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Interview

Anja Gnest: “There’s one criterion for success that applies universally: authenticity. That must come through, explicitly and implicitly.”

Janina Benz_March 27, 2012_11:10 AM_No Comment

Janina Benz: Hi Anja, could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Anja Gnest: Of course! In 2004, I started working in re-launch support for the Internet department at Deutsche Messe. Initially, this was on a short-term project contract, but I quickly became passionate about the interim work that I was doing. At the time, I was preparing for the examination to become a licensed accountant. Although I passed the exam, I never started a career in accounting. I learned a great deal through my work on the CeBIT website. Unlike other exhibitions, CeBIT target groups have a much higher affinity for all things online, so I was constantly confronted with the latest topics related to the Web. For example, in 2007, I worked on the first search engine campaign; in 2010, the first Facebook page. I am currently heavily involved with SEO, and, for the past year, I have been supporting the mobile phone team with the development and marketing of apps. At the moment, I am actively engaged in extending our social media activities and am contributing to a very exciting project on “Enterprise 2.0.”

Anja Gnest

JB: CODE_n was one of the most discussed topics on Twitter during CeBIT, under the hashtag #CODE_n. What were the preparations like on your end? How big is your social media team? How much traffic do your website, blog, etc. receive?

AG: Our social media team currently only consists of two people – my colleague Matthias Venzke and me. We’ve been responsible for social media communication for 12 different events now. Agencies support us with editorial work and campaign planning. Other highly motivated colleagues from our sales and PR teams are also active on our behalf in the social Web. CeBIT is our most talked about exhibition, followed by the trade show HANNOVER MESSE.

This year, our followers on Facebook and Twitter have doubled in numbers compared to 2011. During the exhibition, we were answering questions on a minute-by-minute basis; questions regarding our apps, how to get to the trade show grounds, about hotel accommodations, etc. 2012 was an incredibly exciting event year. The upward trend in use of the social Web is distinct. As a result, we have decided to vigorously continue working on our strategy for 2013. We plan to establish ourselves even more within social networks and offer our customers the very best in services and exclusive information.

The CeBIT website welcomes approximately 4 million visitors from around the world. Our guests primarily look for exhibitors, plan their trade show visit, or register for and purchase tickets. This year, people from 130 countries talked about our exhibition via the social Web. Other impressive participation numbers can be attributed to our Social Media Command Center, powered by salesforce.com. Check out the German CeBIT blog for a graph highlighting other Web activity results.

The CeBIT blog moved in a new direction this year. Through our “blog scholarship,” we were able to welcome 4 wonderfully diverse bloggers to the team. Even professional bloggers like Sascha Lobo continue to support us with fascinating posts, and exhibition staff has contributed background information relating to interesting projects. However, the blog is currently only available in German.

JB: What are the plans for Hanover after CeBIT? How will CeBIT’s social media activities move forward?

AG: Our strategy for 2013 presents us with two great challenges. On one hand, we plan to support the sales department in acquiring young and innovative businesses – enterprises that CeBIT can offer particularly unique opportunities. On the other hand, we would like to offer our followers and fans more exclusive content. Working with them, we hope to extend our services so that they are fully prepared and have all the information they need to make the next exhibition a success.

JB: With respect to CODE_n, we had the most success with Twitter. What would you say are the benefits of Facebook and Twitter, and how do they differ?

AG: Like CODE_n, most CeBIT-related discussions were tweeted. In terms of quantity, this isn’t all that surprising. The limited number of characters, inherent speed, and up-to-the-minute nature of Twitter means post and comments will naturally be more frequent and numerous.

I think the main difference is the context. Whereas I mainly use Twitter to inform my followers about news, interesting facts and other unique information, I use Facebook primarily to communicate with friends, people with the same interests, business partners and my family. The benefits of Twitter are clear: There are advantages to quickly sharing knowledge and opinions. I find that Facebook, and now Google+, are excellent discussion and service platforms. What I really like about Facebook is that our fans help each other and answers each others’ questions, more than our Twitter followers do.

