Welcome to Book Social Media

2025 has barely started and already part of my country is on fire while another part -the part I’m in - is buried under a foot of snow. In my personal life, things have been crazier than ever - mostly good. I was also sick much of last week with a bad cold (thankfully it wasn’t COVID, I tested negative) and finding time to relax has been tough.

I’d say I need a vacation, but I just got back from my winter break (my work closes the last week of the year since so many people take off and not much can get done). So, no vacations for a while. How do I deal with the negativity in the world right now without being able to run off?

Reading.

Since roughly 2022, I have set aside time to read from a book (or two) everyday. I chose to mostly read physical books with the occasional digital or audiobook thrown in because then I have a physical item on my nightstand taunting me to not forget about it. I have a bad habit of forgetting about digital and audiobooks I’ve downloaded. I also am trying to keep up with my ability to actually read words (I struggled with reading for a long time) and analyze text. I also enjoy learning new things in nonfiction books.

To track my books, I joined GoodReads during the pandemic. In addition to helping me keep up with reading, it also provides me with a steady stream of free books in the form of their giveaways. Even though I keep winning these free books, I continue to occasionally hit up my local used/independent bookstore and Barnes and Noble. So now I have a huge TBR (to be read) pile next to my bed and lining one of my bookshelves. The other bookshelves showcase the books I’ve conquered finished. Some of the books I finish end up going to my sibling or mother (and my dad while he was still with us), some end up in one of the local little libraries (usually the advanced reader copies I wasn’t thrilled with), and some are traded in at my local used bookstore (in order to buy more books).

After completing a book, I like to go through what other readers have said. What they liked or didn’t like about the book and what they also recommend reading.

This is how I first stumbled upon the remains of BookTube.

BookTube is the part of YouTube dedicated to, what else, books! Mostly comprised of readers (there are some writers and publishers mixed in) and their reading lists. Prior to watching BookTube and joining GoodReads, I wasn’t super interested in connecting with other readers (writers yes, reader shrug). I felt that my reading was more of a private activity and would only provide reviews and recommendations on books my writer friends had written (and I had read).

I still think of my reading as a private activity and I don’t feel like my reading choices say all that much about me. Sure I have preferences - romance is okay in small doses, cozy mysteries are always a delight - but the books I read and am interested in are all over the place. 

However, I have noticed that some people on social have made reading their entire personality.

Now, I’m sure most of the reading “aesthetic” floating around online comes from a genuine love of books and stories. There is no denying that, especially when some of the BookTubers are spreading information about book bans. The funny skits are entertaining and I enjoy getting good book recommendations.

What I’m not enjoying is the gamification, criticism, and superiority complexes the overall book community is currently tearing itself over.

Enter stage left BookTok.

BookTok is BookTube with shorter video times and a younger audience. One might say it’s cesspool of the battle of the generations with Gen Z leading the charge on TikTok and the older generations still preferring the longer videos of YouTube. BookTok is a natural evolution in the current ongoing social media shifts. It’s easy to go viral and take things wildly out of context with the limited amount of time per video - like Twitter before it became X or Vine. 

Pared with GoodReads and an unexpected pandemic keeping everyone home for over a year, BookTok has made “reading cool again”. There are tons of videos providing reviews, recommendations, analysis, book hauls, and character studies.

Wait…book hauls?

Yeah, I guess some BookTokers and BookTubers are getting famous for how many books they have gotten their hands on (usually bought) and how excited they are to read them. Similar to clothing hauls from thrift stores or cheap online retailers like Temu (ugh!), book hauls are somewhat seen as a status symbol for having extra cash and intelligence for how many books a person owns. I’m a little fuzzy on how many books these influencers actually read, but they are buying tens to hundreds of books at one time to show their audiences.

At least the authors get paid (as long as they aren’t used or second hand).

GoodReads has made it possible for readers to easily share with each other their read count. Every year, GoodReads allows readers to set a goal for how many books they hope to read. At my most ambitious, I went for 50 books in one year. This year I opted for 30 because my goal of 40 for last year was tough and I have a few really big reads (between 500-1000 pages) I want to try this year. The people putting over 50 books are impressive. I’m baffled by the people who want to read more than 100. Clearly they read a lot faster than me (I’m a notoriously slow reader).

This massive amount of reading is reflected in the posting schedule for BookTok.

