Snapchat’s Big Advantage

‘‘Internet-connected photography is really a reinvention of the camera.’’

Snapchat is the north star for technology companies of the future. They’re actively reinventing how people communicate and express themselves, enabling people to live in the moment while sharing their authentic selves with friends and family.

Snapchat, now Snap Inc. is more than just a technology company. They’re leveraging smartphone, internet and especially camera ubiquity to enable us to experience the world together.

In the words of CEO Evan Spiegel, “Snapchat has to do with the way photographs have changed. In the past, photographs were used to explain really important memories, but today, with the advent of the mobile phone and the connected camera, pictures are being used for talking.”

Snapchat’s rise in popularity hints at a larger truth about the technology companies of the future.

As the impact of technology on society grows stronger, the most successful companies will benefit from an intricate grasp of the ever-evolving interplay between technology and culture.

Apple and Snapchat understand this in ways that Silicon Valley traditionally hasn’t. Snapchat’s cultural awareness was lucid in Friday’s leaked spectacle release. They marketed the glasses as a toy instead of futuristic technology, vowing not to make the same marketing mistakes Google did with the Google Glass. Spiegel purposely undersells spectacles referring to them “as a toy, to be worn for kicks at a barbecue or an outdoor concert.” New technology catches on when it’s fun and fashionable, not scary and nerdy.

By positioning spectacles as a toy, the glasses are fun and unthreatening (and make a great Christmas gift ). 🎅

As facial cameras become universal, marketing teams must function in synergistic tandem with product designers and technologists. Snapchat is guided by this truth.

Circular video and a 115 degree field of view that mimics the human eye complement Snapchat’s more casual approach to product marketing. Most prominently, spectacles aren’t intimidating — they’re just toys. 😎

As Zach Kahn astutely observes, Snapchat is taking a page from Apple’s product launch playbook with a culturally conscious utilization of media, entertainment and fashion. 

Moving forward, the company that sits at the center of ubiquitous documentation of our lives will leverage a deep awareness of society, culture, and human psychology.

Early in its career, Snapchat made the conscious, and courageous decision to operate from Los Angeles instead of the Valley. It was one of the best decisions the company’s ever made. By choosing beach over valley, Snapchat can understand real people in ways that Silicon Valley based companies simply can’t.

Stuck in a bubble defined by on-demand groceries, computers for dogs, and trivial startups called Sup and Yo, Silicon Valley founders forget that technology is just a means to an end for most people.

Spiegel routinely meets with influential people from outside the technology industry, ranging from fashion designers, to movie makers, to musicians to make sense of the very societal truths that have escaped the Silicon Valley bubble.

As Snapchat gains cultural understanding, they will increasingly differentiate themselves from their Silicon Valley competitors. Snapchat already is, and will increasingly be, the primary method of communication for digital natives who prize visual and effortless sharing. In doing so, Snapchat will innovate around its core values — effortless connection, individualized creativity, and ephemerality.

By going beyond mere technological developments to redefine culture, Snapchat is tapping into the heart of today’s cultural zeitgeist. They’re fun, they’re hip, and soon, the enviable standard for Silicon Valley technology companies.

Let’s chat! You can reach me on Twitter at @david_perell 😎

To see more posts like this, subscribe to my newsletter below ⬇️ 📧

Meaningful Travel

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”  — Oliver Wendell Holmes

Anybody can become a better traveler.

Unfortunately, travel is regarded as a indulgence for the wealthy, often conducted in luxurious pursuit of comfort and ephemeral pleasure.

That luxury, however, comes at a great cost. The indulgences of foreign travel inhibit the insightful opportunities for personal growth that travel uniquely unlocks. Travel and vacation therefore are polar opposites.

Vacations serve as hedonistic escapes from the stresses of work, and the seemingly infinite tasks that cloud our free time. However, vacation doesn’t yield the intangibles of a life well lived — worldly wisdom, moving experiences, and the windy journey of discovering our authentic selves.

Instead, vacation is characterized by fine dining, ego-driven luxury, and long afternoons on beaches with fiction books and ice cold margaritas.

While both travel and vacation can be worthwhile initiatives, the longterm benefits of travel are far superior.

Travel inspires vivid inquiry into the innermost convictions we use to navigate the world.

Growing up in San Francisco, I watched tourists visit the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf, only to leave with a misguided understanding of what life in San Francisco is actually like. By avoiding uncomfortable local experiences, we miss opportunities for critical self-examination and personal growth.

This begs the question: how can we make our travels meaningful?

In the bumble and jumble of our fast paced lives, we live on autopilot with limited opportunity to reflect and consider the long-term consequences of our repeated actions. When we do pause, we wrap our minds with Netflix, never-ending Facebook feeds and Snapchat stories.

The lasting benefits of travel only emerge when we spend enough time in a single place to fully embrace it, simultaneously turning inwards in search of a better way to live. This is why we fall in love with the places we travel. Like our lovers, foreign lands represent richly permanent memories that shape who we become and remind us of our youthful naiveté.

Instead of running from unfamiliar experiences, we should immerse ourselves in foreign culture, embracing the fleeting discomfort that comes with taking worthwhile risks that initiate the cultivation of wisdom and make us whole.

