Social Media Monster

When I was in high school, I had a MySpace page (okay, I still do, but I don't remember the last time I checked it). I frequently got into arguments over the most petty things. Then I started reading blogs and had similar arguments there. Stupid.

I've always been opinionated. This isn't something I've ever tried to hide. But when I go back and see the things I said and the arguments I was a part of, it's no wonder people found me so irritating. I didn't have anything better to do, but wanted to feel involved in something. Feeling involved and being involved are two very different things. Being petty online is in no way being involved. It took awhile for me to learn that.

I wrote for Brightest Young Things, then I started writing for VCU's student publications and then a few other blogs. I was writing before in all the petty comments I made, but I wasn't being constructive and I didn't have a focus. Of course, I was also unhappy and unhappy people tend to be a little nocuous. Finding a focus and realizing that someone could be entertained, or relate to my stupid life changed that.

All of that, the blogs, the "networking" sites, and now Twitter and Foursquare and Flickr, and everything else, all of that is Social Media. It's so weird that three years ago I didn't know the phrase, and now am involved with it all the time (maybe too much).

Most of my friends don't use Social Media beyond Facebook. They might have a blog, but most of them don't. To them Facebook is mostly about staying in touch with people they already know, stalking frenemies, and reconnecting (stalking) people they knew years ago. They are missing the point.

I admit, I do use Facebook mostly for personal relationships. The people I'm "friends" with there are people I know and see and plan on seeing again (or awkwardly running into), and more importantly, would be happy to see again. However, my blog and my Twitter (which I use as a microblog) are available for public consumption.

The things I post in public are meant to be shared. I believe that the internet, but specifically Social Media, allows for us to grow beyond our comfort zones and create larger, more supportive communities. It's not meant for hiding behind a screen to argue petty issues, it's about relating to others, whether through similar complaints, senses of humor, or concerns.

So when I complain about bad drivers, or make fun of people that are (in my opinion) badly dressed, or Sketchers, or Mormons, or hair, or any other thing around me, know that it's a superficial comment. I don't have a disregard for people that drive badly, I'm sure they're fine people, most of my friends are bad (i.e. slow) drivers. When I comment on someone's hair, it's only because I do hair for a living, and in my head I'm thinking of all the things I'd like to do to it. Because at the end of the day, I only notice because for some reason, I care about strangers and feel insignificant surrounded by so much that's bigger than myself.

99: (No) Pants Dance Party

Chris Owens is a local photographer who has a project called "100 Portraits 100 Days." Last week he needed a salon to use for a set for one of his shoots (portrait 98) and through Twitter I was asked if he could use the salon where I work. I got the okay from my boss and we were set.

I was familiar with the project, I know several of the people he has photographed and did hair for one of the shoots. Each portrait captures a specific characteristic or cause of the subject. When he was done with the shoot at my shop I asked him about his last two subjects and how he picked them. He explained that he had approached people to take part in the project, but as it grew others approached him. He didn't have anyone officially set up for the last two, so I asked him if I could be a part of it.


On Twitter I frequently use the hashtags #nopantsparty and #nopantsdanceparty. Chris liked the concept and we shot it in my apartment this past Monday. 


I put on a decent mix, but he asked me for a larger range of motion, so I turned on Florence and the Machine's 'Dog Days' - a song that despite it's slow intro, I always lose my shit to at dance nights (in DC, not Richmond). It's a song that I've had on pretty heavy rotation for a couple of years (see here for embarassing ramblings from dorm life! They were so deep! Please note that I didn't proof read that post at all!).


If you've seen Florence and the Machine live, or the original video for Dog Days, that is pretty much how I dance. There's lots of spinning and flailing involved. I think Chris captured it perfectly.

@amandarants

Awhile ago Lily Allen was posting clues via her Twitter page that led her fans to find a pair of tickets that she had hidden while she was on tour. I created a Twitter account to follow those clues and was really pissed that I had to work (and I think had a test) the day that she was in DC. Then I kind of forgot about it. Then a few months later I posted one tweet, and then today I finally gave in.

I have complained about people linking their Facebook and Twitter and Foursquare and blogs and GoogleBuzz and everything else together, as it means that you get updated multiple times. You check someone's blog and there's their latest tweet, you check their Facebook there's a tweet and link to their blog, etc. I'm moving towards becoming one of those people that really is constantly connected to everything all the time in a variety of efficient ways, that doesn't mean that I don't think that's it's ridiculous. It is, but I acknowledge that I am, too.

I'm @amandarants. I'm keeping it public, so even my parents will be able to read all of the absurdly embarrassing things that I will inevitably end up tweeting. Now, instead of sending drunken text messages to certain people, or to the twenty most "recent recipients," I can twitter and let the whole world know things that I will regret in the morning. YAY!