CircleMe User Interview #6: Andrew Neal

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‘A student, a screenwriter, a film director, and an imagination that can take you to more places than a long distance car-ride.’ With a bio like that, we just had to find out more about CircleMe user Andrew Neal! Since he’s a screenwriter, Andrew has built up a large collection of movies on CircleMe, nearly a third of his Likes are films! Want to find out more about him? Read on…

Andrew Neal's CircleMe Profile

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Andrew Neal, 21, a part time student in Oxford, Mississippi. I work as a screenwriter and, honestly, I couldn’t be living in a better place to do what I’m most passionate about.

Tell us three passions, what are your favorites? Why did you choose these three?

Writing: For many years, I’ve challenged my creativity to write something that others can understand. From poetry to screenwriting, it’s my life.

Movies: Over the Summer, I have managed to watch around three hundred movies. Everyday, I watch at least one movie.

Social Media & Interests: Have you noticed how quickly everything from technology to social networking is changing? I’m addicted to learning how our interests connect us with others through social networks.

Tell us something that you discovered on CircleMe that you loved and why.

Somebody recommended that I watch the movie, Monster. I’m glad that I took their word for it because it was awesome.

Monster

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

It would have to be water rafting. It’s a thrill seeking adventure of getting thrown around with friends on the rapid waters.

Rafting

How did you discover CircleMe? 

I discovered CircleMe during the Beta phase and immediately signed up. It was something that stood out, beautifully and well thought out design and an experience based around a user’s interests.

What do you like the most about CircleMe the most?

The smaller features that you don’t typically think about, but enhance your social experiences; such as voting on comments, trusting people, adding an interest to your to-do list and other small features that make it worthwhile.

Where do you see CircleMe in two years?

Everything that we do is becoming mobile. This is just the stepping stone for CircleMe. Anytime I go out with new people, I’m asked what I enjoy doing. Instantly, my mind goes blank and my thoughts start instantly racing. While I’m with people, I can whip out the cell phone, log on, and I have a variety of interests to share. In two years, I expect that the very heart and core of CircleMe will be invested in their mobile app. Interests can be shared in a more visual, real-time newsfeed of anything and possibly turned into a game for friends.

Want to find out more about CircleMe? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

A brand new look for item pages!

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Every day CircleMe users are finding interesting content about their Likes, both on the activity page and from the item pages themselves. So today we’ve launched something very exciting: New item pages.

More visual and more engaging!

Now when you visit the page for one of your Likes, we’ve made it easy to see all the posts that other CircleMe users have shared on that item with the new item page layout. This is a great way to catch up on the latest news and videos related to your Likes, as well as checking out some of the shared views. As you scroll down the new item pages you’ll find all the content displayed in two columns, making it easier than ever for you to find interesting stories.

New item page

Only interested in seeing videos? You can filter the content by category, meaning that clicking on ‘Media’ would just show you all the shared videos.

Filtered content

Filtering to ‘Media’ using the new item page

But that’s not all, it’s now easier than ever to share something on CircleMe! Simply click on the new ‘Post’ button and you can share a view, a link, or a video, all from the same menu.

New posting view

We hope that you all like the new item pages, as you can use them to find and share interesting content and the new posting layout makes it really simple to start a conversation on any item on CircleMe. We’d love to hear what you think about the redesign! Get in touch with us by email at info@circleme.com, or by visiting our Facebook or Twitter accounts.

CircleMe User Interview #5: Camille Chatras

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One of the coolest things about CircleMe is all the different people who are using it to add their Likes. We love finding out more about you, and our series of user interviews is a great way to discover interesting CircleMe users. Here’s a very interesting interview with Camille Chatras. As you can see from her bio, CircleMe is Camille’s very first social network! Off to a great start, we think ; ) She has some great Likes and we hope you enjoy finding out more about her.

Camille Chatras' CircleMe profile

Who are you?

My name is Camille Chatras. I’m 36 and I live in Paris, but I travel a lot because of my job (Germany, Italy and Dubai most of all).

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

Three passions in my life? That’s very difficult!

Chanel: Well, first of all as you can see from my profile, I’m a big fan and customer of Chanel and everything Chanel-related: collections (both prêt-à-porter and haute couture), accessories, shoes, make up and perfume. I love to follow everything they produce on Vogue and other glossy magazines and, if I can, I go to their fashion shows (not that I work for Chanel, my passion is genuine!).

Cooking and wine tasting: I don’t have much time to do either of them, but I love to experiment with ingredients and to personalize traditional French recipes. My boyfriend and friends are always very happy when I have time to organize a dinner party chez moi!

