Category: Internet

I’ve never quite got “reaction videos,” but when I break it down, all the music writing I’ve done since 2001 were “reactions.” It’s the same idea, different format.

The generation before me had magazines.
We had music blogs.
Today its video.

I can’t really watch someone “reacting” to an album that I love, but did I search for “Mandalorian The Siege” after I watched the new episode for “reaction” articles? Oh, you bet I did.

For years I listened to albums and wrote reviews. I wrote my reaction. People read them. Now you can watch people react in real-time to hearing an album.

Same idea, different delivery. It’s okay if it’s not for me.

From Mike Hawkins, in 2009, on Flickr. Imagine trying to randomly find a photo on Instagram from 2009?

It’s amazing how we stayed in touch before 2006-ish, before Twitter. Before Facebook. We emailed one another, texted, called. All things we can still do, but none with the endorphin rush of opening up Instagram and seeing the likes, and a peek inside the lives of hundreds of our closest friends.

And IG Stories – oh my goodness! Videos, horror, outrage, kitties – it’s like shots of espresso right into the eyeballs.

Lately I’ve been spending more time on Flickr, as I think I wrote before. Pick a tag, any tag, and get lost in amazing photos. Sort of like Bandcamp, which you all know I love.

It’s the open web. No algorithm. No influencers. No computer-bases trickery to keep me engaged, plugged in, and scrolling. I mean, I love street photography, but there’s only so much I can look at.

The one thing, though I do enjoy with Instagram is the number of runners I follow, and they post some pretty inspiring imagery and stories and videos, and that sometimes helps me get out the door.

How are these photos even real? I am absolutely blown away by the shapes, and colors, and vibes of these photographs.

Guido Klumpe on Flickr.

Tonight I watched Meg Lewis eat take-out from the Olive Garden on Twitch, which is really a sentence I never thought I’d type, but hey, it’s 2020, right?

It’s all fun and games, of course, but she also mentioned World Central Kitchen, which is doing some pretty great work, and could always use more donations. If you’re feeling bummed, watch Meg Lewis (she’s fantastic), and give some money if you can (I swear, donating money when you’re down is a great pick me up).

Spending time on writing on a blog seems almost pointless. I could tap away a few things on Twitter (where I’ve had an account since 2006, and was one of the first 3000 people to sign up), and get a few likes. Maybe a reply or two.

But it’s there for a second, and then it’s gone.

The web is here, and is sticking around. You can read this post the second it’s published, or three years from now. Good luck finding one of my three week old Tweets.

I’ve been thinking about books, after hearing an interview with Ainissa Ramierz who just release ‘The Alchemy of Us.’

A book. In 2020.

But my habits aren’t everyone’s habits. From idea, to writing, to publishing, to releasing, to marketing… a book takes time.

A Tweet comes and goes. Even if it goes viral, another takes its place in 3.4 seconds.

A book, a video, a podcast – those take time.

Hating Facebook isn’t anything special these days. Quitting, which is something a lot of my friends have done, is good and all, but the machine lumbers ahead. Until now, maybe?

The Stop Hate for Profit movement has some momentum – over 100 companies have pulled advertising from Facebook:

Among them are well-known brands like Ben & Jerry’s, TalkSpace, and Magnolia Pictures. But things became really serious when Verizon signed on Thursday evening. 

Then, yesterday, consumer goods giant Unilever — one of the world’s largest advertisers — announced they would stop advertising on Facebook and Twitter for the rest of the year. 

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