No LinkedIn Month

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 06:35:42 -0800

For all of January 2026 I banned myself from LinkedIn. Hiatus. Break. Fast. Experiment.

Why

It seemed drastic, but upon reviewing how I spent my time, energy, and attention in 2025, it was clear that LinkedIn wasn’t working for me. Doom-scrolling. Unsubstantiated claims. Engagement farming. Dunning-kruger. Echo chambers. Outrage chambers. Attention attrition. Distractions in general.

I had already reduced my access to only via my desktop web browser. No app, no mobile web. I used my OS “HOSTS” file to completely block it on weekends. Even so, I developed a muscle-memory of opening it quickly and often during work days. I experimented with only checking twice a day, but it was difficult to stick to that habit. Even when going in with a particular intention, I would find myself several minutes in completely forgetting what my original goal was.

Predicting the future of UGC by looking back

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 15:40:55 -0800

25 years ago, I was making a James Bond video game for fun. A FPS game called Quake 2 was released a few years earlier, and it included code and tools so that if you bought the game, you could make your own content for it. This had started with previous titles from the developer, id Software. For Quake 2, they released part of the game code and a collection of tools. The community provided even more tools, from several level editors to 3D modellers (like MilkShape 3D). There were communities like PlanetQuake that assisted with the distribution and communication of content and how to get it. It was decentralized tooling and decentralized distribution.

Techindustry on Karl Schmidt - Strategic Technology Advisor

No LinkedIn Month

Why

Predicting the future of UGC by looking back