Social Media Is Dead. Long Live Blogging.

[blue_green_dream]

Where last we left, I was dealing with being laid off and the uncertainty that comes from job loss. I'm still jobless, but I'm surprisingly unbothered by it. Perhaps not unbothered, but surprisingly Zen. I know that this condition can't last indefinitely; money is important, and unemployment won't last forever. But unlike the last time I was laid off from a job I adored, I no longer feel the crushing pressure to find something, anything that will bring in cash. (Not yet, anyway.) My main frustration at the moment is that I can't freelance. I am at a point in my life and career that I'll no longer work for exposure - are publishers still running that scam? - but I can't bring in any sort of income while I'm receiving unemployment. I did that years ago, assuming that the fine folks at the unemployment office would understand that the occasional $50 check for a small newspaper article did not a job make. I learned my lesson on that one, which is why I now spend a good amount of time being frustrated that I can't rebuild my portfolio. 

So, what to do in the meantime? I've been trying to figure that out. aseanchai have joined our local chapter of the Izaak Walton League, so I can at least put my marketing skills to work there. They need help boosting the local chapter, handling their social media accounts and publicizing their events. I'm excited about helping with that, especially since I believe strongly in the mission of the League. I learned recently that younger people are showing less interest (and a disconnect) in nature words, which most likely signals an overall disconnect with the natural world. That's something that worries me in an era of habitat loss, climate change, and mental health crises like anxiety and depression. Getting people out in nature can help with all three of those issues, so I want to do my part. 

In addition to that, I've also rekindled my love for reading thanks to Bookcrossing. I managed to start a new Official Bookcrossing Zone in my area; my plan is to visit it once a month to refresh and restock the available titles. This doesn't lend itself to inclusion on a resume, but I do hope it helps inspire people and give them some respite from The Horrors, for there are many.

In addition to escaping into books, I've also started a daily meditation practice to help with stress. I discovered Natural Stress Relief while researching Transcendental Meditation; I became interested in the latter after watching a David Lynch documentary about the subject on YouTube. I'd heard mixed things about TM - everything from concerns about the cost to allegations of cult-like practices - but I was mainly concerned that the cost and my location would lead to serious barriers to entry. Natural Stress Relief was apparently created/founded by a former TM teacher, and I seem to be having some good results with the practice overall. It's a shame that the website looks as shady as it does, because it is legitimate even though it looks like something from 1998. Don't judge a book by its cover and all that.

***

I'm currently watching a YouTube video about jailbreaking your Kindle. YouTube has started serving up some interesting videos recently, including content about the indie web and "analog toolkits for digital addicts." (I haven't watched the latter one yet.) I'll admit that I'm tempted to try my hand at building a website, since it would be yet another thing to add to my resume. Coding intimidates the hell out of me, I must admit, but so did crochet when I first started.

***

One thing I wish I could do at the moment is either join or create a community here on Dreamwidth where people could share information on resiliency as we face whatever it is that comes next. I tried putting together a Discord community for such a purpose, but it went effectively silent after a while. I eventually shut it down to avoid bots or hackers getting to it, but I can't help but feel that there is and will be a need for such a thing. If any of you know of such a group, please tell me. And if you think it would be useful to get one started, let me know.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I learned my lesson on that one, which is why I now spend a good amount of time being frustrated that I can't rebuild my portfolio. <<

You could make things without selling them. You could work on building an audience by talking about your work and maybe posting teasers. Then once you get a job, you'd have a headstart on reactivating that part of your income.

I ran the Poetry Fishbowl free for a couple months before I started offering sponsorship options.

>>I learned recently that younger people are showing less interest (and a disconnect) in nature words, which most likely signals an overall disconnect with the natural world. That's something that worries me in an era of habitat loss, climate change, and mental health crises like anxiety and depression. Getting people out in nature can help with all three of those issues, so I want to do my part. <<

Various reasons include:

* Most people now live in urban rather than rural homes. They may rarely interact with nature.

* Over the last several decades, young people have lost their freedom. This also minimizes their exposure to and interest in nature.

* Along the same timespan, nature went from being a freely interactive space to being something that was presented as fragile, only to be looked at. I went on creekhikes; kids today typically sit in "programs" where adults talk at them about nature. This makes it boring for many children, and people who grow up that way are less likely to care about nature.

