Don't @ me: A social media soliloquy.
I've been thinking a lot about how and why we use different social platforms, why we're drawn to some more than others, and what we get out of each of them. For me, Twitter is king. I feel like it's the best of all the other platforms combined: I get basketball nerd shit, see an artist's new work, get the news literally as its happening, laugh at a @leyawn tweet, and so on. It covers everything efficiently. It's still all about the beauty of saying what u need 2 say in vry ltd amt of chrctrs. I love Instagram though, but it's such a one-way street. I don't learn on Instagram like I do on Twitter, or have a conversation. It's very 'show and tell', which is cool. But I don't find the experience as enriching as I find Twitter. What I do love though, actually maybe more than Twitter in some ways, is Instagram stories. A lot of artists, myself included, tend to treat Instagram like a 'best of' - posting the final, polished product. Stories is such a perfect companion for that. A chance to let your guard down, show behind-the-scenes, making-of, etc. I enjoy the 'visual stream of consciousness' vibe. You can overdo it, like, when you see 9,000 little dashes up top and think yeah I'm not looking at all of this...ha. But you are in control of your own feed after all, so to an extent, as with any platform, it is what you make of it. Facebook is the weird one to me. It's starting to feel its age. Crazy that something only 11 years old is 'old' but by internet standards, thats ancient. Facebook won't go away and amazingly doesn't feel like it's going away any time soon. I suppose that's what happens when you've amassed 1.2 billion+(!) users though. Snapchat's certainly the one right now that feels on the fringes. IG Stories put such a dent into their userbase. I rarely check it anymore. They've done little to make finding people easier and that's ultimately what faded it for me. Anyway, what I think about most is: 'what's next'? FB/IG/Twitter all have staying power and loyal users. Starting a new social platform right now sounds like the most intimidating task. What voids are left to fill? Don't need any new little social icons on restaurant menus or the sides of brand's shipping boxes, ha. Feel like we're all set for a little while, but of course there is always a "next". Don't @ me.