JB: Many of our CODE_n finalists primarily used social media to market themselves. The time and effort invested into these activities is often underestimated. Would you say there is a golden rule for success in the social Web?

AG: Yes and no. There isn’t a golden rule that can be applied to every company. Businesses need to strategically develop their own success criteria.

But as far as I’m concerned, there’s one criterion for success that applies universally: authenticity. That must come through, explicitly and implicitly. This is easier for young companies like your finalists than large businesses with a long history. But every company can and should face the changes in communication techniques, to be successful in the social Web and beyond.

JB: The advertising tools in Facebook and Twitter are becoming more and more popular, and social media marketing spends are growing rapidly. How would you most efficiently work with a restricted startup budget?

AG: We don’t have any experience with Twitter ads yet. Our budget primarily goes to editorial services, monitoring, and promotions.

We draw attention to our promotions with Facebook ads. Facebook offers unparalleled targeting opportunities, and I know to appreciate their value. Coupled with targeted user interests, regional and demographic control reduces redundant spend. The actual CPC of our advertisements is generally below the price suggested by Facebook, and the budget can generally be based on a daily or contract period. If money is an issue for a recent startup, Facebook presents wonderful options in terms of marketing investment.

Some tips based on our experience: appealing visuals, animated text, various ads in rotation – these all give good indications of how to best reach desired target groups. Linking to internal Facebook content (fan page, event, app) can be a recipe for success, since Facebook users tend to want to stay on the Facebook site.

 

 

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CODE_n goes CeBIT: Start Socializing!

Janina Benz_March 2, 2012_9:29 AM_No Comment

Just six short months ago, the question “who has the code for the new?” turned our day-to-day work routine upside down.

Since then, we’ve been investing our blood, sweat and tears into preparing this project. In just a few days, the moment we have all been working toward will finally come: visitors to hall 16 will experience innovative power from around the world, brought together under the theme Shaping Mobile Life. For five days, everything will revolve around the 50 CODE_n finalists. They will showcase their apps, their services and their technological innovations to CeBIT visitors across 3,500 square meters of presentation space. Their innovations cover a colorful cross-section of all Web 2.0 technologies: from collaborative Web services to live consulting in online shops and a storytelling app tying stories to locations.

Our social media activities played a central role in this project. An event like CeBIT is perfect for live reporting, and that’s why we’ve prepared a few things for you!

The last few months saw us build up our social media team and diligently jump into the planning of the event. In this time, Michael and I have been receiving enthusiastic support from our Spanish colleagues, Fran and Clara.

Visiting CeBIT? Want to become actively involved?

Use the official hashtags #CODE_n and #CeBIT12, and tweet us for all it’s worth!

On Facebook, Twitter and Google+, we will shower you with live pictures of the hall, the finalists, presentations from the CODE_n Club, and, of course, the final ceremony at the Award Show.

We’ll capture CeBIT highlights and publish them here on our blog. Anyone interested in even more videos should definitely check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Start testing the new CODE_n app and get fast-track information about CeBIT and the 50 CODE_n finalists.

  

I can announce a little highlight in advance: If everything goes as planned, there may be a video competition with mia.

     

Stay tuned – and let CeBIT begin!

 

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Interview

Holger Schmidt: “I sometimes wonder if people spend as much time on Facebook as they used to.”

Janina Benz_February 15, 2012_2:50 PM_No Comment

Janina Benz: Hi Holger – could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Holger Schmidt: Of course. After 14 years as a journalist for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, I joined the news magazine Focus at the start of the year and will be writing for them about the digital economy. When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my family and going mountain biking.

JB: You’re one of Germany’s best-known online journalists. What do you think the future holds for journalism – will it be predominantly driven by the print or online market?

HS: Print and online journalism will coexist for a long time to come. As a journalist, it makes sense for me to be active both in print and online to reach as many readers as possible. So while my column on the digital economy is appearing in the print edition of Focus, I’m also launching a blog soon on the Focus website, focus.de.

JB: You’re also very active on Twitter. What are the differences between the way you use Facebook and Twitter?

HS: Twitter is my preferred news source and I use it intensely, to share news as well as consume it. I use Facebook more for entertainment and communication, less for information. If I had to divide up my social media time, I’d say about 70% is spent on Twitter, 15% on Facebook and 15% on Google+.

Dr. Holger Schmidt

JB: We’ve been making good use of social media to publicize the CODE_n contest. In turn, this has allowed us to attract well-known interviewees and jury members. During the campaign, we also saw very clearly that Twitter and Facebook have very different strengths and possibilities. What do you think the strengths of these two networks are?

HS: Twitter’s clear strength is its ability to spread news rapidly. It plays a more important role in many other countries than in Germany, and is less suited to communication than Facebook is. I sometimes wonder if people spend as much time on Facebook as they used to.

JB: How come Twitter is mostly only popular among internet professionals in Germany?

HS: Twitter’s great for news junkies, but the entry barrier is too high for most people to use it as a practical information channel. If you don’t mind reading the news with a slightly delay, you don’t need Twitter. I think news aggregators will definitely help in extracting the most important information from the 250 million tweets sent every day. Twitter also wants to open an office in Germany to gain a foothold here.

JB: How do you think Facebook and Twitter will continue to develop?

HS: Facebook will hit the limits of its growth in the foreseeable future, so it will have to focus more on making money. Twitter will likely undergo fairly major change to make itself attractive to more people. But I see both as established, central parts of the web infrastructure.

JB: What does the future hold for Google+?

HS: Google+ has made a good start, but I’m not sure what role it’s supposed to play next to Facebook and Twitter. However, integrating content from Google+ into Google search results will serve to populate Google+ almost automatically.

JB: Managing trust is a hot topic in the media at the moment due to its choice as the theme for this year’s CeBIT, and also in light of other issues, such as the current debate about the enforced introduction of the Facebook Timeline. How do you see this discussion? Where do you think privacy is most threatened?

HS: Anyone using social networking sites needs to understand that their advertising models are based on user data. I’m neither surprised nor appalled that Facebook shows me advertising tailored as closely as possible to my stated interests – it’s a sensible business model for a social network. What I do have concerns about is what happens outside Facebook via Facebook Connect, which records which websites I visit. It’s none of their business. Apart from that though, I keep to one basic rule: Everything I post on social networking sites can be read by anyone – today and in ten years’ time.

JB: Thank you for the interview.

HS: My pleasure. All the best!

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Interview

LARS HINRICHS: “CHANGE IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE FOR ME.”

Oliver Gassner_January 19, 2012_10:26 AM_No Comment

As a member of the CODE_n12 contest jury, Lars Hinrichs helped to select the startups that will make it into the finals, and thus to CeBIT 2012. We caught him at his desk at HackFwd, a provider of venture capital, where he acts as the “executive geek”. Hinrichs took the time to answer some of our burning questions.

Oliver Gassner: Hello Lars, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Lars Hinrichs: http://hackfwd.com/people#lars-hinrichs

OG: You’re on the jury of the CODE_n12 contest. What would prompt you to send a startup’s concept straight to the “circular file”?

LH: Anything that’s not new and not innovative.

OG: Does every innovation make money, or does it take something more?

LH: Business models take shape if you have happy customers, not vice versa.

OG: How many startups do you look at every year, and how many of them do you invest in?

LH: I don’t count them. This year we’ve invested in about eight.

OG: What’s the web or mobile app that changed your life or work the most over the past twelve months?

LH: I don’t know – change is a daily occurrence for me.

OG: What do startups really need from the outside – connections, good advice, money?

LH: Three things characterize a successful startup: 1. it adds sustainable value to the market; 2. it has an unique competitive advantage within its niche; 3. it is an economies-of-scale business. In short, startups need a business model. That’s all it really takes – everything else is just icing on the cake.

OG: That’s from within. What can/must investors/angels contribute?

LH: “Angel” is an unfortunate term. Investors provide money and value (experience, motivation, commitment to growth).

OG: The CODE_n12 finalists will be winning exhibition space at CeBIT. What’s your tip for a startup that wants to make the most of that opportunity?

LH: Be outgoing and don’t wait for someone to show up.

OG: Of the questions that people ask you about XING, which one are you tired of? And which question should I ask you instead?

LH: I’m tired of them all. As a rule, I no longer answer questions about XING since leaving the company.

OG: OK, then I won’t ask you whether you had an office in the Valley, and whether that would have benefited your international reach.
If you could nominate one (mobile) startup in Germany, Austria or Switzerland (one that you do NOT hold a stake in or serve as a consultant) for us to interview, who would it be and why?

LH: I would only recommend those that I hold a stake in. *laugh*

OG: Not counting Google and Facebook, which startup would you have liked to have invested in?

LH: I do in fact have a financial stake in Facebook. Unfortunately, I turned down the chance to invest in Wonga.

OG: What does Wonga do?

LH: Wonga offers loans online – almost in real time, of a limited volume (up to GBP 400), and for a short time (55 days maximum).

OG: Thank you for your precious time, Lars! ;)

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Interview

OSSI URCHS: “IN THE CASE OF GOOGLE, IT ALSO TOOK A FEW YEARS BEFORE THE BUSINESS MODEL IT SHAPED WAS TRULY UNDERSTOOD.”

Oliver Gassner_December 20, 2011_10:06 AM_No Comment

The “Godfather of the Internet”, Ossi Urchs, spoke to us about the post-Facebook era, the end of Europe’s innovation-skeptic “citadel culture”, and why he believes that services like Foursquare are only just getting started.

Oliver Gassner: Hello Ossi, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Ossi Urchs: Ossi Urchs, Internet consultant since 1994, now with a focus on social media and mobile Internet.

OG: Recently you’ve blogged a few impressions of yourself as a young man, and it was apparent that your roots are in TV. How do you see the topic of TV these days?

OU: Fairly indifferently. When I discovered the web for myself in the early 90s, TV suddenly struck me as so old-school – a typical one-way medium – and I decided to focus my future work on the web, the new medium.

OG: Which web application, website or mobile app has influenced or changed your life the most in the past twelve months?

OU: That’s quite a question. Initially – before the web – it was e-mail. Then the web itself, then Google, Skype, Facebook, and the other “social” media on the web, especially YouTube. And that’s just the start. I’m convinced that the best is yet to come. If I take some time to think about it, I’m sure more examples will occur to me…

OG: And in the past twelve months? Was there a new Twitter? G+ is the Twitter/Facebook killer?

OU: I see G+ as one more step in the convergence of social media on the web with the social reality of everyday life. In a word: promising. But since it’s less a technological achievement than a change in communication culture, others can integrate such advances rapidly, and that goes a long way toward putting the advantage of G+ back into perspective.

OG: Don’t you think that Facebook’s changes tend to clutter the screen and irritate users? That’s how I see it, in any case.

OU: Not really. I love the new lists and the differentiated streams in which I’ve organized my “friends”. The design of user interface isn’t going to appeal to everyone (as with most American offerings). But that’s actually how it always goes: at first, users don’t like the new features at all, but everyone gets used to them quickly and no one says anything.

OG: How does a good idea differ from a true innovation?

OU: Its practical implementation and broad use.

OG: Can there be innovation without someone making money off of it? Or does one go hand-in-hand with the other?

OU: Unfortunately, it’s often the case that the real innovators earn the least from their work – at least in this country. The situation is quite different in the United States.

OG: Why is it that most internationally successful web and mobile applications currently come from the U.S. – and very few from Europe?

OU: Lol. Precisely because the United States has a culture of innovation, which is not surprising in a  country with a history of pioneering. By contrast, innovation is mostly seen as a threat to the established order in the “Fortress Europe”.