To keep the algorithm happy, YouTubers and TikTok creators have to constantly be producing content. This massive workload is one of the many reasons I never want to be an online content creator (my online stuff is for me and I am uninterested in going viral). This has also led to people accusing BookTok creators of not actually reading the books they are reviewing and promoting or that these influencers are only picking “easy” books to read.

I don’t know what makes a book “easy”, but the biggest targets of these critiques are influencers promoting romance, fantasy, the combined genre of romansy (the words romance and fantasy squished together), historical fiction with an emphasis on romance, and cozies. As a reader of cozy mystery, I take umbridge to this. However, I also can’t help noticing that these genres (and combined genre) are geared towards young women.

Oh boy, do we have a new can of worms to open.

Now, I admit that I’m not a fan of a lot of the most criticized authors. Sarah J. Maas and Colleen Hoover book descriptions make me cringe. But I will not yuck someone else’s yum. They clearly have fans for a reason. Even if I think they aren’t great (and at times deeply disturbing), that doesn’t mean I should knock down someone who enjoys these stories. After all, I have my schlock that I like to read and would never consider “high art” (eyes my Uglies, Pretties, and Specials books from my teen years that have been getting some heat lately).

I won’t even knock the people going out of their way for “spicy” books. I will question the choice to make some of the cover art look like the book is appropriate for people under the age of 16, but I won’t knock the people reading these books. They help satisfy an escape fantasy for the readers. I do not enjoy sex or “spice” in my books - the use of the word spice instead of sex is due to censorship on YouTube and TikTok to create an advertiser friendly environment (someday soon, I hope linguist scholars come out with a series of studies about language shifts around this type of censorship and the effects on language overall). I tend to skip over those scenes if they pop up. Other people are into it. 

And that’s okay.

The amount of hate outside of valid criticism is obnoxious. I admit I enjoy listening to valid criticism with a good analysis of text, but I don’t enjoy listening to people saying that a book is simply “trash” because it’s not their preferred genre. 

No one is a superior reader because they only read the “classic”; those books are  mostly written by dead white guys anyway so the classification is relative. And no one is a “fake reader” because they only read “spice”. People are allowed to like what they like. People are allowed to provide criticism without name calling or judgement. 

Stop telling young women and teenage girls that the stuff they like is “bad”. Their taste is still growing and changing. For all you know, the next Austen or Brontë or Plath or Morrison is mixed in with Maas and Hoover.

I’m not even going to get in to it with some of the other big controversies going around. The book tracker Fantasy is having some interesting bugs with its AI interface and the woman who said that there were too many words on book pages are not topics I have enough information on to form an informed opinion. Also, GoodReads seems to have started a new badge system for when people read popular books in certain categories, further adding to the gamification of reading, which is a thing I guess.

It’s no one’s business what I am reading. If someone wants to share or vlog about their favorite books or current reads, more power to them. Healthy and valid criticism is fine. Unrelenting hate is not. Reading shouldn’t be treated as status symbol - though there are decent arguments as to why it inherently is - and “spicy” books aren’t necessarily bad (see the Bible for details).

I am a reader and by virtue of you reading this blog, so are you. Enjoy the “classics”, learn something new, be political, or try a new genre. You never know what gems you might find.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me. 

Until next week.

Welcome to Creativity in Multiple Mediums

 One might say too many mediums.

Yesterday, I was given an hour to talk about my creative projects. My many, many, many creative projects in multiple mediums. I was asked by the leader of the Writer’s Group which I joined in New Jersey and have been able to stay in contact with (after moving several states away) due to Zoom. 

Naturally, I put together a presentation in PowerPoint that I breezed through in 30 minutes. This included my reasons for why I try so many different creative outlets (it boils down to boredom) and some examples of my work. I had a short diatribe on where I post and share my work (i.e. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Comic Fury, etc.). I even included a slide on transmedia storytelling (the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.) - something I have dabbled in, but found overwhelming to do on my own - to show how knowledge in multiple mediums allows flexibility and a layer of interactivity in creativity.

Somewhat coincidently, I went to a meeting of my Art Club earlier in the day. 

Normally, the Art Club I go to is a free time for creative expression. Everyone brings in their work in progress (as long as it’s not too messy, we do meet in libraries) and spends a few hours chatting while being creative. Drawing, watercolor painting, and digital art are some of the more popular artistic choices. However, we have our fair share of knitters, cross stitchers, and collage makers.