Cooking

Camille loves cooking for her friends

Movies and Theatre: The genres, movies and spectacles I like are displayed on my CircleMe profile!

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

One of the things I love discovering on CircleMe are the suggestions in the Explore section regarding books. Since I love to read in English, I really appreciate it. Also the books, music and movies I discover from other CircleMe users are always very useful. Before going to the movies my boyfriend always says “Look what you’ve got in your To-Do list!” He doesn’t want to use CircleMe though, because he doesn’t want to use any social network – this was the same for me before discovering CircleMe.

Books

Camille uses CircleMe to find interesting books to read

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

Cooking Thai food : -)

Thai Food

How did you discover CircleMe?

I discovered CircleMe because I read Forbes, and I read a great review on Forbes a few months ago.

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

The privacy on the site, item photos and the design. I also like how you can personalize your profile.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?

More and more and more used than Facebook which, as I see from friends and family, is always full of crap : -)

Has Camille inspired you to tell us a bit about yourself? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

Quick update on the site downtime yesterday

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Hi guys, it’s James here from the CircleMe team. As you may have noticed yesterday evening, our DNS service provider was having some problems with their DNS servers, as we shared on our Facebook and Twitter. This affected millions of  sites worldwide, and unfortunately CircleMe was one of these.

So what does this mean?

Well, when you tried to get to ‘http://circleme.com’ in your web browser, it would not connect to our sever. You can think of this as like you tried to call us last night, but our phone went straight to voicemail : -(

Let me reassure you that your Likes, To-Dos and Plants are still safe and sound, and our servers were not affected. Since you lost out on some valuable time on the site yesterday, you’ll have to use CircleMe lots today ; -)

If you have any questions, send us a tweet! Or you can send us an email at info@circleme.com

CircleMe User Interview #4: Brad Brooks

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We’ve previously spoken to CircleMe users from The Netherlands, from France, and from Guatemala. It’s great to speak to CircleMe users from all across the world, and as we found out in our infographic, the UK is one of the most active countries on CircleMe. This is a good reason to chat to one of users in the UK! So today we are sharing this interview with CircleMe user Brad Brooks.

Brad's CircleMe profile

Who are you?

My name is Brad Brooks. I’m a graphic designer based on the south coast of England in the lovely seaside town of Littlehampton. I also used to draw comics.

Brad Brooks

Brad drew his CircleMe profile image himself

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

That’s pretty easy. My three passions would be Comics, Apple and Arsenal Football Club.

Comics: I’ve loved comics since I was a very small boy. I’m just obsessed with mechanics of how putting images into boxes and then putting them in sequence can be so evocative. As well as drawing them, I’ve also written about comics, including co-authoring a couple of books. I’m also fascinated about how they seem to be able to shift to meet the demands of new media models (from newspapers to books to screen).

Apple: I use Apple devices (Mac, iPhone and iPad) every day, both for work and for play, and I’m continually amazed about how well they work for me.

Arsenal Football Club: Arsenal not only stand for tradition and good sportsmanship, but under Arsene Wenger we play exciting, skillful football too. Players may come and go, but the Arsenal stands forever.

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

I’ve discovered lots of things that I’ve ended up falling in love with. As one of my passions is the internet, I’ve been particularly happy with the web app recommendations that CircleMe has shown me, and I’ve really gotten into Hacker News because of CircleMe.

Hacker News

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

I’d love to visit all of the street art that I’ve seen posted on CircleMe, particularly all of the Banksy pieces.

How did you discover CircleMe?

I downloaded the iPhone app and fell in love : -)

What do you like about CircleMe the most?
I love the sense of communal passion for the good things in life, and discovering new things to love. I’m also a big fan of the iPhone app. The UI of both the app and the site is attractive, intuitive and a delight to use.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?
The same as today, only more so. I’m convinced the community will carry on growing, and with it, the engagement and utility of the site will only increase. It’s going to be exciting to be a part of it!

How to make a great looking profile

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One of the best things about CircleMe is expressing your Likes in a visual way, and the real icing on the cake for this is having a well-designed profile. We’re all about helping you connect with your Likes, and so this blog post will help you show them off : -)

Choose a nice background image for your profile.

The first thing another CircleMe user sees when they first visit your profile will be your background image. This means it’s super-important to choose just the right one : -) We’ve got a gallery of fun photos that you might like, so feel free to have a look through these and select one.

Choosing the right background image

Choosing the right background image

Got an image you think would look better than one from our gallery? You can upload that to use on CircleMe. Maybe a photo you’ve taken, your favorite desktop background, maybe even a photo of your recent holiday! On our Twitter account we often share some interesting user profiles, so take a look for inspiration (or tweet us with yours).

