In the last year or so how I use Social Media has changed, considerably from what it was 3 years ago. Today I realized that it actually looks quite about more like how I used Social Media 3 years before that.
Instagram has replaced Tumblr and now WordPress is replacing Facebook. The way that I share things has become more personal in both cases. I’m sitting here analyzing and comparing these things… The similarities and differences are striking. The flip-flops fascinate me.
When I posted on Tumblr all those years ago it was a carefully curated collection of pictures mostly from WeHeartIt, Polyvore, and other photo websites. I would occasionally caption things thoughtfully and my site attracted lots of people who also liked pretty pictures of clothes, coffee, and nature. I had several thousand people who followed me… I knew maybe 5 of them. I was sharing with like minded people, though in a somewhat impersonal way, it was nice.
My Facebook was more for sharing my personal rants, thoughts, experiences and the people who were my friends, were really my friends (family, acquaintances, and other people who knew someone who knew me.) I posted almost everyday. Now Facebook is just a place I store pictures and allows me access to messenger.
Back then, my Instagram was rarely used and not well at all. My Instagram now is full of pictures of coffee, decor, clothes, and nature. Many of them pretty and all of them mine. I share some personal thoughts here and there in the captions. But like my Facebook, right now, most of the people who follow me, know me. There are a few who don’t. I’m hopeful that that number will go up and there will at some point be more people there because they actually enjoy the content. Which is also the goal of this blog… a place to share the rants and thoughts and stories I used to share on Facebook, that are too long for Instagram… and maybe this time I can share them with people who aren’t just reading it, because they’re friends with my best friends’ Grandma.
And yet somehow, in the last two weeks, I’ve seen the way I use social media start to change yet again. My IG has become more personal and more political. I have started to use it as a way to access information in a way I never before. In the midst of everything going on, it’s become the way I access the voices and information Im struggling to hear other places. I’m finding a sense of community that I’ve never really had in Social Media before, at least not on this varying scale…
Now, given the state of the world, perhaps that isn’t particularly surprising. With a vast portion of the world stuck at home, unemployed, and watching the numbers of cases, deaths, and recoveries climb and fall…. waiting for the moments when it feels safe, it’s not a shock to see us all turn to social media to share, to connect, and to rally.
It was nice. Watching people post about mental health, their favorite hobbies, and what comfy clothes they like best. Flooding the feeds with generally positive stuff.
Then, George Floyd was murdered and the social justice and Black Lives Matter movements surged. With a fresh flame lit under our asses, more time on our hands than ever before… things went from positive and chill to angry, vibrant, and heavy. About time. After 60 some days, I was starting to get tired of looking at other peoples pjs and coffee mugs.
But the most important thing was that we were all here to see it. We’re all checked in already. Queued up, watching the COVID play by play. And now here we are. Putting away our cross stitching, meditation books, and bread making recipes… clearing space for one thing, justice.
I’m amazed, I’ve never seen this level of engagement or support, probably since 9/11… I know that the level of engagement the last few weeks can’t maintain. But I also know that for many of us, this particular fire, won’t go out. I won’t let it. Not only is this a chance unlike any other… it might be the last one we get. And watching what has happened… watching the response from the majority… I feel like this is history in the making, and not just because of the pandemic.
The youth right now, they are watching us, wide eyed. Looking toward what we decide is most important right now. Is getting ‘back to normal’ most important? Or is the fight for social justice? Is getting a hair cut most important? Or is the movement to save the planet for them and their children? I don’t have kids yet, but for the blue eyed baby who I’m hanging with today and the hundreds of students I’ve interacted with in the last two years. I will keep fighting for what matters most. And it isn’t getting an appointment at the hairdressers.
For our brothers and sisters of color, for our planet, and for our country. We can’t stop. We can take a break when we need one, we can address our own grief. But don’t stop. God, whatever you do, don’t stop.
Coffee & Conundrums 