Typically, I work on my digital blackout poetry project - turning every page in Jane Austin’s Northanger Abby into a blackout poem (see example not from the collection below).

I'm pretty sure this is an example from the novel Phantom of the Opera

This week, we had a theme. For two hours we took turns posing and being models for figure drawings. The shortest poses were held for 5 minutes, while the longest were held for 20 minutes. I held a seated pose for 10 minutes. Sketch books were out. Some people only used pencils, while others had charcoal, pastels or watercolors. Three of us (myself included) were working digitally - two tablets, one computer.

I still work with physical mediums like canvas and paper. I love turning my pictures into paintings with watercolors and acrylic. However, I’ve also been using digital mediums for a while now. 

Technically, the majority of my written works (including this blog) are in a digital space. I may still outline on pen and paper, but my final short stories and blog posts are created on my laptop or tablet (rarely, but still possible, on my phone). My webcomic started as me drawing in pencil and pen on paper and then scanning onto my laptop to post, but is now 100% done on my tablet.

I'm just not as good at drawing on my tablet, like I am in one of my sketchbooks.

At the beginning of my presentation for my Writer's Group, I stated I wasn't sure why I was given a whole hour to talk - that seemed like too much time. I ran through my slides in 20 minutes and reiterated my thoughts. 

And then the questions and requests came in.

The wonderful people listening and watching my presentation had loads of questions and wanted me to drop links to my social media pages. I showed them my webcomic (The Mighty Detective Mortimer & Lou actually does come up first in my Google search), my food blog (Cooking with Spirits), and my art/poetry Facebook Page (AJ's Corner of Cyberspace).

Needless to say, I filled that hour up.

I also have my cross stitch, knitting, and crochet projects (some of which I need to finish sooner rather than later). 

I admit, having all of these projects is a lot. And difficult to juggle. 

As I've gotten older and busier, I've found that balancing all of the projects is getting tougher and tougher. At some point, I will need to let some of these projects go - especially the long term ones that I've been working on for nearly 10 years (see this blog). It'll be hard and emotional to say good bye to them.

But if I want to keep evolving as an artist and writer, I have to be willing to move on to the next project.

I know I mostly discussed my art today, but I am also an avid writer (see my two blogs - you're reading one of them) and have published several short stories and poems in different literary magazines, zines, and anthologies. I'm not stopping writing any time soon, which adds another level to my creative balancing act.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

P.S. You may have noticed that I didn't mention anything about video production or music. I have actually worked in the visual medium space and have zero desire to turn it into a hobby (even vlogging sounds like too much work). Music is fun and I can (kind of) play two instruments (my family may disagree) and was in a music sorority in college, however, it is also an expensive hobby that I can't return to for a while.

Welcome to Not Wanting to Meet My Heroes

 We’re all human. We all make mistakes.

But being a creep is not a mistake...it’s being a creep.

Today I was sad to pop on Twitter and see another YouTube celebrity scandal trending. It’s not the first time I’ve learned through a social media platform that a person or group I enjoyed turned out to be terrible, but it never gets easier to learn.

There’s a famous saying (one that I have no idea whom to attribute to) that you “should never meet your heroes”. I’ve interpreted this saying a few different ways. One way is that everyone is human and that putting someone you don’t know on a pedestal is going to hurt everyone. Heck, putting someone you do know is going to backfire spectacularly and it’s inevitable that the relationships won’t end well.

Another is learning that the person you admired is actually terrible.

I remember there was a great Hey Arnold episode called “Pre-Teen Scream” when the character Phoebe gets the opportunity to meet her favorite singer. Long story short, Phoebe learns the hard way that her idol isn’t worthy of her affection. She makes a lot of assumptions about the singer, Ronnie, and builds him up to be a perfect person. Once Phoebe learns the truth about his inability to write, let alone sing, his songs, does her fantasy come crashing down. Oddly, it’s her very flawed best friend Helga who is there to help her through the realization.

I think this was the first time I was exposed to a plot like this. Hey Arnold was a wonderful show that tackled a lot of heavy topics like addiction, mental health, poverty, bullying, and even death in ways that children could handle. The “Parents Day” episode never fails to make me cry buckets of tears. Honestly go watch Hey Arnold - I think it’s still on Hulu.

