Everyone needs a curator
The tweet that got me interviewed by flipboard
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It all started with a simple idea: the world needs curation. There is just too much information out there for any one person to take in by themselves. So much of it is chaff, noise. And with everyone joining new social channels and posting constantly, there is more noise than ever. Everyone is competing to be heard by everybody else.
If your attention is diverted by everyone on earth, even for a second each, how much time is wasted?
To answer this question, I called on an old friend: my calculator:
7,100,000,000 (people) x 1 second = 7.1 billion seconds
7.1 billion seconds/60 = 118,333,333 minutes
118,333,333 minutes/60 = 1,972,222 hours
1,972,222 hours/24 = 82,176 days
82,176 days/365 = 225 years
As it turns out, 7.1 billion seconds is a long, long time. If you never sort out what is important or relevant, you will lose yourself in a sea of endless chatter.
I formulated this tweet, as an endorsement of my Flipboard fandom:
Two days later I get this response:
I was honoured to get Flipboard’s attention, what with all the noise out there. Then, a few weeks later, I got this email from Shona Sanzgiri, a curator/writer/photographer at Flipboard. They were requesting an interview!
The best thing about interviews is that it helps consolidate what you’ve been thinking, but perhaps not yet expressing. It becomes a distillation of your current mindset. It took me a couple of days, but here’s the interview in full. I hope it’s worth a second of your time.
Spotlight: Loopmedia VP Strategy & Creative Jason Theodor
Shona Sanzgiri / March 24, 2016
My name is Jason Theodor and I’m a human trying to comprehend my surroundings.
My work specializes in creativity and the human condition, which is reflected in my magazine All-Day Breakfast, a daily dose of vulnerability, observation, and momentum.
I have a passion for observing how creative systems evolve — from iterative changes, to social platforms like Medium and Snapchat, to world-building cultures in Westeros.
I use Flipboard because
- It has the best recommendation engine (remnants of the acquired Zite app).
- It has a satisfying user-interface for exploring and reading.
- It is the most beautiful way to capture, organize and share bookmarks. (It’s what Delicious should have become.)
The first few sites I read in the morning are Medium and Cover Stories on Flipboard.
The purpose of my work is to unlock the world’s creative potential by breaking through barriers, finding a focus, and overcoming the ordinary.
My approach to my work is different because, as with All-Day Breakfast, I never know what it’s going to be until I start. I get up at 6am every day, sit down with my iPad, and just start from scratch. It’s an art journal. It’s a blog. It’s satire. It’s a confession. It’s a photo gallery. It’s social commentary. It continues to evolve and keep me interested.
The best article I read all week was an argument between Henry Wismayer and Jon Westenberg on Medium. It started with this and continued with this. It’s still ongoing and lots of people are talking about how to focus on real writing and art, as opposed to clickbaiting and self-help.
My favorite topic on Flipboard is movies.
Someone I admire from a different discipline is Elon Musk because he continues to take on the world’s biggest challenges. He’s changing the system through the system itself. I think he understands that you cannot simply change human behaviour. Instead, you must provide easy, affordable solutions that are designed for maximum global impact. Solar power, electric cars and reusable space rockets are just a few of these.
My “media diet” includes everything from older to younger social stuff: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, Anchor.fm. I read non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy and magic realism on Kindle. I scan comics and graphic novels on my iPad. I watch Netflix documentaries, dramas, action movies and some comedy on my PS4. I read Flipboard, Quartz and Nuzzel on my iPhone. I also try to look up, see my environment, and take interesting pictures.
A unique productivity tip of mine is to create and share something every day, especially if it makes you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. Learning how to deal with imperfection and criticism, as well as finding your tribe of supporters, will give you creative momentum.
One issue that needs more attention is empathy — the ability to feel what someone else is feeling, to imagine experiences from different perspectives regardless of political leanings or religious beliefs. Entitled narcissism can only be overcome by open imagination. This makes creativity a requirement.
If I could offer one piece of advice to my younger self, it would be: “You are enough.” Think more about experiencing and expressing the moment instead of trying to capture the future. The future will come regardless; the moment will pass quickly.
