#rethinksocialmedia

[escaperatraceradio]

Paul O' Mahony guest on episode 91 of Escape the Rat Race Radio [Podcast]. Today's conversation  'Rethink How To Use Social Media'. Shownotes &  Freebie can be downloaded on this link: www.etrr.online/podcas91

[mheeckahpaige-blog]

Black Mirror: Nosedive (Analysis)

Nosedive, the first episode of Black Mirror’s third season, was created by Charlie Broker and directed by Joe Wright. Following the series’ reputation of twisted and dark fictional arcs, the episode targeted the extent of how bad people’s social media usage is getting. Lacie Pound, the episode’s main character, represents everyone who treats social media validation as if it’s their whole life. Meanwhile, the episode’s classist system represents real-life social media.

In a world where number rankings dictate your lifestyle and the entirety of your value, the number of stars you receive is all that matters. The more stars people give you, the higher you rank the charts. Kind of like how a kindergarten classroom works, heh.

I personally found this Black Mirror episode very hard to get through. Much more than the fact that I can’t watch the opening scenes without cringing or getting utterly frustrated, maybe I had a hard time finishing this fictional film because it was actually getting too close to reality for comfort. I wish I can exclude myself from the narrative and claim that I refuse to subject to social norms. However, as a starting artist trying to build her platform, increasing my social media reach would honestly be of great help nowadays.

I re-watched the episode over the break and finally finished it. My regret for not finishing it sooner followed. It was actually one of those Black Mirror episodes that didn’t end tragically. After realizing how small the stars are worth compared to her conforming to social norms and trying to achieve “perfection”, Lacie became much happier when she was put in prison for having no stars at all. The irony in the scene was unmistakable: she had more freedom in that cell than people living a fake life outside.  

To me, social media indeed have its pros and cons: one of which is increasing my network, yes. I am not blind to the fact, however, that every social media site I am in is getting increasingly toxic. Just as the film suggests, the ranks produce instant but incomplete gratification. Same goes with social media.  

Nosedive made me realize how false of a reality social media is. It is important to stay updated and my various accounts helps with that, but I can’t help but wonder how freeing social media detox would be. Admittedly, it would be a very hard thing to do for someone like me who feels incomplete without checking her accounts every day. Realizing this mistake is the first of many steps towards social media detox, however. Hopefully soon enough, I’ll feel how Lacie felt in that prison cell when she got a taste of free of pretenses.    

[bohememe]

Oki, it’s time for some #realtalk for a minute. If you’re not into that then- heeeeyy! What’s uppppp? Feel free to scroll along. But if you’re into it, I’m low-key kinda pissed at Instagram right now. I know my nerd is showing but bare with me a second while I talk computer/analytics. Just because of my decision to not post to my creative account daily (@bohememe ), I get punished by not having my hard work shown to as many people (they literally keep your post “held back” to be viewed only by a select few at first, and based off of that engagement they deem it “worthy” to be shown to more and more people). That’s pretty frustrating when you’re trying to do a lot at once to get your business off the ground. If you’ve been keeping up with my work (either on Facebook or Instagram), I ask for your support right now. If you haven’t yet, follow or like @bohememe and subscribe to notifications so when I post, you can see them coming through. If you like something I posted, ♥️ the pic and tell me in a comment. The more you engage in my post, the more the #instagramalgorithm thinks my post is “worthy” of more exposure 🙄. Instead of vent about it (because I know it isn’t going to do sh*t) I’m just going to sit here and take it like a woman. But also hope, of course, that you also believe in supporting small and local business, because what else is this all about if not that? A million thank you’s forever, y’all. . #rethinksocialmedia #supportsmallbusiness #instagramalgorithmsucks https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuThM-AQrY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=160648z5j4yea