* The planet is on fire. People in power are wrecking the environment. For nature lovers, this hurts to look at or talk about. Even for people who aren't nature lovers, it paints a very alarming picture of the future. So many people deal with that by withdrawing. Even if they can't fix it, they can at least try to concentrate on something less nerve-wracking.

I don't think this is a good trend, but it is a very predictable one based on choices people have made in the past.

>> This doesn't lend itself to inclusion on a resume <<

Sure it does. It could be called literacy promotion or neighborhood revitalization or various other things depending on what job a person wanted. Just about anything can be patted into a resume listing if you think it relates to the job.

https://www.universalclass.com/articles/business/enhancing-your-resume-with-activities-and-interests.htm

https://www.resumetemplates.com/career-advice/how-to-list-skills-on-a-resume/

>> I'd heard mixed things about TM - everything from concerns about the cost to allegations of cult-like practices <<

*laugh* OMG people will try to monetize anything!

No, you don't need an expensive class. Transcendental meditation is just connecting with the universe. You can read about it; there are free articles online and books in most libraries. Or you can just do it on your own. Definitely avoid any teacher who seems creepy though.

>> I'll admit that I'm tempted to try my hand at building a website, since it would be yet another thing to add to my resume. Coding intimidates the hell out of me, <<

Go for it! I recommend the FujoGuide.

>> One thing I wish I could do at the moment is either join or create a community here on Dreamwidth where people could share information on resiliency as we face whatever it is that comes next.<<

I have not seen one on that topic, but it sounds super useful and I would be happy to promote one.

>> I tried putting together a Discord community for such a purpose, but it went effectively silent after a while. I eventually shut it down to avoid bots or hackers getting to it<<

DW has robust privacy and moderation tools. If you see a spam comment, when you go to delete it the form will ask you if this is spam.

>> but I can't help but feel that there is and will be a need for such a thing. <<

Agreed.

>> If any of you know of such a group, please tell me. And if you think it would be useful to get one started, let me know.<<

By all means start it. Running a community here is not very hard, but you do need to make regular posts to keep it active. Monthly is a good minimum -- I use a monthly new post in mine -- weekly is better. Here are tips on starting a community.

Re: Thoughts

[blue_green_dream]

Thank you so much for all of this info! It's all great, especially the FujoGuide. I've always found coding guides to be dense and dry, which makes it very difficult to engage. This guide definitely looks to be different - I can't wait until it's available for purchase! I'm also very grateful for the information on adding skills to your resume. I've never been able to figure out how to add applicable hobbies and volunteer activities to mine, so this is a big, big help.

I'll take a look at the tips on starting DW communities tonight, and will hopefully get one set up in the next week or so, if not sooner. Then I'll just have to worry about how to attract members. :-D

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Thank you so much for all of this info! <<

*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service.

>> It's all great, especially the FujoGuide. I've always found coding guides to be dense and dry, which makes it very difficult to engage. This guide definitely looks to be different - I can't wait until it's available for purchase! <<

I backed it on Kickstarter so I got some of the advance materials. Hawt boys are hawt! :D I don't even code, I just wanted the resource to exist for people who do. With so many platforms turning awful, we need independent websites more than ever.

>> I'm also very grateful for the information on adding skills to your resume. I've never been able to figure out how to add applicable hobbies and volunteer activities to mine, so this is a big, big help.<<

Yay! Really it's about two key things: 1) sorting through your activities for things that match a given job, and 2) describing those activities in job-style phrases that highlight the connections. There are many articles about this online, as well as more on different ways to write a resume or frame your accomplishments in one, so search for more if you need help. It's easy to find lists of skills, phrases, etc. I wouldn't recommend the AI-generated resume tools though.

A little stealth move: search the employer's website and social media presence. Do they hype up a fitness program, volunteer program, park cleanup, community events, or the like? Many do. You absolutely want to cite anything on their list that you also do, but you can additionally list things you do that are in the same category. This gives the impression that you fit their "company image."

Check your local events for sponsors. Does your locale have holiday light displays? Several towns in our area do so, and they have signs for local business sponsors. Then if you're involved with those events and the company is too, list them.

