Trying to figure out who I want to be, and how to work this new year.
I spent much of 2016 and 2017 tirelessly building up, with the help of a few others, the Voluntary Japan web presence on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.
I would post multiple times daily to Facebook and Twitter, and several videos to YouTube each week. I also ran a weekly live show via YouTube with special guests coming on the show often. Of course, I spent a great deal of time (most of it, actually) working on writing articles and making posts right here on this platform, on the Steem blockchain.
I seem to be at a bit of a crossroads now, after about a month's hiatus from actively uploading to or up-keeping the Voluntary Japan accounts on other social media sites (For those that may not know, Voluntary Japan is my Voluntaryist/Anarcho-Capitalist online initiative with the goal of spreading the principles of Voluntaryism and raising awareness of the evils and brutalities of statism).
The reasons I wanted to "take a break" from the "big three" SMS I was utilizing are as follows:
I felt...dirty. Facebook's privacy policy is a joke, and though I have a network of over 1,000 Voluntaryist friends online via the platform, I don't like being so...well...open. I am torn between wanting to express my views and wishing to retain some modest level of say in my online privacy.
The quality of relationships and conversations on Facebook is often downright pathetic, with grown adults conversing with each other like whiny, entitled 12-year-olds, endlessly slinging gossip-y vitriol.
I live in a nation state where online activism can now be legally construed as "terrorism."
The live show took a lot out of me. I think that maybe I should accept that a great deal of my nature is introverted. I am severely interested in talking about voluntaryism, and love to debate about these sort of topics, but I think maybe I really need to be selective about what I do.
THERE IS VERY LITTLE HUMANITY IN SOCIAL MEDIA. I'M FUCKING SICK OF IT. It's argument city, where good people stoop to calling each other fucking horrible names in a desperate, ego-fueled attempt to be "right," instead of to understand. I have been just as guilty as the next guy. Life's too short and human life too precious to waste it on stuff like this.
Good things about the "big three" SMS I was using:
There is still a lot of positive connection. There is mass reach. I need to express myself or I will go nuts, and those giant social media sites do provide quite a lot of interaction.
There is also less perceived pressure to "craft a post" on Facebook and Twitter, as there are no payouts coming to be "earned." Do you know what I mean? I can post a random snapshot of something amusing and not be concerned because it is "draining the rewards pool."
So I guess I am really considering dropping even the Voluntary Japan aspect of Facebook (I have become much less active on my personal profile already), and leaving it all for well, here, where I feel activism and self-expression is still worth the effort.
Perhaps even just cutting ties and deleting all Facebook accounts. Feels like a new chapter is about to start, and as valuable as the relationships I've forged and found here on Steemit are, they seem much more deserving of my time, effort, and energy.
Plus, once D-Tube gets to where the videos load a little faster, I could go total blockchain and even leave YouTube behind.
Thanks for helping me think through this. This little exploration has helped me immensely, already. I can feel it. Wishing you only the best 2018!!!
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
Mate, I've only known you on Steemit and what you do here is amazing work, stick to Steemit my man.
FB can suck a cock as far as I'm concerned, I've never had an account and never even been on the platform, it a government owed data collection agency frequented by the most stupid and vapid in our society.
If you need anymore reasons to consign Facebook to the trash can of your history, watch this video.
You don't need it bro, cut it loose. 😉
Lol. Awesome.
Cheers, brother.
I just went through and deleted all my photos and it feels great. Enjoyed the video.
Looks like I'm backing out, step by step. The only real thing I am hesitant to part with is the network support. Nice to have a network of anarchists that are more than willing to loudly bitch and moan on social media if something ever goes down with the state. Lots of advocacy.
The network here would probably be just as effective, though, as the relationships are of a greater depth, and more tenacious.
Thanks as always for the great commentary!
Anytime Graham.
Steemit would serve as a more than adequate replacement for a network of FB anarchists. Once word really gets out about Steemit there'll be a stampede to join, it's the last censor free platform afterall.
Very true.
I know the 'spreading myself too thin' feeling well. With full time (teaching) job, my main WP blog (which has been 2 years in the making and is actually earning enough to allow me to quit work this year) and now trying to expand my more personal and eclectic stuff onto this platform, it's just exhausting.
I know what you mean about 'crafting a post', but you can only really do that a few times a week at most if you want to write a good 500-1500 word item. (I always think it's funny how the 'essay' is actually the most relevant form on blogs, I never thought that old school-time thing would actually be useful).
The pressure to post daily is enormous. I use a strategy where I do mainly 'quick blog posts' (in the news comments/ exploring a concept/ look at this infographic) with longer form once a week at least.
As to videos - that's something I really want to get into, but I just can't atm, I know my limits, I could imagine it'd be a killer, besides I have to perform for four hours a day in the classroom anyway.
At the end of the day I've come to the conclusion that less is more - better to post one quality post once a week, and maybe one quick post (I think that's allowed) rather than a stream of mediocrity, although I fall into that trap too easily.
As to Facebook and Twitter - I just see them as marketing tools to drive people to my blog (and maybe here if/ once I get it going properly), although I do have a soft spot for the later.
This platform, if you blinker yourself to all the shite, is actually quite a nice blend of blog and interactivity.
Anyway, bit long that, Laphroaig then bed for me. Night!
FB is cancer Twitter my drug Steemit my cure 😍 never give up :D
LOL true that.
I do not mean to discount your wealth of honest thought and feeling, but I must say the owl block print is truly lovely. Is it yours?
Thanks. My friend made it. It's a block print he carved himself. It's probably my favorite part of the post, too.
All we do here in steemit has a reward compared to wasting time on facebook. Am not saying people should stop using facebook but wasting time there does not worth it. Nice post
Hope you guys sometimes check out quora and reddit, you may not be payed but you can be reading from there sometime. There are some awesome bloggers.
I totally understand where he's coming from. I've been part of a blogging community for a couple years on Disqus. There are some really offensive people even those whom you feel compelled to leave behind after finding their real motivations or feelings, it's a hard decision to make because as you have stated there are also the awesome bloggers...those are the ones who make blogging worth it all.
I wouldn't delete your accounts, just in case you want them later...but a break never hurts. Cheers to a fantastic 2018 @kafkanarchy84 !!!
Nice content! I think the first steep in knowing who you want to be is to determine what you must do to became useful in the society, thereafter, you embark on it like steemit. I follow and upvote you.
Steemit is indeed the future.
I'd say ride them out a little longer, but start promoting steemit to your followers as where you are transitioning to. It would be awesome if you could keep the audience you've built up and help steemit grow. But ya I agree, those sites are annoying, since I joined steemit I've barely looked at them even though that's where the people I know in my daily life are usually active.