This expansive acquisition of worldly knowledge is a slow, arduous process that feels stale in the moment, but sensational — and even life changing — in retrospect. At home, we attach ourselves to rigid routines and unquestioned worldviews. The art of travel galvanizes the continual reflection we unconsciously long for, but fail to achieve in our endlessly moving lives.

Travelers who seek meaning unearth it by welcoming unexpected challenges, living modestly, and embracing the loneliness that comes with doing so. These enlightening experiences prompt rebirth by awakening us to the parts of ourselves once hidden in our subconscious.

“Well-traveled” people aren’t the ones who have seen the most landmarks or have the most stamps in their passports. Rather, they earn their status with momentous experiences in foreign lands that foster introspection and personal growth.

Travelers in this ideal mindset rid themselves of the narrow tunnels of thinking that stem from the constant pursuit of safety and familiarity in all aspects of our home lives. Travelers trade the comfort and familiarity of home and countless possessions in search of meaningful experiences that foster self growth and understanding.

Inherent in the pursuit of meaningful travel is a commitment to embracing discomfort, living simply and focusing on the present moment. As Alan de Botton writes in The Art of Travel, “the pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.”

No matter where we are, travel lets us tap into the adventurous instincts that disappear in young adulthood’s quest for maturity and professionalism.

Travel makes us reconsider once absolute values via nuanced introspection that only becomes possible when we’ve physically and psychically escaped our daily routines. It’s less of a physical journey, and more of a mental one that doesn’t truly begin until we divorce ourselves from the assumptions that chain us to unquestioned habits and routines.

When done right, travelers think beyond superficial luxuries and arrive at once hidden truths that provide sacred insight into our intricate selves and the complex world we inhabit.

When done right, travel is both uniquely challenging and perpetually awakening. Our minds, once stretched by deliberate travel, never contract to their original dimensions, letting us live more meaningful lives.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. — Dr. Seuss

Let’s chat! I blog at perell.com and tweet (obsessively) at @david_perell 😎

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter to automatically receive posts via email 🙌

Special thanks to Zander Nethercutt for editing this post 🙏

Cover photo by Eva Darron on Unsplash

What You Don’t Know About the Headphone Jack

“We’re just at the beginning of a truly wireless future we’ve been working towards for many years, where technology enables the seamless and automatic connection between you and your devices.” — Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Design, Apple

We’ve arrived at a pivotal moment in the history of technology. By removing the headphone jack and releasing AirPods, Apple is building a future beyond smartphones.

The recently announced “geeky” headphones have inspired countless memes and viral videos that make light of Apple’s latest bet on the future of technology.


Many people perceive wired headphones as “good enough.” As Will Oremus rightly observes, “AirPods aren’t just headphones, any more than the first iPhone was just a phone.” The soon-to-be magical advancements of the AirPods are far beyond what any layman can realistically imagine. Audio communication is the future of computing. In turn, AirPods are more than wireless headphones; they’ll enable us to seamlessly accomplish a multitude of simple tasks without touching our smartphones.

I applaud Apple’s courage to pursue perfection in the face of loud criticism. In accordance with Steve Jobs’ ambitious visions of the future, Apple has always compromised short-term customer satisfaction in favor of delightful experiences where technology is more intuitive and even easier to use.

While Facebook and especially Google are overwhelmingly data driven, Apple management has a deep empathy for their customers. They genuinely strive to make the best and most personal products to enrich their user’s lives. Apple products feel different in your hand — they’re elegant, harmoniously designed, simple, and extraordinary.

In turn, Apple pushes the limits when others are too afraid to. In spite of mass criticism, they removed floppy discs on the 1998 iMac, the optical drive on the MacBook Air in 2008 and now the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in 2016. If Apple had not paved the way, we’d still be dependent on archaic technologies that hinder human progress.

The AirPod launch shouldn’t be analyzed on a one-year time horizon. I understand the frustration of buying new headphones because of the removal of a ubiquitous headphone jack, but before your outrage ignites, step away and assess the change from a 5-year time scale.

Let’s jump forward half a decade to 2021. By then, we’ll live in a wireless future where numerous countries have replaced human drivers with self-driving cars. We’ll be watching hours of video content every day on our virtual reality headsets and drop our cable subscriptions in favor of Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, HBO and other companies that haven’t gone mainstream yet.

We’re moving to a world where the distinctions between the digital world and the analog world disappear. In fact, the infant trend is already underway — look at how the digital world permeates our real lives with Uber and Airbnb.

With the removal of the headphone jack, Apple is pushing industry standards forward. While the immediate advantages are clear — the iPhone 7 will be waterproof with better battery life and louder speakers — the long term implications are more profound.

Apple is building a world where we use our voices more, and phones less. To use technological verbiage, they’re laying the essential groundwork for Iron-Man style augmented reality, a technology that imposes computer images on a person’s perspective of the real view.


As James Downey wisely observes, Apple is spreading the changes out over a couple of releases towards the end goal of a wireless future. By spreading them out, the changes aren’t as shocking to the average consumer.

Someday, we’ll laugh at headphones that used to tether us to our phones. We’ll say, “Can you believe how dumb they were? They could only mute a song, control the volume and pause the music.”