I’m glad Hey Arnold had an episode like this. It set my expectations to not idolize people, especially ones I don’t know. It helped me learn how to handle that disappointment and sadness that comes from that knowledge.

A few years ago, I learned that one of my favorite YouTube teams didn’t treat some of their coworkers all that well. It was a big scandal in that community and a lot of nasty gossip and truths were shoved into the public light. Because of the fight, I found that I couldn’t enjoy the creators who did the bad things. 

And it got me worrying. I started thinking things like: was I a bad person for enjoying their work while they were acting bad? Am I bad for having supported them? Were there signs I missed? 

I stopped watching that YouTube team’s videos. Their actions and the fall out distinctly put them in the wrong. Sometimes I’m annoyed with myself by how much I liked their work before I learned that they weren’t great people. But the reality is there’s nothing for me to do but move on with my life and find new people (who hopefully don’t do bad things) to watch.

The same thing is true about mainstream celebrities, politicians, and anyone else who spends more than 15 minutes in the spot light. They are people who have flaws just like I do. Sometimes they snap at a fan when they have a bad day. Sometimes they’re absolute creeps (*cough Woody Allen *cough). 

After so many years, I’ve just come to the conclusion that I don’t really want to meet the rich and famous. I’m good watching them on TV or in movies or reading their books and keeping my distance. 

I know this blog post sounds like a complete downer. Some celebrities, politicians, and famous people are really nice and genuine. If they were still alive, I would have loved to have met Vincent Price or Carry Grant. Vincent Price seemed like a really cool person.

But building people up to be perfect isn’t fair to them. Wanting to meet celebrities is fine, but stalking them (especially if they’re kids) isn’t cool. Demanding a person’s attention that you don’t know isn’t something we should do.

It sucks that another celebrity I liked in my early 20s decided to do a terrible thing, but that’s not a moral failing on my part. It’s theirs. If you’ve ever been disappointed by a hero, you’re not alone. 

Sometimes people get redemption arcs. Sometimes they don’t deserve them.

The moral of this post is: everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes the people making them are terrible.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to a Little Break

Guys, I'm taking a break from social media. Starting around Wednesday, I'll be off all my social media sites for a week or two.

I won't be off forever. I need to let my friends and family know I'm alive somehow. Plus I have a lot of poetry and art projects I want to share (*cough* self promote *cough*).

Painting is a great way to express myself and then share it on Deviant Art of Instagram

I just need a break.

For the past several years, I've had almost non-stop Internet access. My phone is a mini computer which I take everywhere. The few times I've gone without the Internet are rare, the last time being an adventure I had in Washington State where I had zero cell service for 90% of my trip.

It was also wonderful.

I loved being able to just stare out the window of the car, not worrying about what was going on in the world beyond the wilderness. I could just experience what was going on around me and be present. Though it was a little scary being miles from the nearest cell tower just in case anything bad happened, the experience of sleeping in a tent next to a river was worth it.

I'm also not here to bash social media. It's helped me keep in touch with people I might not otherwise still speak to.

Heck, I've posted at least 5 times today on Instagram already.

This adorable face had to be shared. It just had to be.

But that doesn't mean that there are a lot of drawbacks to constantly being connected to people. Between chasing likes, fake news, and a weird voyeuristic feeling when looking at other people's lives without really taking part, it can be tough to handle emotionally and mentally.

So for the next two-ish weeks, there won't be any new blog posts from me (either this blog or my food blog), no updates to my webcomic, and no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I will still be answering emails (I can't give up the Internet entirely - not in this high speed world).

If you are thinking about taking a break from social media, I say give it a go. You don't have to go cold turkey. Try deleting your apps for a weekend or a week and see how you feel. Social media is still a great way to connect people and share the best your life has to offer. If you find that leaving social media has a good impact on your life, then see if you can deactivate your accounts.

Have a great couple of weeks guys.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Being Heard

"This is a revolution, dammit! We're going to have to offend SOMEbody!" (John Adams, 1776: The Musical).

Before I begin this post, I wanted to let everyone know that some readers will not like what I have to say. I'm okay with that. I realize that when I choose to express an opinion, especially a controversial one, that there will be consequences that I will have to face. However, I feel strongly that I need to express my view point.

I have a blog. It's a place where I can express myself and people can choose to read or ignore my inner thoughts on random things as they please (though I am happy that people read the blog). No one can stop me from posting if I want to write something...at least not in the United States.

The modern world has created many different avenues for getting messages heard, but it used to not be so instantaneous. During the Revolutionary War, messages traveled a lot slower. Most people would gather in the town square to hear someone read out loud the latest news and proclamations. It was how Thomas Paine promoted his work "Common Sense" (you can see reenactments of this in Colonial Williamsburg).

Though we have many ways of sending a message with our modern technology, it can sometimes feel like we are shouting in a room that is already so full of noise, that our voice is drowned out and lost in the void.

Can you hear me now?

Everyone has a message. Everyone has something to say. From the mundane to the radical. From the asinine to the truly profound. Arguing with some faceless troll online is pointless, yet people continue to do so because they feel strongly about the subject (just look at the comment section under any political article posted by George Takei).

Social media is like a tossed salad. There are a lot of different toppings that you can choose to toss out. If you don't like what someone has to say, you can block them. If someone is harassing you, you can report them and they might lose their account (admittedly to varying degrees of success).

I had one nasty troll sending me messages on Facebook about my blog. You bet I reported and blocked them. There wasn't a point trying to engage with someone who obviously wanted to make me feel bad about something I enjoyed doing.

There are other, more powerful ways to send a message that can be promoted by social media. Holding marches in cities, protesting in the street, creating art for everyone to see, kneeling at a football game, and many other public demonstrations get people's attention. Yes, eventually they will end up on social media, but this isn't just a passive click to show I like and support something. This is taking action in a way that is harder to ignore, harder to block out.

When I was still in college, there was a man who liked to stand outside of one of the big science buildings. He would hold up a sign and shout at all of us all the different reasons why we were going to hell and that we needed to renounce our wicked ways (there were about 10 or 12 reasons why I was going to hell according to this guy). He was annoying and I completely disagreed with his message, but occasionally one of the smart-mouthed biology or psychology students would start shouting back at this guy. They would argue and the students would get a good laugh at the expense of Mr. Ultra-Religious.

[Insert credit where credit is due here]

We never told this guy to leave. We never had him removed from campus by police or chased him away. He was annoying sure and I highly doubt anyone on campus liked him. He was peacefully protesting our "heathen ways" in a space that wasn't really his to begin with, but we didn't have a right to silence his voice.

This past week, there was a lot of attention being given to the fact that many players in the NFL chose to take a knee during the national anthem. Most people I saw online supported the NFL players right to protest, but some people didn't. Some people thought that the football players should just play football and not express their opinion on a subject that they feel so incredibly passionate about that they want everyone who watches their games to know.

I disagree. Kneeling during the national anthem is a respectful and peaceful protest and the NFL players have a right to express their thoughts. Their message is that there are problems in our country that need to be addressed and fixed.

No one has the right to silence anyone in this country. That's not saying that people have to listen to the message or agree with it. I have a right to express my thoughts and feelings, no matter how mundane, but no one has to listen to me. It also isn't true that I will be free from consistences by voicing my opinion or taking an action on something, especially something that is very controversial.

So don't tell me to shut up and sit down. Don't be patronizing. These tactics won't work. They'll just make me angry and louder. Instead, maybe listen to what I have to say, try to engage me in conversation, and show some empathy.

Oh, and about that controversial statement that I mentioned I would be making at the beginning of this post:

"Mean Girls is overrated."

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Icons Part 5: Moments in Pictures

"A picture is worth a thousand words" or so the saying goes. In the past two hundred years, the invention of the camera has changed how we are able to view our world. What was once limited to special occasions and those with cash to spare, taking pictures has become accessible to everyone (mostly of food, cats, and dogs being shamed).

Now if we want to record a moment of our lives we just need to pull out our phone or digital camera and start snapping away or recording a video. We're bombarded with images everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and many other social media platforms have made it easy for us to share these moments. Images travel fast when everything is just a couple of clicks away.

My world is filled with images or people, places, and events. Some pictures inspire wanderlust and envy. Others repulse us and make us cringe away in disgust. There are some photos that mysterious and make us question reality. And then there are the ones that document an important moment in time.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo of her blowing a kiss into the camera has long been the face of old Hollywood glamour. The photo of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out has become iconic over the years (though I'm not sure the famous scientist would be happy about that). The photo below show a struggling mother with her two children that my mind always jumps to when I think of America's struggle during the Great Depression.

Historical events in particular seem to have a lot of iconic photos. When I think of the end of World War II, I immediately think of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. Images from the Civil Rights movement would include Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the photo of Ruby Bridges going to school surrounded by protesters carrying hate filled signs. I don't think I'll ever forget the image of the Twin Towers on fire the day 9/11 happened.

This past weekend, I was inundated with images from my home state of Virginia. I wish I could say that they were beautiful photos of the mountains in the summer, but they weren't. Instead I saw image after image of angry white fascists carrying tiki touches. It will be hard to disassociate these pictures from bigotry and hate anytime soon.

But for every photo of hate that was posted, there was another photo showing the people counter-protesting them. Now my Twitter feed is filled with photos from vigils being held all over the country for Charlottesville and the photo of Heather Heyer, who died yesterday counter-protesting.

Before the age of the Internet, the iconic photos that were distributed were typically limited to what newspapers and other media outlets would publish. If they didn't like the photo that was taken or if they didn't want to report on an event, they wouldn't print the photo and it might be lost to the sands of time. Now, anyone can determine which photos become iconic. We're not limited to what's published in print. If someone takes a photo and posts it online, it can go viral in hours.

It's not just reporters who are reporting on historical events. It's everyone with a cell phone and a social media account.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Icons Part 3: When an Icon Fades

This past week we lost a major icon in the music industry, Chester Bennington. Linkin Park was one of my favorite bands in the 2000s. I loved singing along whenever one of their songs popped up on the radio station (DC 101.1 was all I listened to back then). His music spoke the angsty teenager that I was. Hearing about his death was tough and I might have played nothing but Linkin Park for the past few days.

Within minutes of people hearing about Chester Bennington's death, people were posting on social media how his music changed their lives. Some people posted about how Linkin Park's music helped them get through the worst parts of their lives. Others mentioned how his work inspired them at a time when their lives felt directionless.

We've recently lost a lot of iconic people. Not just musicians, but also actors, models, authors, and political activists. Some lived long full lives, while others passed away after a long battle with illness, and a few lost their lives in tragic accidents. When someone who is iconic dies, people will stop whatever they are doing and type out a message on social media, telling everyone what this person meant to their lives, even though many times they've never actually met.

Iconic people are able to touch so many lives with their work. They can seem so much larger than life, that when we loose them, we fell like we are loosing a part of ourselves. I know people who still mourn the death of Robin Williams and will post tributes to him on his birthday (heck I've been known to cry while watching his older movies).

The first major iconic death that I was aware of was when Princess Diana died. At the time, I had no idea who she was, what she stood for, or why so many people loved her. I only knew about her death because my mom started crying when she heard the news. Back then, I didn't understand why my mom would cry because someone she had never met died. Clearly she meant something to my mom, but it wasn't like they were friends. I'm older now and, hopefully, a wise enough to understand that just because you don't know someone personally doesn't mean they can't touch your lives in a positive way.

Princess Diana meant a lot to many people, as did Prince, and Alan Rickman, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, and David Bowie. I could name hundreds of iconic people whom we have lost in the past ten years. Each one helping to shape and influence people they might never have met.

Icons mean something and can represent anything. They can appear out of no where and occasionally fade just as quickly. They inspire us. They influence us. They can change our lives. When an iconic person dies, we mourn them and celebrate their lives. We remember the amazing things they have done and why we had such strong emotions for them.

Death is tragic, even if it is inevitable. When a person dies, they don't just fade away from our collective conscious. We remember them and tell their stories to the next generation.

Thank you for reading. Until next week.

Welcome to Discord

Discord is one of my favorite reformed villains. He's sort of a mismatch of many different magical creatures (the "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" wiki says his species is a draconequus) and is the spirit of chaos and disharmony. It takes him some serious soul searching (and becoming friends with Fluttershy) for him to realize that he sort of likes being good.

More episodes of My Little Pony on Netflix! I must binge watch!

Now, being good doesn't stop Discord from causing some chaos. In later episodes, he mostly does it out of boredom or when he wants to get Fluttershy's attention, but doesn't know any constructive ways to do so. It also makes him one of the most entertaining parts of the series (and probably the number 2 reason my adult self watches "Friendship is Magic").

As entertaining as Discord is, he is also very destructive. He has nearly ended their world on a few occasions. When he became "good", he was still causing trouble for main cast. Which makes sense, since one of the definitions of his name is a "disagreement between people" (or in this case ponies). Part of me is glad he doesn't exist in our world.

Then again, with what I've been observing lately, Discord might have actually jumped out of small screen and into real life. Social media might just might be the greatest playground for Discord to hide in.

Since the start of social media, people now have a way to express their opinions like never before. They can share as many cat videos as they want. People can connect with friends old and new. Dating has been revolutionized to where you just need to swipe to accept or reject someone. Trolls are no longer limited to living under bridges and terrorizing innocent billy goats.

Discord would, of course, be an Internet troll.

I can just see Discord having a ball in the comment section of YouTube, typing some kind of inflammatory statement that causes a huge fight that has nothing whatsoever to do with the video playing. He'd probably use the Twitter egg as his profile picture for everyone of his accounts (oh yes, Discord would have at least 10 for each platform he uses). He'd send celebrities annoying tweets telling them how much they suck with extremely poor spelling and share thousands of memes on Facebook that contradict each other.

With each obnoxious post, Discord would draw tens, maybe hundreds of comments telling him off. It wouldn't matter if the people are right or wrong because Discord doesn't care. He just wants attention and power. The people he's trolling are giving him everything he wants, but there is one side effect that he doesn't expect.

You see Discord might be really good at starting arguments and causing all sorts of chaos, but he's also really good at uniting the heroes (A.K.A. the Mane Six) to save the day. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are able to stand together and put an end to Discord's antics. The Discords and trolls of the Internet are doing just that. For every nasty thing they post online, they are attracting people who are standing up and united against them.

Uniting people can be difficult, but when common ground is found people will stand together to fight for what is right. Discord and his minions can be defeated. It takes time, effort, and lots of love.

Yeah, I probably should mention why Discord became a "good guy". Discord had never had a friend. When Fluttershy gets upset with him and says how she thinks of him as a friend, Discord begins to feel bad about hurting her. Friendship and love defeated Discord.

It's not quite that simple in the real world, but messages of hope, love, and friendship take power away from the Discords of our world. It's one of the reasons we were able to witness of the largest peaceful protests ever.

I have realized that"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" somehow applies to my actual life, despite me not being the demographic it is trying to appeal to.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To Social Media

I'm a Millennial, I should know this stuff right?

Ah Social Media, the greatest necessity and bane of this generation's existence. If you don't believe me check out my post from last week about self marketing or just continue reading this post.

Let's navigate this together! (No I'm not being serious)

I recently got a Twitter account. Yeah, it's basically Facebook statuses, but you can find out what famous people are thinking without actually being their friend. JK Rowling is a well known Twitter user. I got it as a way to continue "self advertising" for my online writing.*

Social media has managed to connect people and keep them connected in a way that wasn't possible twenty years ago. One can argue that the Internet Is the real power house behind this connection, but Social Media has definitely taken it to the next level. Let's see we have the all powerful Facebook, the apparent news source that is Twitter (seriously has no one else seen Yahoo's sources lately?), Instagram and Pinterest rule photo sharing of all things IKEA related, and of course LinkedIn is the current gateway to getting a resume out the door (at least that's what I kept hearing from my college career center). Oh and let's not forget YouTube (sorry Vimeo you just aren't as well known), the site that's managed to make more insta-celebraties than any other (except perhaps 4chan, but that's a different conspiracy).

There are of course even more to choose from for different purposes, like Tumblr, Snap Chat, and Tinder. All of which connect people around the world to share information, events, and crazy cat videos. To meet a person in the US between the ages of 10 and 39 who hasn't heard or is a member of at least one of these sites is rare, like meeting an extraterrestrial rare. It's statistically possible, but highly unlikely.

So isn't Social Media a force of good for this generations? Like all things in this universe, social media is both good and bad (like eating a box of chocolates, your soul wants it, but the body will hate you for it later).

Social Media gives everyone a platform. People whom agree with each other, disagree with each other, and the people who have no idea what's going on but want to be included anyway. It has also created a culture where we can share everything.

Yep, everything.

We all know that one person who has to share everything. Heck some of my readers might think I'm one of these people (which I might be, but I digress). Its not necessarily bad and can easily be ignored, like ads on Facebook. But recently there have been more and more news stories about how people get in to trouble on these sites.

There was the recent scandal about the girl on Instagram saying how her life presented on the site is a total lie. There's always some story about high school kids posting something stupid and getting detention for it. Or how about the teacher who was recently hired because of her double life on Instagram (I'm sensing a pattern). Also quoting Twitter is seen as news. Am I the only one who thinks this will eventually lead to a spectacularly hilarious scandal at some point? Something along the lines of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Anyone else?

Navigating all the Dos and Don'ts of Social Media should be simple. If you wouldn't put it on your high school bulletin board, don't put it online. See simple. Yet we still have people known as trolls (mean spirited/mischievous people looking for a fight), the person who doesn't understand that yes the police can read your status if you make the illegal activity you did a public post, and the person who tells their boss they are sick and then post that they are actually at the beach playing hooky (seriously don't do this).

So what's the future of social media? Will we one day all pretty much live in the digital world and let our real bodies deteriorate into nothing? I hope not. Reality is still too interesting for me to spend all of my time on the Internet. Still, the possibility is there. Until then I'll keep making sure I don't post anything too embarrassing.

If you enjoyed this post or it really pissed you off, pleas like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now to finish watching that silly sports game most Americans are currently tuned in to. Honestly I'm just watching for the commercials. Until next week.

* This blog will not be included because [insert reason here].

Welcome to Marketing Yourself

 

Why should someone invest in you?

I often struggle with the concept of "marketing myself". It can take many forms. This blog for example is a platform that I use to put myself onto the Internet. It has it's positives and negatives.

After all, does everyone need to know about my transition from college to the American work force? Probably not and if I didn't link this blog to my Facebook, I doubt I'd get any readers at all. There are tons of people just like me with the same idea and going through the same transition. So why should some random person read about my transition?

And that's an important question. Why should people who have no idea who I am care? What makes me special? 

In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer to this question. People who know me think I'm special (or at least amusing enough to pay attention to), but the Internet is full of people who don't know me. They don't care to know me. 

Well that's also not necessarily true. If YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter have taught our society anything, it's that anyone can become famous in this day in age. Anyone can have a photo, blog post, video, etc go viral (many times with the help of Tumblr and 4Chan). 

What separates these stars from the general Internet populations? Do they bribe Google?  Are they just so amazing that by virtue of existing people want to take notice?*

Any one have an answer? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Well I think at lot of it has to do with two things. Number 1 is obviously Networking. Without Networking you have no one to go to for advice, no one to advocate for you, and no one to point other people in your direction. Networking is a vital part of going viral, becoming a person of importance, and especially getting a job.

But networking only works if you have the other chief component: marketing. 

We are in an age where marketing is vital. Companies large and small use marketing all the time. They get people to connect with a product and choose to invest in it. Authors do it for their books. Hollywood for their movies. Farmers for their produce. 

Disney did it with a mouse

Not only is marketing important for companies, it's also important for people to market themselves to potential employers. After all why should someone hire a person? Sure person number one can do the job and do the job well, but so can person number 2, number 3, ..., to the Nth person.**

How does someone market themselves to get the attention they need to get that job, book contract or Internet fame? It can come in several forms depending on the end goal.

A person looking for a general run of the mill job might clean up their social media accounts (make sure those crazy college pictures are well hidden), get a public LinkedIn page, and have an email account that looks professional. If someone were to put your name in a search engine, you want to make sure what pops up looks professional.

Unless you don't want to be found, but that defeats the purpose of this (very long) post.

Now someone searching for a book deal or to launch a video game they've just developed would want to do same things as the job searcher and go a few steps beyond. Blogs, Twitter accounts, and a Youtube page are all fine and dandy and great resources to build a personal brand, but it's not quite enough. Commenting, following, and creating a presence that shouts "hey I'm here and I have something to say!" are just as important marketing strategies.

Because it's all fine and dandy if you just want put stuff out on to the web. People might not find it, but it's there. If an impact is to be made a brand  must be built, an emotional connection formed, and a strategy to get the message out there created.

Even if it's a pain in the butt.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week 

 *Please note this seems to happen at an overwhelming rate to people who don't want the Internet fame and yet somehow it falls into their lap. An example would be that poor guy from Target whose picture was shared several million times. 
** The mathematician in me need to write this out as an equation. For those who don't like math, substitute the letter "N" for some really big number. Like 594580234573248907048578. Yeah, that's a big number.