OG: Schumpeter explained that innovation always destroys something – and Europe apparently has not gotten used to that. So Germany is hostile to innovation – that’s something I’ve been hearing frequently in the last few weeks. How can we overcome that?

OU: Schumpeter never really gained traction here with his idea of ​​”creative destruction”. And that has its reasons – those just mentioned, and some that go further. I think that the “citadel culture” in Europe and Germany in particular will, or must, change as globalization progresses. If not, globalization will descend upon us like a storm…

OG: How will the mobility of the future differ from ours today?

OU: Essentially, in the degree of virtualization. While our mobility today is still largely physical, we will be relying on digital communication to a much greater degree in future.

OG: Have you forecast any developments in the past that then occurred just the way you predicted them?

OU: I think so. Back in the 90s, I was already arguing that the Internet was going to change the entire way we live, work, learn, and entertain ourselves from the ground up. And I think that’s exactly what has happened.

OG: Would you care to predict what the net’s next big thing will be?

OU: The combination of social media and mobility. Not only is it going to once again fundamentally change the way we live and work, it will also lead to a kind of convergence of the physical and digital world that we can only begin to anticipate and understand.

OG: Are you thinking of a particular service? Foursquare hasn’t really taken off yet, nor has Latitude.

OU: That’s because like their customers, they themselves have not yet understood the actual underlying business model: the wealth of combinatorics that arise between information and sales, between online and offline business, if you like. But I’m quite confident: in the case of Google, it also took a few years before the business model it shaped was truly understood. And that was not only true for the customers, but above all to the makers themselves.

OG: The 50 startups that make it into the finals of the CODE_n Global Innovation Contest will have the opportunity to present their companies in the CODE_n hall at CeBIT 2012. What kind of idea or business model do you think will attract the greatest attention there?

OU: At the moment I see the best opportunities for concepts based on the three pillars of web communication, “SoMoLo” – in other words, mobilizing social communication and enriching it with local information.

OG: What advice would you give to startups to get noticed at CeBIT?

OU: Offer special food and beverages (as opposed to the horrible trade fair catering). Create a peaceful oasis. And if all else fails, throw a booth party. And to stay on-topic, have a hands-on version of your product at the booth that visitors can test.

OG: Can you even still remember what life was like without a phone and the Internet in our pockets? Has life become better? Simpler? Or more complicated?

OU: I can remember it very well, especially in situations in which I’m thrown back into that way of life – and I am capable of enjoying it. That’s assuming an end is in sight (when on vacation, for example). Overall, life has become more complex in this regard, and at the same time also more convenient.

OG: And finally, two personal questions: iOS or Android? Facebook or Google+? And why?

OU: IOS, because I’m a confirmed Mac user – but mainly because it just works effortlessly. Steve understood that. And as for FB and G+: I use both, generally for different purposes.

OG: Thanks for the interview ;)

OU: My pleasure ;)

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JUDITH BÖHM: “THE SMARTPHONE HAS CREATED NEW USAGE PATTERNS.”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:50 PM_No Comment

The jury of our blog contest awarded first prize to blogger Judith Böhm for her posting “Das Abenteuer deines Lebens – ein Wunschzettel von 2012 bis 2031”. In the interview, she explains how mobile applications have changed her – and how women interact differently with technical innovations than men.

Judith Böhm SympatexterAndrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea to write your post for the CODE_n blog contest in the form of a letter to your unborn child? Why did you choose this form?

Judith Böhm: My partner and I have been talking to our baby since the beginning of our pregnancy. We regularly shoot short videos, and I’m writing a baby diary that I’m going to give my child as a present someday. Even though I never really know what’s going to come out in the end when I sit down to write, I immediately knew that it would be a letter to my child. The content took weeks to mature, though. It was a mixture of the idea that this would be an interesting and beautiful way to approach the topic of the competition, and an extension of my months-old habit of talking to my little one, sharing my everyday experiences, as well as my worries, fears and hopes for the future.