Soon, you’ll be able to instantly search all the world’s information by effortlessly tapping on your headphones while Siri morphs into a powerful, always-on virtual assistant. We’ll interact with the world around us more naturally with our voices instead of depending on smartphones that absorb our gaze.

Changes to the iPhone are on the horizon for to upcoming iPhones too. Rumors indicate that the next iPhone will be all glass. Apple will remove the home button in favor of a larger screen, improved design, and a better user experience, all of which wouldn’t be possible with the 100-year old headphone jack.

Removing the headphone jack reflects both short term and long term product strategies that none of us will understand until we can analyze it in retrospect.

Wireless headphones and the complimentary AirPods represent the logical next steps towards a more convenient and intuitive future. Someday, we’ll judge this moment as both a catalyst and a meaningful step on the lengthy road to a post-smartphone world.

Let’s chat! I tweet (obsessively) at @david_perell 😎

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

The Magic of Elon Musk

“One night he told me, ‘If there was a way that I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal.”

Elon Musk‘s accomplishments are both admirable and realistically unmatchable. We drool over his achievements with the feeling that he is simultaneously superhuman and just like us. While thousands of people dream of achieving at the level of Musk, actually doing so is both harmful and undesirable.

Musk judges his success by asking himself one question: is my work helping humanity become a multi-planetary species?

As biographer Ashlee Vance describes, the desire to save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation is the nucleus of Musk’s work. It guides every move he makes. Deep commitment and laser focus give Musk an unparalleled ability to out-work, out-think, and out-innovate everybody else.

Entrepreneurs who learn about Musk dream of emulating him. Who wouldn’t want the fame, the recognition or the pride? In our rush to both glorify and covet every aspect of Musk’s existence, we ignore the burden of his lifestyle. We’re intellectually unable to grasp the overwhelming exhaustion of all-nighters and immense pressure. Common priorities like personal health, tolerating legitimate excuses and even being kind to others are secondary. For Musk, they’re irrelevant and beside the point.

His lifestyle, and in turn, his achievements, come with a complete lack of empathy. In truth, we don’t want this lifestyle. We can’t handle it because it’s not who we are. It requires a rejection of both societal assumptions and waves of criticism. In turn, Musk’s employees criticize him for “a complete lack of loyalty or human connection.”

Musk’s standard of commitment and relentless drive is unachievable for the average person. Average people live in small communities; they prize deep relationships with friends, family and coworkers. Average people are average because they share the same anxieties and insecurities as everybody else. It’s an integral part of who they are and what they strive for. This drive for strong relationships is an integral part of the human condition.

The will to build strong relationships and defer to societal standards is a good thing. Without it, we’d have chaos and violence. But it means we can’t be like Elon Musk because our instincts wouldn’t allow it.

Musk is ignorant of social standards because of his childhood — an excruciating childhood which lacked normalcy in every sense. Growing up, he faced verbal abuse from his father and physical abuse from peers at school. To cope, Musk sought emotional safety in the library. As a result of his time spent reading, he finished all the books at both the local and school libraries. Musk’s curiosity was especially stoked by comics and science fiction books in which a hero or heroine was depicted saving the world. Though those books cannot be the only cause of his inhuman drive to improve the quality of life for the entire human race, they most certainly contributed.

Musk’s interests matured with age. He continued to read and learn, but diversified to more profitable endeavors, such as coding. By the age of 12, he was selling his work — a feat many twice his age would be proud of today. It is clear, then, that Musk was not a normal child, at least not in comparison to those with whom he grew up. I, for one, spent my time playing sports outside, trying to beat video games, and hanging out with friends. I was adventurous and physically active, which contributed to my carefree and curious nature. As a child, I was never exposed to the same torment that so affected Musk in his formative years; torment that inspired Musk to explore himself intellectually in a way that most adults still have not. Musk’s biography describes his laser focus and ability to tune out the world around him to focus on the task at hand, a skill that’s becoming rarer and rarer in our fast-paced, smartphone infused modern world. These are fitting characteristics for a man who sought sanctuary in the safe haven of his own curious mind during his tumultuous childhood.

The instincts Musk developed as a kid drive his actions today. Musk understands his obsessions and pursues them vigorously. His zeal for human prosperity drives — and some might say control — him, yet he maintains a level of productivity that has gained him international notoriety as one of the world’s leading minds.

His ability to weave together a complex childhood, encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge, and creative genius is exactly what enables each of his outstanding achievements. Musk’s unparalleled imagination comes from fictional tales like Lord of the Rings. His desire to create a multi-planetary species comes from fantastical book series such as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. His ability to read for hours and seemingly retain everything comes from skills he developed to cope with his upbringing. Having conceptualized the vastness of the universe at a young age, Musk prioritizes the longevity of the human species over his own life.

Musk’s unprecedented self-awareness, which could be better labeled as self-understanding, allows him to harness his quirks and unique insight in exceptional ways. However, that same sense of self makes him ignore societal norms in pursuit of grandiose visions for the future. He has endured three divorces, countless hours away from his children, and levels of stress that would tear the average person apart.

And yet, Musk toils on.