Tip #1

Don’t forget that you can click and drag your background image so that the most interesting part of the photo is shown on your profile : -)

Tip #2

Try and use an image with an area that’s not full of detail, this will give you a good place to display your name and bio.

Tip #3

Don’t forget to add a profile picture. You’ll want to choose a good one with the subject in the centre. This will mean that your friends will be able to instantly recognize you from your activities on CircleMe.

Profile images show up across the site

Your perfect bio: The chance to say something about you

Your bio is the place to say something about yourself. Since CircleMe is all about being what you Like, why not share some of your favorite things here? We’ve seen loads of great bios, here are some ideas for you.

Elena Ciampella's bio

Now here’s a good bio!

  • Talk about your passions! You might have collected all of them on CircleMe already, but there might be one that really stands out for you. As you can see our colleague Elena is definitely passionate about chocolate ; -)
  • Your favorite song lyrics or quotation from one of your heroes.
  • Maybe you know exactly what you want from CircleMe, setting your bio as something like ‘searching for new music’ or ‘on the hunt for my next favorite book’ will tell other users something about you.
  • Or maybe you want to say something different about yourself… You can be as creative as you want here.

Tip #4

Don’t forget that you can add a website to your profile. You could share a link to your own blog, or maybe you’d like to share your page on a social media site, such as Twitter, with other CircleMe users. Or maybe that YouTube video that always makes you smile.

More than just Times New Roman: Find the right font for you

Express your individuality with a font that says something about you! Maybe you’re an exciting Aller, or a fun-loving Didact Gothic, maybe even an Indie Flower! We’re just joking, anyone can choose their font on CircleMe. Currently we’ve got 23 fonts for you to choose from, and they all come with the CircleMe guarantee: They will look great on your profile!

Choosing the right font for your CircleMe profile

Getting the right colors

Complementary colorsMaybe you’re looking to show a little about your personality by choosing a slightly more colorful profile. Well, it’s a good idea to take a look at the chart on the left first. This is something called a Blue-Red-Yellow color wheel, and it shows complementary colors. If you’re settled on orange for your bio, look at the opposite color in the circle to find a color that complements it for your status (in this case it would be dark blue). This will help your profile look great. Of course, it’s also possible to fill your profile with too much color, as we found out writing this blog post…Colorful profile

Tip #5

Don’t forget you can change the colors of the sides of your profile, it looks great if they match the edges of your background image!

The blue area shows the edge of your profile

Tip #6

You can also choose which profile style you prefer; Dark on light, or Light on dark. Experiment to see which showcases your Likes the best.

Choosing a profile style

 

 

 

We hope that this blog post has inspired you to try out our profile editor and to get Circling! If you have any questions we’re always happy to help you. You can email us at info@circleme.com, tweet us, or contact us through Facebook.

Celebrating 6 months of CircleMe

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Our ‘half birthday’ infographic

To mark 6 months since we launched, we decided that we wanted to say a big ‘thank you’ to all our users in the form of an infographic. We took a look at some of the most interesting and surprising facts about CircleMe, as well as sharing the 10 most active countries. We’ve been fascinated by some of the data, and we hope that you all enjoy looking at it too. Surprised by some of the facts? Don’t forget to send us a tweet, we always love hearing from you : -)

Has our infographic got you inspired to add your Likes? Check out circleme.com or our Twitter and Facebook accounts, where you will find the latest news about CircleMe :- )

CircleMe User Interview #3: Rodrigo Hortschlaki

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As you use CircleMe, do you ever wonder about some of the users who are adding their Likes? We certainly do, and that’s why we’ve been bringing you interviews with a collection of some of the people who make CircleMe great : -) Today we have an interview with another great Circler: Rodrigo Hortschlaki.

Rodrigo's CircleMe Profile

Who are you?

My name is Rodrigo Hortschlaki, I’m a graphic design student from Guatemala City, Guatemala.  I also work as a content manager in a social media agency and love design, music and social media so much.

Rodrigo

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

1. Design:  Because for me design is a diferent way of living.

2. Music: As Shakira says “Music is the soundtrack of our lives”,  I don’t know who I would be without any music in my life.  It’s terrible just to think of it :S

3. Social Media: 3 years ago when I was watching a Facebook keynote, someone came and told me I was wasting my time watching this stream and bla bla. Now I can say “JA! JA!” to that person, now I work with Facebook and many other social networks, its such a new way of work which I’m enjoying so much.

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?   

I discovered a book called ‘Logo Design Love‘ by David Airey. It’s such an amazing book, I think every graphic designer should read it.