>> I'll take a look at the tips on starting DW communities tonight, and will hopefully get one set up in the next week or so, if not sooner. <<

Yay! :D Ping me when you do and I'll help as I can. I've got several communities of my own and I also promote various others, so I have plenty of experiences with this stuff.

>> Then I'll just have to worry about how to attract members. :-D <<

Okay, first create the community and pick a style for it -- probably something cheerful, not overly bright or dark, and easy to read.

Next, fill out the profile. Do not skimp on this step, as it's how people will find and learn about your community. Use lots of Interests. Be aware that the DW search engine is DUMB so "fan fiction," "fanfiction," "fan fic," "fan fics," and "fanfic" etc. are all different and will not hit each other in searches. >_< So you need to be redundant in thinking of how people might search for such a community. Nor will "crafts" get you all the crafting communities, just the ones with that in their Interests, so put your community name and main topics in there.

It also helps to include the parameters for how you want people to interact. Remind them to be kind, encourage them to post or comment, etc. Try not to load up too many rules because it can scare off some readers, but do include the basics.

Then frontload some posts. My newcomers is about a year old and I made goals_on_dw a little later. If you look at the first month of each, you'll be able to see how I made things like:

* Introduction / Friending Meme

* Things You Can Talk About Here

* How to (do various things)

Once you have some anchor posts up, create the link list that will appear in the sidebar for things people will most want to find. If you wind up with tons of similar things that are important, which happened on goals_on_dw, then create masterlist posts and put the masterlists in the link list.

Think about your posting schedule. Every new post bumps your community to the top of the search results for each Interest. One post a month will make most people consider it active, but weekly is better in terms of staying on the first page of search results. Recurring Posts can help maintain activity -- at least a monthly news post, but some comms have different weekly topics or whatever.

You do not have to make all the posts yourself. Ideally, find a few friends who share your interests and invite them to post a few things. It is much easier to create and maintain a community with several active folks who share your interests.

Regarding resilience in particular, some years ago a linguist friend of mine remarked about fraying social ties and how much has moved online. So I created Good News and Hard Things i my Recurring Posts to help online friends be part of each other's lives. The third in my Wednesday rotation is Cuddle Party, which came later. Feel free to riff on those ideas if you wish; several people have already done that.


Once you have some stuff up for people to see, then work on promoting your new community.

* Boost it in dw_community_promo. New comms can post more often than older ones, so take advantage of both.

* Boost it in followfriday. I post thematic lists of communities there. But folks whose communities have phases (like moodthemeinayear ) often post their current activities, so that's a thought if you go that route. People often post when they create or find a new community too.

* If you see a big active community, and you can think of a way to connect it with yours, that's another avenue of promotion to reach a different audience. Frex, fandomcalendar is among the most active; you might do "Recommend Fanworks About Resilience." allbingo has a new fest each month; you could volunteer to do a resilience theme. And so on.

* Some communities like get_knitted and awesomeers have frequent check-in posts where you can claim what you did recently. goals_on_dw has a monthly one, and so do some other comms. Creating a community or making anchor posts are things you can claim as accomplishments, and that shows more people what you're doing.

* Ask your friends for help promoting your community to their readers. I'll be happy to boost it on my blog.

* Watch for events to appear in your friends page. Do the events that appeal to you. Talk about your community and invite folks to check it out. Some events lend themselves to activities in your comm; do those too. Any time there is a friending meme, you can list what communities you run as part of telling folks what you do on DW. Next big event will be snowflake_challenge in January.

* As an ongoing activity, watch for posts and comments anywhere that deal with your community's topic and reply pointing folks there. It's especially helpful if you can link a specific post relevant to what they said. Aside from promoting my own comms, there are certain ones and individual resource posts that I recommend quite frequently.

* Watch the Add Me communities for people seeking new contacts. Reply to the ones who sound interesting, and here again you can list the communities you run as part of telling people about yourself.

* Use the Latest Things page to skim for new users. Often they'll say "Hello" or "First Post" but not always. I reply with a couple paragraphs of Dreamwidth resources to help people find things here, and if they mentioned what they want to blog about or what they like, I try to find communities for those too. So that's another opportunity to boost your comm when it's relevant, but new folks will often subscribe to your blog because you were helpful, and if you talk about your comm in your blog then more folks will see it.

