For me, social media is a little bit like the ocean: my fear of drowning + sharks is constantly at war with the sensory delight it provides.
The sheer quantity of people is what can drown you; the polarisation and viral nature of posts is what can bite. (The sensory delights come in the form of nice animal pictures.) There's a lot of good stuff on social media, but so often in recent weeks I've seen a few people I know (only casually, but still) put a foot wrong, or express something poorly, and even when those in the wrong attempt to back track or apologise, it's usually not enough.
My observation is that the majority of people seem to have very little interest in bridge building or peace-keeping, and at times give the impression that they enjoy a good mobhunt. Hence not being interested in apologies. I mean this as a general trend, rather than social media specifically, but I do think social media amplifies it. The online world is waiting for you, me, anyone, to make a mistake, to be today's viral object of pillory. I guess that sounds dramatic, but it really does give me anxiety. Especially when I see it happen in real time.
I have endless admiration for writers who are able to walk a continuous tight rope of entertaining + honest without committing social media faux pas. Still, even for adroit people, mistakes are bound to be made, and certainly in my case I'm definitely not adroit. Clumsy would be a better description. I feel like it's just a matter of time before I say the wrong thing to the wrong person, like there's a giant ticking time bomb sitting on top of my head and I can't read the numbers. It could happen today, tomorrow, ten years from now.
If you use social media to promote yourself as a writer, does the viral, take-no-prisoners aspect of social media concern you? How do you manage those aspects and concerns or do you just not worry about it at all?
The sheer quantity of people is what can drown you; the polarisation and viral nature of posts is what can bite. (The sensory delights come in the form of nice animal pictures.) There's a lot of good stuff on social media, but so often in recent weeks I've seen a few people I know (only casually, but still) put a foot wrong, or express something poorly, and even when those in the wrong attempt to back track or apologise, it's usually not enough.
My observation is that the majority of people seem to have very little interest in bridge building or peace-keeping, and at times give the impression that they enjoy a good mobhunt. Hence not being interested in apologies. I mean this as a general trend, rather than social media specifically, but I do think social media amplifies it. The online world is waiting for you, me, anyone, to make a mistake, to be today's viral object of pillory. I guess that sounds dramatic, but it really does give me anxiety. Especially when I see it happen in real time.
I have endless admiration for writers who are able to walk a continuous tight rope of entertaining + honest without committing social media faux pas. Still, even for adroit people, mistakes are bound to be made, and certainly in my case I'm definitely not adroit. Clumsy would be a better description. I feel like it's just a matter of time before I say the wrong thing to the wrong person, like there's a giant ticking time bomb sitting on top of my head and I can't read the numbers. It could happen today, tomorrow, ten years from now.
If you use social media to promote yourself as a writer, does the viral, take-no-prisoners aspect of social media concern you? How do you manage those aspects and concerns or do you just not worry about it at all?
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