Really nice to sit with these short essays—I like the format! (I also like LCD Soundsystem.)
"But it does seem like there’s worth in acknowledging the power you have over your own digital footprint, and using it to promote deserving causes and preserve the dignity of others."
It's interesting: I think about how some people refer to their social media accounts as "platforms," which says a lot about power and much less about introspection; whereas thinking about your online self as one that walks and leaves things in its wake feels all the more tactile. Obvious thing to say, but it's on my mind now.
I think about that word too, and I think the word platform is doing two things: one, it's simply semantic: if you operate a space in more than one place, for example (I sometimes call Boss Barista a platform since it exists here, in the podcast world, and on IG). But secondly, I think it's presenting yourself as a space of authority, which is tricky because there's so much to contend with about community versus the self, and when does your "platform" become you?
This happens to me sometimes, where people get really cautious about what they'll say to me because they think I'm this person they see online, which they extrapolate to mean as always critical. It's a line I haven't figured out how to balance.
Those definitions are helpful, thank you! (I definitely am too cynical about influencers using "platforms" in a negative way—when truthfully, it's a much broader & better landscape than that.)
And I can imagine that balance is tricky, especially around boundaries. If somebody wants to prove they're not what people imagine them to be—which of course social media magnifies—then there's an implicit suggestion that they have give away some of their privacy, to show themselves as real i.e. fallible; as if who they are on paper or in photographs is invulnerable.
Yeah, 100%! I also agree re: platforms. One mistake I think I made early on in Boss Barista's life was assuming I was an authority on anything and that what I was doing was very self-righteous, so that part of me also cringes when I think of the word "platform." I haven't figured it out the balance of a life online yet, but I hope it becomes easier over time!
Really nice to sit with these short essays—I like the format! (I also like LCD Soundsystem.)
"But it does seem like there’s worth in acknowledging the power you have over your own digital footprint, and using it to promote deserving causes and preserve the dignity of others."
It's interesting: I think about how some people refer to their social media accounts as "platforms," which says a lot about power and much less about introspection; whereas thinking about your online self as one that walks and leaves things in its wake feels all the more tactile. Obvious thing to say, but it's on my mind now.
I think about that word too, and I think the word platform is doing two things: one, it's simply semantic: if you operate a space in more than one place, for example (I sometimes call Boss Barista a platform since it exists here, in the podcast world, and on IG). But secondly, I think it's presenting yourself as a space of authority, which is tricky because there's so much to contend with about community versus the self, and when does your "platform" become you?
This happens to me sometimes, where people get really cautious about what they'll say to me because they think I'm this person they see online, which they extrapolate to mean as always critical. It's a line I haven't figured out how to balance.
Those definitions are helpful, thank you! (I definitely am too cynical about influencers using "platforms" in a negative way—when truthfully, it's a much broader & better landscape than that.)
And I can imagine that balance is tricky, especially around boundaries. If somebody wants to prove they're not what people imagine them to be—which of course social media magnifies—then there's an implicit suggestion that they have give away some of their privacy, to show themselves as real i.e. fallible; as if who they are on paper or in photographs is invulnerable.
Yeah, 100%! I also agree re: platforms. One mistake I think I made early on in Boss Barista's life was assuming I was an authority on anything and that what I was doing was very self-righteous, so that part of me also cringes when I think of the word "platform." I haven't figured it out the balance of a life online yet, but I hope it becomes easier over time!