The same mindset that has hampered his personal life will eventually enable monthly trips to Mars, ubiquitous, battery-powered electric vehicles, and a sharp increase in the efficacy of solar energy. None of these achievements, however, would be possible without massive sacrifices — sacrifices Musk has made, and continues to make — in other areas of his life.

As with anybody, Musk’s strengths mirror his weaknesses with deep fears enabling each achievement. Because of this, Musk is able to ignore naysayers and push through physical and emotional pain. In some cases, it may be that he simply does not allow himself to feel the pain that others would characterize as a “uniquely human” experience.

However, not having to deal with the same things the rest of us do provides him with a far clearer vision for the future than the rest of us will ever have. This, combined with his unique level of self-understanding, grants Musk clarity that most of us have never had, and may never know.

Goals breed commitment. Commitment breeds focus. Focus breeds achievement.

Musk reminds us of the need to understand the crux of who we are as individuals so that we can set goals and cultivate the focus required to acheive all we are capable of. Finding fulfillment in our own work at Musk’s level requires leveraging our perceived “weaknesses” — the same weaknesses that Musk turned into strengths as a young child. He has leveraged his anti-social traits, perceived rudeness, and nerdy-ness into life-changing businesses. In doing so, he’s earned tremendous respect and wealth.

Let’s chat! I blog at perell.com and tweet (obsessively) at @david_perell 😎

Special thanks to Zander Nethercutt for editing this post 🙏

Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

Do you #FeeltheBern? Behind Bernie Sanders’ Quest to Takeover the White House

Presidential elections remind us of how fast the world can change. It all started with the Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960 where Kennedy won the hearts of the 74 million voters who tuned in. Nixon’s sweaty face and blatant nervousness paled in comparison to Kennedy’s suave rhetoric and unwavering confidence. Since then, political debate have become a staple of presidential elections.

Alan Shroeder, author of the book, Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV argues that Presidential debates have “fundamentally altered political campaigns, television media and America’s political history.”

Marshall McLuhan first used the phrase “The Medium is the Message” in his landmark 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. McLuhan observed that information distributed through different channels is processed and recorded differently. For example, McLuhan observed that the printed word would place an increased importance on visual elements while oral cultures relied upon speech to spread messages.

“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication” — Marshall McLuhan

McLuhan noticed the profound impacts of rapid mass communication on contemporary societies. He detected profound shifts in the relationship between American citizens and the media. The media reaches citizens through legacy platforms like television and newspapers to contemporary mediums like SnapChat and Facebook.

McLuhan’s landmark statement is as true today as it has ever been: what is being communicated (the message) has is decreasingly important than the medium where people receive information. Since the introduction of the technologies from the telegraph, to the radio, to television, to the Internet, the media has united people and encouraged citizen participation at the risk of toxic conformity.

The 2016 presidential election is proof of an observation McLuhan made more than 50 years ago: Mass and connected media has rewired the way humans think, debate, communicate and interact with the world around them.


Our world of abundance promises stronger opinions, louder voices and news that appeals to the lowest common denominator. News driven by ad-dependent business models deliver less signal and more noise.

The way a message is received can profoundly affect how the message is interpreted. A message from The New York Times will seem more credible than the same message from Distractify. Information from Fox News will be interpreted differently from MSNBC.

Eight years ago, Barack Obama used up-and-coming social networks like Facebook and Twitter to start a movement, spread awareness, raise campaign donations and win the presidency. Tapping into online social networks has increased in importance since 2008. Social networks are the hub of mass communication and measure the pulse of humanity. They hold unprecedented data on the communication patterns of the human race.

Candidates are expected to spend $1 billion on digital advertisements in 2016 compared with $22 million in 2008. BuzzFeed Motion Pictures has committed to producing campaign ads, while Facebook has opened its treasure trove of data to political candidates who will pay for advertising. Both companies will use voter file data to build supporter bases, increase campaign awareness and persuade voters.

By leveraging social media, Bernie Sanders became the first candidate to hit 2.5 million online donations. He averages less than $30 per contribution.

Trust and quality are scarce into today’s mass media age. Millennials do not want to parse through the New York Times, or watch Fox News to receive their information. Instead, millennials seek to engage with close friends, YouTube personalities and viral articles through social networks. Youth voters are paramount to the success of the Democratic Party — Obama received approximately 65 percent of the youth vote in 2008 and 60 percent in 2012.

As of February 3, 2016, 74 percent of 18 to 44-year-olds supported Bernie Sanders, compared with 23 percent for Hilary Clinton according to a Quinnipiac poll. But Americans aged 18 to 24 are the most unreliable voters in the electorate with only 44 percent voting in the historic 2008 election and 38 percent in 2012. The proof is in the data — Bernie stands a chance if he can get young voters to the polls.

Presidential nominees cannot reach young voters without an elaborate social media strategy. The Internet lowers the cost of building a brand and boosts connection between candidates and voters.

Messages spread through YouTube, SnapChat, Facebook and Twitter will decide the 2016 presidential election.

Bernie Sanders is advertising with BuzzFeed to target millennial voters. Sanders’ “grassroots” political campaign will leverage the social media channels that potential voters depend on most. Specifically, Sanders and Clinton are active on SnapChat where they can find young Democrats.

