Imagine spending a couple of years building up a website, spending hours and hours on it every day, building up a community of around 90,000 monthly loyal users and then suddenly losing everything.
This is exactly what happened to Joao Luis Costa, aka Twitter’s @joaoluisc, and his Nokia News Blog last year. All his hard work gone in an instant.
Joao, 49, is a single parent who lives on the Mediterranean coast of Spain with his teenage daughter. He runs a company that offers mobile software solutions for local law enforcement agencies around the world based on the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platform.
You might think that he is already busy enough running his company and looking after his daughter. However, a few weeks ago Joao unveiled the re-launch of his Nokia News Blog. You can’t keep a good man down!
Joao spoke to Conversations about his trials and tribulations over the last year, why he’s brought the blog back and where his love of Nokia came from.
Where do you think your love of technology and especially Nokia comes from? When did it start?
The constant evolution of mobile communications is what makes me passionate about what I do.
I have always loved anything to do with communications, dating back to 1979 when my parents gave me my very first Citizen’s Band radio for Christmas – we have come a long way since!
My first Nokia was the Mobira Senator back in 1983. All my subsequent mobile devices, which I have owned personally, have always been Nokia.
When and why did you launch the original Nokia News Blog?
The original Nokia News website was launched back in June 2010, and it came about as a hobby at first. So much was happening at the time within Nokia and I felt I wanted to make a small contribution, and share my knowledge and passion with others out there on the Internet.
Tell us more about how the site just disappeared one day.
Two years of hard work just disappeared in a blink of an eye. I was devastated. It was partly down to ignorance but the choice of hosting company was also a factor.
I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a break from blogging and place all my efforts into building up Nokia News’ social networks which were unaffected by the website’s demise and continued to grow strong.
What made you decide to launch the blog again?
The substantial growth that Nokia News’ social networks have experienced, and with all the excitement surrounding Windows Phone 8 and the Lumia devices at the moment – I knew this was the right time to revive Nokia News out of the ashes.
There are plenty of Nokia blogs out there – is there anything that makes yours stand out?
You’re right there are many great Nokia Blogs out there, and having followed them extensively these last few months, it’s given me a new perspective and vision as to how the new Nokia News is to be.
I want it to be greater and bigger – you’ll have to wait to see what we bring to the table. I believe what we have will differentiate us from the rest in the coming months.
What do you think is the role of your blog?
Nokia News’ role is and will always be to provide an objective overview and information over the entire range of present and future Nokia products and services. Sure, we all love Nokia, but we believe that criticism, when called for, will be welcomed as it is always driven by the will to improve Nokia products and services.
What do you most enjoy about running the blog?
Sharing knowledge, experiences and news with our readers is what I enjoy most. I love the interaction with our followers, hearing their point of views and sharing mine.
I have learnt so much from people previously with the old site, and I look forward to learning a whole lot more now with the new NokiaNews.eu blog.
Follow Nokia News Blog on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. A Nokia News Blog app is also available in the Windows Phone Store.