Big party at Craft and Draft Irmo to celebrate their 5th anniversary. That’s right, the opened in January 2020 right before COVID shut the world down. So glad our favorite local bar is still thriving.
Parasocial
In one of my early grad school classes, we had a conversation and some readings on parasocial relationships… mostly one-sided relationships you “build” with people that you watch on tv, listen to on the radio, or subscribe to their podcasts. We think we know these people. Maybe at some point we met them, but our real “relationship” is surface level. We might know their favorite athlete or actor, but have no idea what their spouse’s name is. We may know all about them, but they don’t actually know we exist.
(My grandmother had a very strong parasocial connection to the Augusta, Georgia NBC affiliate morning show hosts. She would tell me all about them when I visited, as though she knew them.)
Social media is a little different than local television celebrities. You can have interchanges and discussions, but the reality is that these are also incomplete. You can’t get to know...
Six years ago, I wrote a blog post encouraging people to ask “why” they post to Facebook? I reread it last night and at the end, I found this gem:
Now the hard part: Start asking “why” before you post? Understand the impact of your words before you comment. Or like. Or share. In all likelihood, this exercise will cause you will post less. Comment less. Like less. That’s okay. The only person who will get upset that you are using Facebook less is Mark Zuckerberg. (And honestly, he’s too busy trying to collect all your personal data to notice.)
Still true today. And not just for Facebook.
Iconfactory’s Tapestry is nearing release. I love being able to scroll through a unified feed with Micro.Blog, Bluesky, YouTube, RSS feeds and more. I’m so impressed with how it’s come together and steadily improved during the beta process.
For a class research project, I’ve been reading some journal articles about how to build more positive social media platforms. Sadly, I’m not sure it’s possible. I admire the people who are legitimately trying, though.
Had to take a few more pictures of the snow before it melts… the park behind our house is beautiful when blanketed in snow.
A little snow in Columbia, South Carolina is a big deal.
If the Bills win, it will set up a battle between Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and Hailee Steinfeld’s fiancé.
Helping my 7th grader understand linear regressions for his algebra class… I suppose this is normal? I was much older when I learned how to do linear regressions. As in, grad school.
Just ordered a custom Timbuk2 backpack to replace my 12-year-old custom Timbuk2 messenger bag. The messenger bag is still in good shape… pretty impressive for over a decade of daily use.