Inspired by Kenneth Pennington, Bernie Sanders’ digital director, Sanders is currently running a 9-day SnapChat Ad Campaign in Iowa by sponsoring geofilters. Examples of Sanders’ sponsored geofilters read “Iowa, Are You Ready to Feel the Bern” and “Feel the Bern: One Week Until Caucus Night!” Sanders is advertising with BuzzFeed to create viral content to encourage consumers to spread the world through social media.


Sanders can directly reach voters through an unfiltered SnapChat account. Sanders uses a more direct, real-time approach because of SnapChat’s ten-second video time limit and its ephemerality. Sanders welcomed voters to challenge his views during a Reddit AMA to field questions about ISIS, GMO labeling and the military. Sanders’ rhetoric there various from his rhetoric on YouTube or Facebook where information exists forever. Information consumed on these platforms are shared and likely to go viral.

Messages delivered through Facebook and YouTube will be highly targeted, while Twitter asks users to curate their news streams. SnapChat’s original political coverage, “Good Luck America,” will reach all SnapChat users in the “Discover” tab. Peter Hammy, SnapChat’s head of news says he wants to guide introduce millennial audiences through the presidential election. Due to SnapChat’s young audience, many SnapChat users have never participated in a political election.

Direct communication fuels voter trust and admiration, scarce resources in today’s world. Sanders can be reached all over the Internet thereby boosting relationships with voters and inspiring calls for radical change.

The evolution of human communication has expanded the communication gap between the young and the old. Young citizens want direct access to presidential candidates and seek to avoid traditional media outlets. In a world of fragmented communication mediums, prosperity comes to those who control the mediums that reach elusive young voters.

Social networks sit at the nexus of post-modern human conversation, thinking and decision making. As an extension of ourselves, social media will influence the 2016 presidential election as profoundly as presidential debates did in 1960.

Further exploration: 


Bernie Sanders on Snapchat


Open SnapChat and point the camera at the QR code above to follow

Open SnapChat and point the camera at the QR code above to follow

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/

YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorSanders

YouTube interview with Killer Mike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCnrQZbqIQU

Sources

  1. http://cct.biola.edu/blog/medium-versus-message/

  2. http://graphs.net/top-10-human-infographics.html

  3. http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-is-running-a-9-day-snapchat-ad-campaign-in-iowa-1453806001

  4. http://www.cjr.org/analysis/a_major_player_in_the.php

  5. https://www.facebook.com/business/a/politics-industry

  6. http://www.bustle.com/articles/84701-bernie-sanders-did-a-reddit-ama-and-he-really-did-answer-anything

  7. http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/28/snapchat-offers-original-political-coverage-good-luck-america/?_r=0

  8. http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html

  9. http://www.gallup.com/poll/5392/trust-government.aspx

  10. http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/the-youth-will-impact-the-16-election/npDMC/http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/takingnote/2016/02/01/bernie-sanders-and-the-youth-vote/?emc=edit_ty_20160201&nl=opinion&nlid=74036504&referer=

  11. http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/takingnote/2016/02/01/bernie-sanders-and-the-youth-vote/?emc=edit_ty_20160201&nl=opinion&nlid=74036504&referer=

Cover photo by Nick Solari on Flickr

It’s Time to Disrupt Our Archaic Education System

The classroom is supposed to be a center for fierce debates, gripping lectures and riveting discussions. In reality, I enter the classroom and feel like I turn my brain off. Current methods of education are boring and increasingly obsolete.

Teachers are expensive and inefficient. They cannot possibly cater to the individual needs of all their students. The conventional university classroom eliminates freedom of choice and contrives students to pre-set schedules that are often inconvenient. The snail-like pace of the classroom makes it impossible for younger students in particular who struggle to focus.

In his 2001 essay, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Marc Prensky argues that American “students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.” Students are increasingly wired to handle the rapid dissemination of information. Younger generations were raised with constant stimulation with easy access to the world’s information at their fingertips. These trends will only accelerate in years to come as technology pervades the inner-workings of society and everyday life.

This is not a debate about the psychological affects of a technologically-dependent culture. That is an important debate for another time. Rather, it is about providing younger generations with the best education by keeping their minds active and promoting a love for learning. They grew up with computers, iPads, social media, video games, and ubiquitous internet.

The traditional methods of classroom education are outdated and ineffective for younger students.

Education does not need to be boring for students to learn. It can be fun, stimulating and exciting. It can make kids laugh, smile and generate colloquial discussion.

To make matters worse, the average private four-year college costs $31,231 per year. The total tuition along with room, board and fees at Elon University, where I am a senior, will be $44,599 next year. George Washington University, one of the most expensive universities in the country will set you back $66,660. Private colleges are expensive and leave an astoundingly high percentage of students in debt after graduation. The high cost of education promotes inequality and reduces quality of life. Mediocre results do not justify the arduous sacrifices of students and their parents.

The steep rise in college tuition has coincided with increasing access to free education. My favorite is YouTube where I enthusiastically subscribe to CrashCourse, Seeker Stories, and Shots of Awe. Each channel provides me with unprecedented access to the sharpest minds in the world in a way that is more visually stimulating than anything most classrooms offer. Coursera, Udacity, Lynda, Audible, Khan Academy and many more websites make learning easier than ever before. These websites cover topics from science to philosophy, to art and history.

