Category: Internet

WHERE TO NEXT?

I’ve been thinking about how we get away from social media, or spending less time on our phones, and I think it’s less about dumb phones or apps and more about people.

As Priya Parker has said recently it’s less about “self-help” and more about “group-help.”

Social media has isolated us so much that we thinking breaking free is a solo endeavor, when I think it’s more of a group effort, with the support of other people (I host three Zoom groups per week, ask me about ‘em).

Getting away from social media isn’t just quitting, it’s about starting something else, or a return what came before.

So, where to next?

LET PEOPLE FIND YOUR WEBSITE

If we can agree that we’re posting into the void on social media, why not just post on our own sites “into the void?”

I recently suggested a client add a blog to their website, and they sent me this:

“Literally within one week (of adding the blog) this led to an invitation to give a talk (you know the old-fashioned way, you introduce yourself to someone cool, they look you up, find your website and boom).”

If someone looks you up, and you’re on a social media platform and they don’t have an account, it’s very hard (or sometimes impossible) for them to see your work.

But every smart phone ships with a web browser. No one needs to have an account to view your website on the wide open internet.

When adding to your own website, you’re not posting into the void, you’re building an online archive.

IMPRESS HUMANS, NOT ALGORITHMS

“We work to impress algorithms in hopes they’ll share our stuff, when we should be working to impress our readers so they’ll share it with other humans.”

I could talk about this all day (oh wait, I already do), but for real.

A performer on stage doesn’t seek out new listeners during the show, they must focus on the people right there in front of them. If they do a good job, perhaps they’ll talk to a few people afterwards, and get them to join their email list.

Hopefully the next time you play in the area, they bring a friend.

If you impress the people right there in front of you, the dream outcome is them telling a friend. Posting about you. Sharing your work with others. Telling their friend who writes for a publication, or runs a radio show.

Everything starts from within. Make sure you’re making the work you wanna make. Then, share it with friends. Play in front of 12 people on a Tuesday night. Write that blog post that will only get 5 “views.”

Then do it again tomorrow.

MY MINIMAL DJ BROWSER APP WITH MIDI CONTROL

Modern DJ software is bloated, and way too much for what I need, so I built this minimal DJ web app with Google’s Gemini + ChatGPT. It’s an HTML page that I load locally into Google Chrome with keyboard and midi controls.

I need this to make mixes of my HUNTERTHEN music, available to those who buy the full albums on Bandcamp. I make “soundscapes for your interplanetary commute,” which will either lull you to sleep or help you get your work done.

Next on my shopping list is something like this, the GRID3 PBF4 4-Button + Pot + Fader MIDI Controller. I really only need two sliders, but having four will be nice, and the extra buttons can be mapped to start / stop each track.

SOCIAL MEDIA WOULDN’T HELP ME

Wes: “…just bumming out my sponsors, you know. Like, they’d probably appreciate it if I drove the feed a little more… that would help them out a lot. I see that aspect — but it wouldn’t help me.”

That’s the big thing with not being on social media that a lot of people forget. That if we’re not staring at our phones for hours a day, then we’re doing something else. In Wes’s case, that’s obviously skateboarding, reading magazines, taking photos.

What happens when we reallocate those moments everyday? Moments add up to minutes and then hours, and for what? Like Wes says in this video, the internet never ends, there’s always more to read, view, watch.

A magazine ends. The day ends. The album ends.

Let things end.

(link, Dino)

STREAMING PLATFORMS FILLED WITH FAKE MUSIC

You have to be on the streaming platforms!

The streaming platforms:

Deezer says it now receives over 30,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, marking a sharp increase from the 20,000 figure it reported in April and the 10,000 it disclosed in January when it first launched its proprietary AI detection tool.

It’s hard enough to stand out from the crowds on the social media platforms when competing with actual musicians and bands. Now you throw in 30,000 AI-generated tracks EVERY DAY and you’re just buying lottery tickets and hoping for the best, you’re literally swimming upstream just trying to buy those lottery tickets in the first place.

Go play shows. Busk. Stream live. Do whatever you gotta do to get in front of actual humans, create fans, get their email address, rinse and repeat for years.

THERE IS NO RULE THAT SAYS WE HAVE TO STAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If we can go back to vinyl records and film cameras, we can go back to blogs and RSS feeds.

The common excuse is that no one will go back to blogs or RSS feeds. Yet we never say the same about film cameras or people that buy vinyl records. Sure, if we mean people as in everyone, then sure, no one will go back. But vinyl sales continue to rise, and people keep taking photos with film cameras.

Do we need permission from the masses before we do something that might bring us joy?

A GOOD TIRED

I’ve been on a lot of Zoom calls this week with my Escape Pod offering via Social Media Escape Club.

I remember being exhausted from scrolling through multiple social media channels everyday. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn. Back to Twitter. Over and over, throughout the day.

I would spend hours every day posting, replying, sharing, DMing, ping ping ping. All day long.

Now I spend hours every week with people who are engaged, filled with the energy of making good work.