AW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while writing?

JB: I wonder whether I can keep pace with technological developments in order help my child make the right decisions in future. And whether I should presume to know what the right decisions will be. In terms of content, it was important to me to create a text that would draw people in so that they enjoy reading it – perhaps two or three times – despite its length. I want to make people laugh and think, or touch them with my writing.

AW: You predict that Facebook will seem as anachronistic in 14 years as Yahoo does today. The numerous web and mobile apps that were launched this year alone certainly suggest that development will continue at a brisk pace. What does a newcomer application need to offer so that you personally feel like trying it out?

JB: I have to recognize the benefit it offers me. I find most applications are either too inconvenient, or simply pointless. They should be simple to understand and use. If an application is not self-explanatory and intuitive, I quickly lose interest in it. And then it would also be good if I were not the only one for miles around who uses the new application.

AW: In your post, you describe a discussion with your husband about your little one’s first cellphone. To what extent do you think that men and women have different approaches to new developments in the web and mobile field?

JB: My partner is much faster when it comes to trying new technical things. I tend to be more of a late adopter (but heavy user ;-) . I’m always very skeptical as to whether we really need something (be it a bread baking machine, Amazon Lovefilm, mobile transaction numbers for online banking, or a new graphics card). He buys and installs things, shows me how they work, and then I’m always really enthusiastic about them. In addition, I find dealing with things like hardware, configurations and prices extremely tiresome. So it’s really great that there’s nothing he likes more than to pick the perfect smartphone and plan for me, and then set the phone up to suit my needs. I would never have given it any thought on my own, and without his help, I’d still be running around with my old Nokia. I don’t know whether that’s applicable to gender roles overall, though, because it was exactly the other way around with my parents: my mother always tried out the latest gadgets and blessed our household with the Internet in 1999. My dad always said that we don’t need anything like that… ;-)

AW: And finally: honestly, how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

JB: I tried Foursquare, but lost interest in it after a few weeks. Becoming the mayor of a location simply isn’t enough. For me, it still lacks a beneficial conceptual underpinning. I only rarely look at my RSS feed these days. I also have a bit of Facebook, Twitter and blog fatigue. I used Identi.ca for just a few days, only to return to Twitter. I’ve had a smartphone (Samsung Omnia 7, Windows Phone) for the past several months and I’m pretty excited about it. So far I’ve only installed free apps, such as WhatsApp the day before yesterday. I use the smartphone to pass time, listen to music (Zune), play games (all the free games I can find on Windows Marketplace), read, chat, navigate (Telmap), browse, shop (eBay), and compare prices (preferably on Amazon, since I can also read the reviews there). It’s just a shame when there’s no reception in stores, like a number of Saturn, Media Markt, Rewe, and Obi outlets. One side effect of the new smartphone is I hardly ever use my SLR camera, or upload pictures to Flickr these days. So the smartphone also has displaced other things. But more importantly, it has created entirely new usage patterns, and I consume much more media content than before.

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ALEXA WACKERNAGEL: “NETWORKING IS INCREASINGLY BECOMING A PART OF OUR LIVES”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:48 PM_No Comment

With her post “Mobile Zukunft – ein Blick in die Glaskugel”, blogger Alexa Wackernagel took second place in our blog contest on “Shaping Mobile Life”. In this interview, she answers a number of questions about her inspiration and her views of the mobile future.

Andrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea for your post?

Alexa Wackernagel: I can’t nail it down to a particular time. As a science fiction fan, the future is a part of my daily life – even if it’s only wishing I could beam myself, and that occurs to me nearly every day. I simply gave my thoughts free rein and collected ideas. Putting them into words was much harder.

AnW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while writing?

AW: Networking is increasingly becoming a part of our lives, with the boundaries between online and offline, private and public, becoming more and more blurred. While I was writing, I realized how complex the subject is, so a differentiated view of the various contexts was important to me.