To be sure, there are teachers who make the classroom experience irreplaceable. But most students would admit they are few and far between.

From the comfort of my bedroom, my iPad pro immerses me in ways no teacher can. I can pause videos when I need time to think or re-watch parts of a video when I need clarification. Even though classroom teachers can rerecord, edit and add visuals to their presentations to ensure an optimal lesson, the digital world can rewind, stop, and fast-forward in a way that reality cannot do. Students control the pace that works best for them. Online education is increasingly immersive and engaging in a way that the classroom is not.

As my love for learning online has developed, I have implemented enjoyable habits to fuel personal growth and worldly exploration.

My daily emails give me access to premier thought leaders on the topics I am most passionate about. People like Ben Thompson, John Green, and Seth Godin have impacted my life more than any university professor. This isn’t a knock on the incompetence of professors, but rather a comment on the liberating and under appreciated potential of technology and Internet network effects.

The education revolution is just getting started. Despite dystopian novels like Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, I am optimistic about the pedagogical promise of virtual reality. Virtual reality will revitalize education when it becomes as mainstream as the iPhone.

Virtual reality turns a history textbook’s academic description of America’s founding fathers signing the constitution into a passionate debate with Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock and George Washington. Students will feel like they are a part of history. Time and distance will cease to be barriers. Intellectual enthusiasm will replace the elementary school boredom that plagued our younger years.

Instead of a benign photo of Jerusalem, students will travel to the Western Wall and the adjacent Al-Aqsa Mosque to grapple with religious tensions that have endured for centuries. Middle schoolers will explore the Galapagos Islands for an immersive glimpse at Darwin’s theory of evolution before exploring Einstein’s lab to witness his discovery of the General Theory of Relativity. They will practice their Spanish in the cafes and streets of Guatemala, Spain and Argentina instead of listening inside of the dull confines of an outdated four-walled classroom lit by cheap, glaring fluorescent lights. Education will be a bewildering and rewarding experiential journey, not a laborious chore.

The best part — Moore’s law and the ubiquity of smartphones enables the mass distribution of virtual reality. The Internet’s integration with contemporary society promises increased access to the top minds of every niche. We can move past student boredom and postgraduate debt. It is time for our education system to embrace the convenience of technology instead of shunning it.

The delta between the old and the young has manifest itself in the inefficiencies of the classroom. Younger generations are exponentially in favor of using technology to discover the world, tackle complexity and challenge assumptions. The education revolution is just beginning. Fasten your seat belts and prepare for the unprecedented demolition of a decrepit classroom status quo.

Sources

  1. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/college-costs/college-costs-faqs
  2. http://elonlocalnews.com/2016/02/elon-tuition-to-increase-3-31-percent/
  3. http://financialaid.gwu.edu/cost-of-attendance
  4. https://medium.com/life-learning/the-37-best-websites-to-learn-something-new-895e2cb0cad4#.ekoql581a
  5. http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/23/when-virtual-reality-meets-education/

Cover photo by CollegeDegrees360 on Flickr

The Magical Touch of Finn Beales

Eerie forests, lone trees and mouthwatering scenery: the contemplative work of Finn Beales has taken the Instagram world by storm, as part of a rising trend of artists who thrive on the Internet. Beales has always had a love for exploring the world’s hidden places. By choosing to live in relative solitude in the Black Mountains of Wales, Beales enjoys reading, thinking and exploring the world through his iPhone camera lens.  The nearest town has only 1,500 people giving Beales time to explore the relationship between wildlife, people and nature through his Canon camera lens. 

“All sorts of things inspire me, but I’m particularly fascinated by the relative lifespan of the world around us compared to ourselves.

Beales received his first lesson in composition from his grandfather when he was five years old on a family holiday in Western Wales. After graduating from college, Finn started a digital design firm focused on producing websites and photographing events, food and lifestyle imagery. Working for the firm allowed Beales to develop an ever-growing passion for travel.  

In his free time, Beales enjoys snowboarding, riding horses, canoeing, hiking and gardening. Beale’s passion for wildlife and nature has given him a passion for shooting when conditions are less than ideal. He believes this gives him time to connect with the world around him and share special moments that cannot be recreated. Poor conditions create dramatic scenery that can be used to create the exquisite images that Beales is known for. Beales enjoys shooting on misty mornings, in gale force winds, think snow blizzards and driving rain.

All of Beales’ photos focus on his relationship with nature and the world around him. When he includes another person, Beales refrains from incorporating faces to keep the focus on the image’s scenery. Sometimes he will include his feet in the image to provide the viewer with a glimpse of his perspective. But most of his images are of the landscapes (roads, mountains, rivers and sunlight) around him. 

“Enjoy today. You’re not promised tomorrow.”

Wales is also known for abundant fog and rain. Beales has discovered that the fog is an advantage because it is perfect for isolated subjects. When editing foggy images with Snapseed, Beales reduces the “ambiance” to add more depth than the iPhone camera can capture. Other times, Beales underexposes his images before using Instagram’s “Lux” filter to reduce contrast and soften the photo intensity.

