In the past few years, I have learned a lot regarding writing and sharing
via online mediums. You best use sorcery or deceit to get someone to read your
article or you are not gaining no traction. So, I have chosen the latter.
Why? Do I not want my material read?
Of course, I do. Problem is, you want the right audience. I have found that
a large percentage of people that I engage on social media channels just do not
read. They get all their news, information, and insight from a Twitter,
Instagram, or Facebook post/feed. This is how simple society has become.
As a journalism student in my school years, I found that headlines win. This
still proves true in a day and age where attention spans have decreased from
several minutes to mere seconds. What can you do? I refuse to put out
information or data that is not factual. Call me boring, but it must be
factual. Hence why the truth or facts are never prevalent when it comes to
anything easy to get your eyes on.
Conspiracy theories are born from facts just being too boring to believe.
Well, you add in the fear and delusion along with the boring nature of
“vanilla” facts, and you have a conspiracy theory sundae. When you
just prefer lies, do what political machines do. Create your own narrative. I
am sure 2015-current will go down in history as the craziest attempt at mass
execution of propaganda, misinformation, and absolute lies to the public by
none other than Donald Trump and the party formerly known as Republicans. Do
not misunderstand my use of that example, it is just blatantly easy. All political
parties use misinformation to some extreme or the other. Just so happens,
Donald and his fanbase thrive off it. I have no political affiliation and vote
character and an array of ideology/policy. So, you cannot tag me biased.
As for how people get their information, you cannot totally blame social
media for their tactics. This all started over a century ago in newspapers,
periodicals, and “tabloid” style readers. Whatever it took to get
someone to read your rag, you can bet it was on the front page and was ready to
jerk the eyeballs of any literate human.
Illinois Prize Hog Births Three-Headed Duck Pig.
Not knowing if that existed, I made it up, but you get the drift. These
types of headlines were more common than you realize.
Let us think about what garners attention these days. Is it the headline? Yes
and no. It is all about a picture, video intro, or some clickbait of that
nature. Again, I am not THAT old. I am considered a millennial. I just do
not understand the fanatics of what social media brings to the table. Someone staging
a prank or belittling someone or something else to get views, likes, or the opportunity
to go viral. What does that accomplish? Fifteen seconds of internet fame. I do
not feel I could ever be that person. How many stupid pranks, staged malarkey,
goofy videos, or dances can you do before it just gets old?
What drives me? I enjoy writing down my thoughts. I enjoy reading others. Do
they have to be congruent to mine? No. I just want to read or hear level-headed
logical ideology. I understand humankind can only handle a small percentage of
such, so I have made it my mission to seek those people out and somehow create
a collaborative.
Who knows?
I am working on improving my writing over time. Possibly better than my feeble attempts at becoming an astronaut or hiking the PCT.
Mondays…Friday looks so far off.
dk