What has been occupying your time these days? Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto-lending platform, launched its iOS mobile app last week. To commemorate this momentous occasion, it organized a "iOS Mobile App Launch Giveaway" contest on Sweepwidget (https://sweepwidget.com/view/29758-9y1qwl5a/hl75f1-29758). 

Of course, I participated (very) actively in this contest! Although I lagged behind the top three participants by a wide margin, there were still 20 prizes of $50 BTC up for grabs through a lucky draw. So I had nothing to lose. Maybe the Universe would reward me with $50 BTC when it sees how determined I was to woo Lady Luck! I kept plowing away, completing as many challenges as I could, hoping that my points would serve me well when it came to the lucky draw.

But even if I don't win in the lucky draw, I guess I won't be walking away from this giveaway contest, for I have journeyed alongside Hodlnaut and picked up some valuable lessons.

I am flabbergasted at the sheer amount of social media platforms Hodlnaut is engaged in. I completed the tasks that required me to sign up as a member of its Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube page, and Instagram account since I was already using these channels on a regular/sporadic basis. But I specifically signed up for Reddit and Medium in order to complete other challenges. This is not to mention how I reinstalled Telegram and Discord on my smartphone so that I could join Hodlnaut's communities on these channels and rack up my points. (I had earlier deleted Telegram and Discord from my phone because I wanted to embrace the minimalist approach to life: LESS IS MORE.) Alas, no such luck when a desperate wannabe HODL-er has set his eyes on some Bitcoin. 

But wait, there is not all. I joined SourceForge and TrustPilot to leave reviews about Hodlnaut. I have never heard of such websites until the contest. And to round it up, I left a magnificent review on its iOS app page.

Like how crypto facilitates decentralization, the advent of technology has accelerated the prevalence of social media channels, so much so that information is decentralized and everyone has his preferred way of obtaining news hot from the press. This means that for start-ups like Hodlnaut, they have to buckle down and work harder than the big players out there to make their voice heard and presence felt. They have to engage with their audience on a plethora of channels: post a press release on Medium, release an introductory video on YouTube, attend to clients' enquiries on Telegram, among others. 

I sure don't envy Hodlnaut's digital marketing and social media team. Not only do they have to juggle their time between all these channels, they also have to put work-life harmony on the back burner when duty calls for it. After all, most people will only have time to collect their thoughts and contact the social media team on Telegram after office hours, right? But this means that the divide between work and life for the social media team is blurred (perhaps even eradicated) since they have to address all these pesky questions.

My MBTI personality is ENFP, so as someone who is typically extroverted and innately curious about new things, I found it fun to explore all these diverse avenues. But even I got a bit weary towards the end of the contest.

I don't know how my toddler son will turn out to be like, but I need to start thinking about how best to prepare him to tackle the challenges of an increasingly choice-ful (Yes, I made this word up. It should be in the Oxford dictionary) world where information needs to be presented in myriad formats to reach out to fragmented audiences. If he doesn't have a strong sense of self that helps him to feel grounded and secure, he can easily be swayed along by the busyness and noise and find himself reacting to life. Too many balls in the air, too little space to maneuver. It's enough to give anyone a nervous breakdown!