Somewhere Puts an Instagram Filter over LinkedIn


    It’s been my experience that LinkedIn kinda sucks. Rather than it being a social network, it’s more of a “we exchanged business cards once” network that really doesn’t tell you much about people, any more than my CV tells me anything real or meaningful about myself. LinkedIn does it’s job good and well for recruitment, but as a business focused social network is there any real reason to keep tabs on your old contacts?

    Enter Somewhere, a new social network put together in Berlin that hopes to ‘capture what work is like in 2014 and beyond.’ So rather than a blue and grey “just the facts” presentation of yourself, Somewhere is more of a heavily-faded Instagram filter over your work life.

    Here you’re encouraged to share what you’re working on rather than what you’ve done three years ago. Company pages then highlight the summation of topics like “what we do”, “how we work”, and “interests and inspiration.”

    All posts require some visual content, encouraging you to find a picture or screenshot that shows off what you’re working on. Take for example Martin Jordan’s profile, who is a UX/Service designer for Nokia.

    “Work is a crucially important part of your life,” says Justin McMurray, co-founder of Somewhere. “and yet the static nature of CVs and LinkedIn profiles act like a straight-jacket. Nowadays the real story of your work is much richer than a record of jobs.”

    Somewhere’s ‘Founding Angel’ is Thomas Madsen-Mygdal, who previously served as the chairman of Copenhagen’s Podio, which was acquired by Citrix in April of 2012. Today he has invested in other startups from the region, such as Copenhagen-based Opbeat and 23, as well as Helsinki’s Holvi. Other angel investors in Somewhere include Jon Froda, cofounder of Podio, Lee Bryant, and Livo Hughes.

    “Somewhere has a huge vision to change how people share, learn about work, explore work and find each other,“ Madsen-Mygdal says, “It’s time for something new that represents what work is in 2014 and ahead.”