While featured on Instagram’s official blog in June 2012, Beales offered insight into the process he uses to shoot and edit photos. Beales focuses on “dodging and burning,” a photo-editing technique made popular by the regarded landscape photographer Ansel Adams. First, Beales focuses on finding a unique vantage point that sits in the center of the frame. In doing so, Beales defies the standard rule of thirds taught in photography classes. His reasoning is that the rule of thirds/golden ration loses its power with the square frame that Instagram requires. Thus, Beales focuses on symmetry because of its “association with beauty and is found is virtually all forms of nature.”2 When shooting with the native iPhone camera app, Beales likes to keep the sky and shadows in the image. After taking the photo, Beales uses Snapseed to edit his photos. He focuses on brightening the highlights, darkening the shadows and focusing on the center of the image to maintain consistency from image-to-image. This technique is known as dodging and burning.

Beales always has his iPhone camera with him, providing him with an opportunity to take a photo at any moment. With a passion for hiking, kayaking and exploring, Beales notes that large cameras merely distract him. Additionally, Beales can edit his photos immediately and upload them to Instagram thereafter.

Outside of Instagram, Beales is a documentary photographer who focuses on telling a story or developing a narrative through a collection of images. This style of photography provides a sharp contrast to his Instagram posts – most of the narrative images focus on people. In doing so, Beales gives his audience insight into a new culture by focusing on faces, food and music. Together, the collection of images creates the story.

Beales work represents a rising tide of Instagram photographers who have used the Internet to establish a brand. With the Internet, it does not matter where an artist lives or who they know. Instead, artists must focus on engaging with audiences in a way that is only possible with the Internet. Upon doing so, growth is viral – recommendations create exponential growth.

Nevertheless, Beales has observed that the business model for landscape photographers has changed dramatically in recent years. iPhone cameras have improved dramatically giving anybody the opportunity to take photos that could appear in magazines or newspapers. Thus, supply has increased causing the price for photos to decrease. But Beales remains bullish on his business model because of Instagram – he uses the platform to connect with brands and businesses while reaching a global audience.

Beale’s work tells the story of the world. Through his use of Instagram, he has earned a large following by sharing images of his travels and unique perspective on the world. Through documentary photography, Beales continues to showcase various cultures around the world and expand on his passion for storytelling.

How Callaway Golf Increases Fan Engagmenet During Major Championship Weeks

I’ll never forget my first major championship. It was 2010 and I drove down for the US Open at Pebble Beach, a few hours south of my home in San Francisco. I had previously attended the Presidents Cup and the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship at Harding Park, both reputable tournaments. My plan was to spend the week in Monterey playing courses like Poppy Hills, Bayonet and Pacific Grove while attending the practice rounds and a few days of the tournament.

All fans were required to park 30–45 minutes away from Pebble Beach, where they would be shuttled along the “17 Mile Drive.” The distance from the parking area served as a reminder for how big and popular majors really are. There are hospitality tents everywhere to accomodate the packed grandstands that dominate every major championship venue.

Major championships are special — it’s where the golf cliches reign true. Memories are made to last — and every shot counts.

I’ll never forget it. On Sunday, I witnessed Shaun Micheel make a double eagle on the sixth hole and I watched Graeme McDowell kiss the elusive US Open trophy for the first time on the 18th green.

Since then, I’ve closely witnessed the setup for the 2012 US Open at Olympic spent the 2013 US Open inside the ropes (taking swing videos) and attended the Masters this year. Major championships (especially the US Open and the Masters) provide brands with the guarantee of increased engagement.

I’ve witnessed an unparelled shift in the Callaway Golf brand in the past two years. As an avid golfer, I’ve historically questioned Callaway’s marketing strategy but their recent rebranding strategy has made those discerning thoughts disappear.

Callaway Golf does a particularly great job of mass-producing content and driving traffic to their website, especially through their social media channels during major championship weeks. Here are some things to cool out for:

Callaway Golf is providing fans with the unique opportunity to “win Phil Mickelson’s paycheck.” Additionally, Callaway allows fans to feel like they’re part of the action with stunning golf photography, instructional videos, apodcast, and curated content. The mass production of content during major championship week creates brand loyalty for golf fans through increased engagement, resulting in higher website traffic and improved brand recognition.

Chad Coleman (@hashtagchad), the social media manager for Callaway Golf, provides fans with an inside look at his role as a golf marketer spending time with the world’s top players. Coleman’s commitment to interacting with fans while growing his personal brand leads to an increased trust in the Callaway brand.

I believe that every major golf brand should attempt to humanize itself and encouraging social media managers to tweet insider perspectives and personal opinions. Golfers are a loyal audience. The personal voice of any social media is an easy way to foster brand success.

Other examples of a successful social media presence include: Alex Fitzpatrick (TIME Inc.), Ashley Mayo (Golf Digest) Ricky Potts (Troon Golf), Adam Britten (previously at Taco Bell), and Eric Stangel (Late Show w/ David Letterman).

By allowing his brand to be synonymous with his job as a marketing director for Callaway Golf, Coleman has continued to lead the industry’s marketing initiatives. His love for the GoPro drone, the state of the Arkansas Razorbacksalong with his personal ancecdotes overall transparency about the game of golf allows fans to connect with the company in an unparalleled way.

