Aborigen

The hell is microblogging? Micro-anything takes on a new meaning in this community.

I listen to a lot of podcasts on writing technique and developing the writerly career and goals. I have a few paid services, like the WordPress premium account and a content library through HiPlay. Also, I subscribe to a number of newsletters for literary magazines and stuff like that. One of the effects of all this is that I get email updates frequently, all laden with writing and business advice, most of which really has nothing to do with me.

Yet I don’t unsubscribe, because you never know. Useful information creeps in from unlikely places, it turns up when you’re not expecting it. And even if it’s not a revelation, sometimes these new ideas are worth checking out, just to try something different.

Today I read an article on “is microblogging for you,” nonsense like that. When Twitter came out, people called that microblogging, and then a bunch of places tried to imitate that in case it was the Next Big Thing. And it was, but only because they were acting on it, and it stopped being so when they quit. The market is like this annoying class of democratic voters who only vote for who they think other people are voting for, instead of who they really want. Things would be so different in this world if so many fucking people weren’t driven by perceived peer pressure and image. I mean, that’s a fear-based reaction, and mainstream media banks heavily on inducing fear to keep people tuning in and spending their money in channels to support a centrist economy. We will never know what a free market of informed consumers looks like.

“It’s easy to imagine the end of the world, but we cannot imagine the end of capitalism.”

Slavoj Žižek

Wow, I got off track there.

Microblogging! What’s it supposed to be? The article suggests the return of short-form articles, which is hilarious because in my office, we’re all reading up on the return of long-form articles. Again: Ignore trends, listen to your body and do what’s right for you.

Should I get into microblogging? Mostly my blog is all one-offs and short stories, sometimes additions to series. Back in the beginning, it was me complaining about how hard it was to get started. But this article suggests my audience would value updates on behind-the-scenes content, interesting conversations (with who?), theories and observations (we’ve seen how badly that can run awry), my reaction to the news (again, how is this relevant), and what I’m doing right now.

I’m fucking writing this right now, amn’t I. I’m having a small bowl of Cozy Shack chocolate pudding, with my sweet girl-kitty curled up my lap and napping in the crook of my elbow. That’s what I’m doing now and the sizzling behind-the-scenes update. I want to make sure you people are getting your money’s worth.

Interesting conversations… I guess those would be interviews, and mostly those are conducted online. I’m dragging my feet on them, but when they’re done you’ll see them here. Otherwise, no one in my real life wants to talk about this shit. A couple colleagues have expressed interest, and that’s why I created the Outsiders: Start Here page, which was met positively, but those conversations also conclude quickly and decisively. I can pick up on cues that tell me when more’s invited and when I’ve said enough, I think. Or I’m continually self-conscious about the whole endealment and call things off early when I think I’m imposing.

But the article also suggested that if I posted more, I’d keep people interested. Is that true? Does anyone even read blog posts anymore? Because I know bloggers who are putting out amazing stuff, and I don’t see them getting a fraction of the attention they deserve.

Microblogging, huh. You just never know.

News, as it happens? Here’s what’s up. COVID-19 is blowing up into pandemic proportions, and Trump’s administration has cut funding to and hamstrung all organizations that could address it. There was an infrastructure in place to deal with an outbreak, and he shunted it in favor of creating his own idiotic system. He placed Pence in charge of it, the man who created an outbreak of HIV in Indiana. Everything about this administration is steeped in corruption and ignorance, and its supporters feel justified in exposing their ugliness.

The primaries. Kim Jong Donald has forbidden any other Republican nominee besides himself. The Democrats are in self-destruct mode, pushing a centrist candidate who’ll protect the wealthy at the expense of the rest of the nation, and ignoring the popular leftist candidates the nation has shown up for in rally after rally and demanded in poll after poll.

Coronavirus, the primaries, what else… climate change. The time to act on this passed a few years ago. Everything is already over. We have spittle-flecked partisan groups dumping money into denial of science and observable fact, conspiracy theorists arguing for their own demise, and a general population that sneers at sustainable living practices as “inconvenient” or “paranoid.” Our two choices now are to nosedive into self-destruction or to control a more or less graceful crash landing, but the plane is going down no matter what.

I don’t think anyone wants to hear my reactions to the news, not when we could be daydreaming about shrinking people for sex toys and watching gigantic naked woman striding serenely overhead. We’re all almost dead, so why not.

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Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash