What We're Calling Social Media Is More Like Social Telecasting

I just realized something.

Although interactive, newer social media platforms aren't really trying to connect people like before. They're not conversation platforms, but are more akin to telecasting platforms. They're set up so that everyone gets their 15 minutes and can spend money to use and access it. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube follow this paradigm I'm calling social telecasting.

That's a different point of view from the genesis of online communication, which came from telephone and mail systems. That would be your multi-directional communication platforms like text messaging, Facebook, email, forums, Discord, and Twitter.

It's like television and radio when compared to telephone and the water cooler.

I say this after hanging around some kids and watching how they used social media. It's like they were maintaining their own unscripted reality shows via the social broadcast platforms. BUT they actually communicated via messaging apps, phone calls, and in person.

This got me thinking about how I have been using (or misusing technology). Because to have a conversation, you still need to have an audience that you are talking with and listening to, not simply broadcasting your video at.

Minor shift in thinking with possibly major ramifications for me.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...So Don't Be Stressed

Those old song lyrics from "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams just popped in my head. For some reason, I associate this song with people running around being stressed about Christmas and getting their shit together to please live up to some crazy expectations for the holidays. If you get caught up in all the hooplah, it all starts feeling like one big act.

It's a marker of holiday stress.

But I have a rule: "Don't Be Stressed"

It really is a wonderful time. You just have to make sure you keep your wits about you. Because if you don't, that holiday stress will creep in and have you feeling shitty.

I suppose the hard part comes in living up to society's expectations while forcing a smile on your face. Hell, I just saw a couple arguing over a Christmas tree that I'm not even sure they could afford.

There's no need to overspend.
...no need to get fat (or fatter).
...no need to force yourself to get romantic.
...no need to please family members.
...no need to get pissed at TSA officials.

Just have the most wonderful time of the year.
...and don't be stressed.

People Need To See Validation, Not Just Results

After months of low-engaging posts on a topic (elsewhere, not on this blog), I decided to post a link that grossly generalized a topic to the point of lying. Everyone jumped on it as if it were fact. At that point, I realized that no one was reading and considering what I had been saying all along. They didn't believe me. BUT they believed this link from a dubious source because it "looked correct".

I really had to stop and think about that. The people that I was posting to KNOW that I have credentials and KNOW that I don't post without thinking, but that didn't seem to matter to them. This got me going on human nature again...

See, people are funny creatures. Regardless of the quality and the results of a thing, humans will require a heavy amount of weight to our requirements for validation of a thing. It's pretty amazing and a bit disconcerting.

What am I getting at?

There is no intrinsic value on it's own. That's nearly impossible.

People assign value based on many contextual factors that may have nothing to do with the actual value they purport to want. Hopefully, the truth can be gleaned from those many factors.

It's the white lab coat effect.

Scenario: If a barefoot person in jeans on the side of the street told you to take some pills they gave you, you'd probably tell that person to go to hell.

• You could know that they are a doctor on vacation
• You could validate all of their claims with a quick Google search
• You could know for yourself that the information about the pills is sound
• You could personally know the doctor in question
• You could have a valid reason why they'd have pills on them
• ...and so on. 

After all that, people still wouldn't trust them completely because they aren't wearing a white lab coat and standing in an office. That context is too strong to overcome with mere truths. Our minds would deny ourselves until we got over whatever mental barriers we had constructed. We simply wouldn't have the proper context we desire for that situation to make sense. 

Personally, I've been trying to battle this in my life, but the need for "proper context" is legitimately difficult to get around. I'm not immune to these mental barriers, I've just started trying to think about them.

I wonder what the proper context is for validation nowadays. Likes? Retweets? Influencer mentions? Guest blog posts? Podcast appearances. There seem to be a lot of them.

You Should Be Starting Your Resolutions Now. Quit Screwing Around.

Someone just posted that we should take about a week to ponder our resolutions for the New Year. WRONG. That's weak.

You should have been pondering that for the past two months and using December to practice getting in the habit.

UPDATE: This is an older post that got updated for this year. Basically the same message.

Just Had A Gender Bias Moment

I was just getting home from the grocery where I had picked up some of that lovely Arrowhead Spring Water. (CLICK HERE to see the previous post explaining why I need it.) I was at peace, and the night was calm. I opened the car door, and soaked up the cool calm of an SoCal December night. Then, that calm was broken by the CLI-CLAK noise of wood and acrylic smacking loudly on the concrete. It was a skateboard kid trying to perfect ollies at 9-something at night. Cli-CLAK it went again...and again.

Sigh. The peaceful night was ruined.

I assumed it was a boy, and for a moment, I went into ornery grandpa mode, "Bad-ass kid. Needs to be inside doing homework or helping his mother with the dishes."

But when I looked down the street, I thought it might be a girl doing ollies. Shoulder-length hair and tight jeans? Then a second thought occurred, "Well good for her. Girls can skate and be annoying delinquents too."

But then...I realized I wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl.

Either way, I remembered that I like skateboarders. That kid was doing the right thing.
Fuck a peaceful night.

Can't Complain? Well...You Can, Just Choose Something Better

There's a guy I know that always says "Can't complain!" whenever I ask him how things are going. I really don't like that response. I suppose it's a positive thing for many, but when I hear it, it sounds like a lazy way of accepting and tolerating bullshit. (I'll probably come back to this point in a later post.)

Point is, you can choose better options than complaining or tolerating.
For me, that usually means that I build or create.

So when someone asks me how I'm doing, I replace the complaint statement with something like:
"Making moves!"

How about you?

It Was Cyber Monday, And I Didn't Even Feel Like Going Online

This year, I just didn't feel like getting online for the hooplah. I usually take a rest from social media and the online world once a week, but this year, I added Cyber Monday to the schedule as well. There were some good deals, but I don't know...I just didn't feel like doing the dance.

But now that the weekend is over, I feel better.

You can feel better too! Get CLICK HERE TO GET 16% OFF SHIRTS  from The 8Bit Cubist by using code JIVETURKEY at checkout. The offer is valid through Wednesday, December 4, 2019.