I hope this helps.

Re: Thoughts

[blue_green_dream]

All of this is great! I'll definitely reach out to you with questions about how to do things like recurring and scheduled posts. I'm also grateful for the advice on choosing a journal layout. Dreamwidth has a ton of great journal templates, but some are more accessible than others.

I hope to start sketching out some of the community details over the next few days and get started on building the community proper as well. I love how vriddy chronicled the development of her community; I may do the same so I can get feedback and advice as I go. It takes a village to create an online community! :-D

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> All of this is great! <<

Yay! I'm happy I could help.

>> I'll definitely reach out to you with questions about how to do things like recurring and scheduled posts. <<

I'll do what I can. I don't use scheduled posts here. I just write on my calendar what the recurring posts are, and most of those are copy-paste or maybe have a few details to change. I can show you examples from my personal blog and various communities.

>> I'm also grateful for the advice on choosing a journal layout. Dreamwidth has a ton of great journal templates, but some are more accessible than others.<<

For reference:

My personal blog:
Base style: Transmogrified by Yvonne
Theme: New Ocean by dancing_serpent

birdfeeding:
Base style: Transmogrified by Yvonne
Theme: Earth and Sky by zvi

I like styles that have high contrast so the text is easy to read, a wide text area so you don't wind up with a tall skinny column for every post, moderate colors, and frames around elements that make them easier to find. Note that some do appalling things like put a textured background behind text, or make the background scroll behind text, which make it extremely hard to read.


>> I hope to start sketching out some of the community details over the next few days and get started on building the community proper as well. <<

Yay! I'm very excited by this project and look forward to seeing how it turns out.

>> I love how chronicled the development of her community; I may do the same so I can get feedback and advice as I go.<<

That is an excellent plan.

>> It takes a village to create an online community! :-D

Ideally, yes. It is much easier to launch a community with a handful of folks who will help you maintain activity in it. However, it can be done alone if one is vigorous enough -- or in my case, if I'm already posting on a given topic and crossposting to a community would be little extra effort. I'm the most frequent poster on birdfeeding but there are a few other folks who chime in sometimes.

[thewayne]

Izaak Walton League sounds like a really good way to spend your time right now. I'd never heard of it.

I need to look into breaking into one of my old iPads. I'd given it to my dad during his final days and no longer have access to the iTunes account, and don't remember the passcode I set on the stupid thing!

[blue_green_dream]

I was really delighted to find out about the League. I heard about it a few years ago, but it's only in the past few months that my husband and I made the leap and joined. I appreciate that it's not just an outdoor sports club - they actively encourage citizen science and use the collected data to lobby for environmental policy. We wouldn't have a Clean Water Act without the Izaak Walton League!

I do want to try jailbreaking my Kindle, but I worry because mine is one of the full color, tablet style ones. (Granted, it's also several years old.) The video I linked to focuses on the older style Paperwhite Kindles, though I'm not sure it makes a difference. It's something I'll explore more in-depth once I'm working again - that way if I accidentally break it, I can get a new one...or just start saving for an iPad. :-D

Hmm ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> If any of you know of such a group, please tell me. <<

While there is nothing exactly like it, there are other communities that cross some of the same territory.

birdfeeding -- birdfeeding, birdwatching, gardening for wildlife, nature activities; birds make people happy.

books and book_love -- book reviews, share titles on uplifting or activist topics among other things.

common_nature -- appreciate beauty, share photos, visit sanctuaries, get inspiration for your own.

crafty, everykindofcraft, get_knitted -- crafts bring joy, improve self-sufficiency, and offer a concrete way to fight back against capitalism and AI

creative_cooks and recipecommunity -- take care of yourself with delicious, healthy food

gardening -- share news, inspiration, and images.

ladybusiness -- one of several feminist communities.

veg_life -- eat less meat, especially less beef, and that frees up resources for other things.

Re: Hmm ...

[blue_green_dream]

I went through last night and joined all of these, since a lot of them vibe with my interests. I appreciate it!

Re: Hmm ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Wow! I'm so happy I could help. :D