is Born so popular is the portrayal of help. Jackson and Ally, the protagonists, support each other through their trials. And even though Jackson is a shit who I had no time for at all, I can see why some people might…Relationships4 min readRelationships4 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Nov 11, 2018The dreamboatSailing away in a fantasy of desire — I’ve never been in a long-term relationship, but I fall in love at least twice a day. Living in London means that on a daily basis I pass thousands of strangers — on public transport or in the street or in a coffee shop. …Queer4 min readQueer4 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Nov 4, 2018The objectLook at me, love me, shag me — When you open most gay dating apps you’ll find The Grid of Desire. The grid is a series of boxes, each counting for a different person. In each square of the grid is a human male, or at least a picture that a human male has chosen to represent himself…Dating4 min readDating4 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Nov 4, 2018The daddyThe force of the father figure — Who’s the daddy? He’s one of the hottest guys in porn, that’s who. If you look into the most popular gay porn categories online, ‘daddy’ is in the top three. Daddy is beaten, as it were, only by ‘black’ and ‘straight guys’. I think those are topics for another time. …Gay5 min readGay5 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Oct 7, 2018The rule-breakerWhy it’s sexy not to “be a man” — You can’t have it all. Jon Bon Jovi has a silly name but the face of a lion. I had a crush on that lion-face in my mid-teens. I was learning how to be a man, and Jon was full of lessons in lyrics. He “stand[s] out in the…Desire6 min readDesire6 min read
Published in Karl’s Kaschemme·Sep 26, 2018The outsiderWhy are we attracted to some outsiders but turned off by others? — “A stranger. From the outside. Oooooo.” We will never fully know what the aliens in Toy Story meant when they said this. They were trapped in an arcade grabber machine, and Buzz Lightyear had just climbed in. The aliens respond to Buzz’s arrival with a fever, grasping for him with…Outsiders7 min readOutsiders7 min read