AnW: In your post, you describe a state in which people will be online continuously – connected by an earpiece and glasses or contact lenses. “People no longer choose to be online, but decide when they want to be offline” – and disconnect via thought control. Do you consider that to be a desirable state?

AW: I pay a great deal of attention to what I post and where. The idea of being “always on” doesn’t really strike me as desirable. But I think we can hardly avoid it, so I’d rather try to keep at least some control, rather than accepting it passively. On the other hand, I often forget to check into locations, and automating the check-in would be really handy in such cases. In principle, I like the idea of having a natural, barely noticeable connection to the net on me at all times that I can use without having to twiddle around with gadgets or deal with language barriers.

AnW: One final question: how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

AW: Oh, that’s hard to say. I try quite a few things, but I quickly lose interest or fail to see the point of an application. Travel helpers like booking apps, timetables, maps, and guides are indispensable – I’d often be lost without them. Tools like Evernote, Dropbox, Shazam, Facebook, and Twitter are faithful mobile companions, of course. And sometimes I just pass the time by drawing in SketchBookX :)

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SEO TRAINEES: “IT NO LONGER SEEMS STRANGE WHEN PEOPLE CONSTANTLY STARE AT THEIR PHONE DISPLAYS WHEN TALKING FACE TO FACE.”

Andrea Wlcek_December 14, 2011_1:45 PM_No Comment

The jury of our blog contest awarded third place to the SEO Trainees for their post “Shaping Mobile Life ─ Die Fotolovestory”. In this interview, they explain how they got the idea for their post and whether they wouldn’t mind having a “singles near you” app themselves from time to time.

Andrea Wlcek: How and when did you get the idea for your post? Why did you decide to write your post in the form of a photo love story?

SEO Trainees: The idea to present the mobile future in that form was fairly spur of the moment. But the longer we thought about it, the better we liked it. The fact remains that no one can make an accurate prediction of the future. Take the Internet, for example. At the end of the 20th century, nobody could have imagined how deeply it would affect our lives already in 2011. Who knows, maybe the future will be completely different from the way we picture it? And then why not incorporate old-fashioned elements that everyone knows from their childhood? Bravo was the leading magazine for young people in Germany back in the day, and we all read its photo love stories. So illustrating the future using the photo love story format was not only entertaining, the historical element also provides a nice contrast to the technological revolution.

AW: How would you summarize the basic essence of your text? And in terms of content, what was most important for you while you were writing?

ST: Besides having fun, which was of course our main motivator, we wanted to approach the topic from a satirical angle. Many of the points we mentioned already play a big role today, so we intentionally put a humorous spin on them. An example for this is the idea that it no longer seems strange when people constantly stare at their phone displays when talking face to face – on the contrary. And the fact that mobile applications limit personal interactions is something that should be seen with a critical eye.

AW: In the photo love story, you develop the idea that mobile technology could gain ever more influence in the most private aspects of our lives. Do you personally like the idea of “singles near you” and “ex” apps, or can you do without that kind of technological support in future?

ST: Personally, we have mixed feelings about such developments. On one hand, a “singles near you” app strikes us as absurd. Yet I’m sure that one or the other of us would give it a try out of curiosity or just for fun. Such an app would be the future of personal ads, and even though none of us have ever used such an ad, we do know people who have found happiness that way. So why not a “singles near you” app? In any case, it’s important that individuals always have the option of deciding just how much information they want to reveal. Such apps could be a useful tool in that case.

AW: And one final question: how many new web and mobile applications have you personally tried in the last 24 months – and which ones do you still use regularly?

ST: Comparing our experiences, we realized that we all have our own preferences and ways of using mobile applications. There are the “classics”, who rely on firmly established apps like Facebook, Barcoo, traffic apps, etc., and “switchers”, like our trainee colleague Nico – interesting apps never stay on his smartphone longer than a few days. And then there’s Olaf, who has to put up with a lot of ribbing because still uses a dumbphone and only knows the mobile world from hearsay.

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