Ultimately, Callaway leads the golf industry in the social media sphere. While Nike and TaylorMade have a create a bigger online reach, Callaway engages fans in a remarkably compelling and engaging fashion.

I don’t know how Phil Mickelson, Harris English or Gary Woodland will play this week. Nor do I know what the winning score at Pinehurst will be — or who will host the trophy on Sunday afternoon. But I do know one thing: Callaway Golf will produce an indellible amount of engaging content and attract amateur golfers through community engagement. In doing so, Callaway Golf will remind us that major championships are certainly the most coveted weeks of the year.

Photo by Justine Sterling on Unsplash

Oh Snap: It’s Here

Contrary to popular belief, SnapChat isn’t just an app for sending disappearing photos.

With the rise of native advertisements and enhanced “My Story” features, my obsession with SnapChat continues to rise. Remarkably, SnapChat is seemingly unused by anybody older than 25 — “they just don’t get it.”

Since arriving at school this fall, it’s become my main method of digital interaction with friends. Instead of hiding in my personal bubble, I share my perspective on our beautiful world with all my classmates. I stay current with their lives via artistic touches that guarantee an unparalleled freedom of expression that only SnapChat can produce.

Last weekend, I experienced a buddy’s trip to Nashville, a sold-out Ludacris concert, and countless My Stories from homecoming weekend. Each snap had eye-opening visuals, natural sound, and the unique artistic interpretation that only SnapChat can provide.

Other social networks overwhelm us with F.O.M.O, but SnapChat’s authenticity lets us to live vicariously through my friends. It fosters sharedexperiences.

Maybe it’s Metcalf’s law, troubles with the CEO, or a stigma against SnapChat’s brand, but this app is seemingly irrelevant for anybody born before 1990.

SnapChat doesn’t look like they’re trying to combat that stigma. In fact, their recent press release looks like it was written by a “5th grader.” It shows the honesty, transparency and simplicity that millennials desire and GenXers frown upon.

SnapChat-1

SnapChat will excel and grow in popularity because it provides millennials with the communication traits they crave most.

1. Autonomy

2. Simplicity

3. Visual Appeal

Each “snap” is different. Snapchatters are free to add filters, colors, and other details to share their unique perspective on the moment. They’re sharing in the present through a medium that’s safer than the judgmental eyes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On SnapChat, your content disappears along with the pressures of posting content online.

SnapChat has captured the ephemerality of life and the rapid sharing that digital natives covet. And the best part: it’s just the beginning 🙂


Cover Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

A Message to Every Entrepreneur

I’ve always struggled to motivate myself in school. My mother studied design at UC Davis while my father raced through Dartmouth before securing an MBA from Tuck two years later. The importance of a “good education” was repeatedly hammered into my adolescent brain.

I’ve always maintained contrasting perspectives. I remain restless in class and can’t find the value proposition in writing essays or focusing projects that will only be seen by the teacher in the front of the room. I only work for the grades that I receive at the end of the semester.

My work doesn’t impact the world or my community.

I’ve observed that classes are only as useful as the teachers who lead them, while the lack of autonomy and rigid classroom settings diminish creativity and suppress necessary problem-solving skills.

Students are taught to follow the narrow path of obedience and “gaming the system.”

They’re taught to submit to arbitrary guidelines, to think “inside the box.” Students graduate from college with similar skill sets and a base of information that could have been acquired on the internet… for free.

The American educational system is in need of an extreme overhaul. The rise of Artificial Intelligence and the ubiquity of the internet and smartphones make information and knowledge a commodity. We’re entering an age of unprecedented human progress.

Creativity, innovation and thinking differently have never been more important.

Startup incubators like YCombinator, Betaworks, and Tech Stars should serve as an example for American universities. Instead of providing their founders with trivial knowledge, incubators provide support, wisdom and connections.

It’s time for our universities to implement a similar practice.

We live in a time where everybody can create a personal brand and create one’s own success. You are a business.

Discovery platforms like Twitter, Feedly and Medium allow us to learn from the most educated thought-leaders in every industry.

I’ve learned more from Ben Thompson, Fred Wilson, Mark Manson, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreesen and Benedict Evans this semester than any of my professors.

It’s time to accept that learning is conducted more efficiently on the Internet than in the classroom. Instead of sharing unpersonalized information, professors should simply facilitate the learning process and serve as mentors to their students.

Universities are a wonderful place to meet potential co-founders and to absorb a diverse range of worldviews. The university structure, in its current form is inefficient.

As the end of the semester “crunch time” period approaches, I will have to put down my books and ignore the best minds in the world to focus on classroom assignments that I will never benefit from.

Let’s teach our students to take action, to find their passions and discover how they can impact the world. Universities have become an avenue for extreme debt, procrastination and wasted time for thousands of future entrepreneurs around the world.

Entrepreneurs learn by pursuing ambitious goals, fighting relentlessly and learning from their inevitable mistakes. People who change the world spend their lives pursuing the intangible finish lines that constrast strict university cirriculums.

It’s time for our universities to adapt to our changing world.

Cover photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash