Un-Cancelled
It’s been over four years since I shut the blog down, and I regret to inform you that I’m back.
Why? I certainly wasn’t enjoying writing this when I quit, and I’m not under many illusions that I’ll enjoy it more if I start back up again. Blogging is hard work, and it’s incredibly ephemeral, and it’s a distraction from the stuff of real life.
But the world changed all around me and around you and around all of us over the last four years. And I think it’s time to start again.
So again — why do this again? I think it boils down to the simple fact that we all got persuaded that we should give up on blogs and personal websites so we could focus our online lives into social media. And the past few years have certainly shown us that social media suuuuuucks.
Facebook? Zuckerberg and his goons are sociopaths willing to burn the world down for a few extra bucks and a few giggles. Twitter? @Jack is a Nazi, and the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Instagram? Listen, I absolutely love Instagram — but it’s owned by Facebook now, and eventually, it’ll turn on us, too.
And the worst thing about ’em? They really are a great way to keep up with your friends. That’s a hard thing to give up, and while I understand people who’ve given up social media so they don’t contribute to the sad state of the world, I know I’m probably not going to be able to quit Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram until it’s way, way too late.
Nevertheless, blogs were — and are — good. And personal websites were — and are — good. They do things that social media can’t do at all, and we never should’ve given up on them.
So I’m starting the blog back up again. Not because I think I can lead other people to start blogging again, but because I want to do it. I hope it’ll be fun. I hope it’ll be a way to improve my writing and my communication skills. And I hope you enjoy what I do.
JD Said,
March 16, 2020 @ 7:40 am
Funny thing about social media. I’ve stayed off of it (except for YouTube and this one weird old writers’ site where people occasionally do social posts), though I help run some of the social media for my place of work. Through that, I learned about this young woman, one of those people making themselves a “star” through social media– in this case, as a cross-training fitness advocate/person who covered from a serious accident. Then I discovered an entire set of rumours (I’m Canadian, so there’s a second “u” in “rumour”) about her evil, sexual past, and involvement in blackmailing Marines We’ll ignore, I guess, that her most “famous” video was done in cooperation with the Marines, long after her supposed past Evil Deeds. Now, I have no idea what the truth might be– but (1) she’s a strong female online and (2) there is not a single news site, discoverable legal document, or anything else supporting this story– except for Twitter posts that don’t cite a source, and other social media. But follow the posts, and you’ll find hordes of people who only know a Twitter rumour who are swearing it’s true and want to ensure the EVERYONE REMEMBERS WHAT SHE supposedly DID!
Now, take those dynamics, insert it into politics or, say, a pandemic, and your point kind of gets made.
scottslemmons Said,
March 16, 2020 @ 7:45 am
Yeah, I used to work in social media, and I guess I could do it again if someone wanted to give me enough money, but most of the shine is off the industry nowadays. You can still do excellent things with it, but it’s turned into an uncontrolled monster.
What drives me nutso is the fact that, as far as I can tell, most social media pros have no plans for what they’ll do if Facebook or Twitter go away. And one or both of them is almost certainly going to go away sooner or later.
Andy Said,
March 16, 2020 @ 2:52 pm
Glad to see you back in the driver’s seat, m’man. Looking forward to it.
scottslemmons Said,
March 16, 2020 @ 5:52 pm
Thanks, Andy, I’ll try to not be terrible. 🙂