Logo Design Love

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

Well, each time I see Milan, Berlin or Barcelona in my Likes I start thinking about my next trip in 2013. Hopefully I can be there in December of next year  as that’s my personal goal.

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

What I love about CircleMe is how easy it is to use, and the variety of Likes you can find here. You can also find interesting people to talk to.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?

I think there are gonna be new, different and exotic ways to Like things here. It’s gonna be great!

Rodrigo on jetty

And there we have it, now you know all about Rodrigo. Want to find out more about some CircleMe users? You can view past interviews here!

Are you a CircleMe user looking to tell us a bit about yourself? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

The latest addition to the CircleMe team!

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Hi! It’s James from the CircleMe team. You might remember me as I joined recently and have been keeping our blog updated with all the latest news. Today I’m pleased to announce I’m no longer ‘the new guy’ at CircleMe ;- )

On CircleMe there are hundreds of thousands of Likes, Plants and To-Dos and it’s super-important for us to make sure it’s of the best possible quality for you to enjoy. This is a very important responsibility, which meant we had to find the right person for the role. For this reason, we’re very excited that Anna Maria has decided to relocate from the beautiful city of Paris to join our team in the Milan office!

I could tell you more about our new content manager Anna Maria and her likes since we’ve both been part of the CircleMe community for a long time, however, I thought it would be very fitting for Anna Maria to tell us a bit about herself and why she’s excited to be part of the team.

Anna Maria

Our new Content Manager: Anna Maria

“I didn’t discover CircleMe by chance, but because I was looking for a different social network in which passions and interests would be more important than Photoshopped photos and number of friends. I was very excited to finally find a place on the web where one can meet people with similar interests and exchange opinions and I’m very excited to be here in Milan and participating in the CircleMe adventure! I’m been here just three days, but I’ve already understood that my number of Likes is going to rise very quickly; as a content manager I come across interesting items everyday, which I often suggest to my friends.

If you take a look at my CircleMe profile, you’ll see that I mostly have Likes about cinema and movies, plus 80% of my heroes are actors or film directors! But there are also some comic writers (more than half of my books are graphic novels!). Anyway, I think that the most interesting section of my likes is the ‘other’ category; maybe because I’m curious about many things and an expert about none! After all Circleme is the best place for curious people who wants to keep track of many different things at the same time.”

Anna Maria

Anna’s CircleMe profile

Introducing Plant Guides and our exciting partnership with Cibando

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Partnership With Cibando

We know that our users enjoy finding interesting Likes around town using the Plant feature on CircleMe. However, we thought we could make them even more interesting and exciting, so we put our heads to work on improving this feature to help our users discover more high-quality plants.

Plant Guides

Announcing Plant Guides

What we came up with is something ground-breaking for CircleMe: The announcement of ‘Plant Guides’. As you will know, Plants are Likes associated to real-world locations. Thus, ‘Plant guides’ are collections of plants provided by selected partners.

This is a very important moment for CircleMe as it opens the door to the CircleMe ecosystem and potential partnerships, allowing other companies to distribute their content with the fast-growing CircleMe userbase, whilst providing you with more interesting Plants to discover.

Partnership with Cibando

The first partner will be leading restaurant finder app Cibando, which will bring you a collection of the best restaurants in Italy. (You can find out more about this partnership in our Press Center) But that’s not all! We’ve also added 2 more Plant Guides: Art Masterpieces and Boutique shops.

On the CircleMe iPhone app (got the latest version?), navigate to the brand new Plants page from the Menu button and you’ll find all the Plants near you. Now you can select the Guides button and see our 3 new collections.

The Cibando Plant Guide is the tastiest of the 3 as it showcases some of the best restaurants in Italy. It is also the one that excites us the most due to this great partnership, so don’t forget to have a look when you’re not sure where to grab lunch!

Plants on a map

Tap on the map to view Plants in full screen

The Art Masterpieces collection includes some of the most famous works of art in the world, all planted at the galleries where you can see them. From Whistler’s Mother to The Starry Night, the best Art Masterpieces are now planted on CircleMe!

Plants on a map

With the Art Masterpieces Plant Guide you can view art on a map

Finally, the Boutiques Plant Guide will take you on a trip to some of the most exclusive shops around the world, from independent jewelers to high-end tailors, you can find them all in our collection of Boutiques.

We hope Plant Guides help you enjoy CircleMe better, and don’t forget that you too can Plant cool things for others to discover! Not sure how to add a Plant? Don’t worry, our tutorial video will help you out. 

Ah! And don’t forget to check out our Twitter and Facebook accounts where you will find the latest CircleMe news :- )