gabbi-gill

[gabbi-gill]

Growing up in America, its no secret that the standard of beauty was a Barbie, which is why I wasnt allowed to have any Barbies growing up. Not because she was blonde and blue eyed, because she was tall and skinny and my mom knew that no matter how hard I tried, I would never attain that look and she didn’t want it to damage me. Unfortunately that standard was nearly impossible to avoid, and so as I got older I began to dislike my shape. While I’m really more a mid-size girl, a curvy size 4-6, I always felt like I was plus size, because all the girls in media who looked even remotely like me were the curvy sassy side character or the sweet but unpopular plus sized best friend. I’ve struggled with my body and my look for a while, but I think my worst experience since college was when I was at the gym with my roommate and we ran into her sorority sisters, they were complaining about how hard was for them to get and keep curves and wanted to fill out their leggings more. They were all built like teen magazine models, and I was secretly envious. One of them turned to me while I was standing there awkwardly as they complained about their size and said to me “wow Gabbi, you are like sooooo lucky! Like, I can eat anything I want and not gain a POUND! But you clearly don’t have that problem, like, when you eat…it sticks! And like I wish I could be like that and actually hold a shape but oh well, gosh you’re like really lucky though!” And the other sisters giggled behind her. I was so embarrassed I felt terrible. I wanted nothing more than to leave the gym and get out of my form fitted clothes. I smiled awkwardly again and said “well…I'm at the gym to get unlucky…but thanks.”I received a half smile and some side eye glances. My roommate noticed the tension and asked them not to talk about size with me as she know I struggled with my weight and image and one of the girls loudly said “well she doesn’t look anorexic!” Yeah. My roommate packed us up and we left, she apologized for their behavior, and we went to get Starbucks refreshers. I know I’m never going to be built like a barbie, and in part that’s just because I’m built like a curvy Black girl, its my genetics. But they way they talked about me, without even calling me names, it hurt. For sure. It felt like they were blaming me for my size, like it was entirely due to the fact that I must only eat straight junk to look this way. There’s this idea in media that if you’re overweight, or even mid-side, you’re unhealthy and need to be shamed to a “normal” size. The problem with this language though is that in making others feel bad about themselves, not only does it hurt people emotionally, but it gives them no motivation to work towards a more healthy weight if they are overweight, or underweight. Which also, not being the size of the mannequin does not make you unhealthy. Different body types exist.  You’re "disgusting" if you are on the curvier side, but forced to eat if you’re thinner. It goes both ways. But if you don’t care about yourself, or love yourself, because society tells you not to, then whats your motivation to be better? To be healthier? I had wanted to go to the gym with my roommate, we had actually built up a pretty good schedule and went regularly. But after my negative interaction, I was too self conscious to go back and stopped going for the rest of the semester, and then I didn’t really ever want to start again. It's a bad way the media makes it seem like theres one size to be desired, and anything else is wrong. I think we need to shift not the language but the intention in talking to people about their size. First off, of you don’t have anything constructive to say and are just commenting to comment, don’t. Second, if you’re going to comment with someone’s best interest and health in mind, do so in a way that is friendly and meaningful. Shaming people or scaring them is useless. And finally, know your audience. You know know people’s past or what they struggle with. Unless you know what’s okay to talk about or joke about with someone, don’t say anything about it, and if you’re unsure, ask in private in a comfortable setting and make sure both parties are okay with the conversation. 

[gabbi-gill]

The saying about not talking about money, politics, or religion at the dinner table is really just code word for “please don’t upset the guests while we eat” which I always thought was a kind of silly saying. Because if you’re not having conversation with open minded people, then why did you invite them to dine with you? I know with family and all its a bit less optional, you don’t get to choose who is going to come to thanksgiving and make whatever comment that makes you wish you could just go back to your room and play Nintendo Switch for the rest of the evening, alone. But it’s a rater stifling saying, don’t cause discomfort. Because as my mom always says, “people don’t change until they’re uncomfortable” So if you want to make a change in someones actions or viewpoints, you first sort of need to make them uncomfortable. Now for me, religion was always something on the table in our house, despite my household not being religious at all really, and I was really raised without a religion. However, the elementary and middle school I went to was huge on diversity and inclusion, and thus we made a point as a class of acknowledging and celebrating all holidays as we learned about each religion. The only exception was Christianity and Catholicism, which we never really looked at unless we were talking about how it was celebrated in another country and then we only really studied the traditions and songs in that country. I probably didn’t learn Christmas songs in English until around 4th grade? It was all Spanish and French prior to that, or Swahili and Hebrew. So growing up I was surrounded by media that was designed to highlight a variety of religious practices, it really surprised me as I aged to find out that wasn’t the norm in the media. It was really disappointing to see, and what was more upsetting was that the less things were discussed, it wasn’t just lack of knowledge around the “norm” but outright ignorance and a refusal to accept theres more than just one “right” way. Example: Starbucks tries to keep their cups generically winter, so no one holiday is showcased, but people throw a fit every year if the cup aren’t aggressively Christmas themed. (Also Starbucks has a cool color change cup out for the holidays, go ask for it at your local store) Like, there’s more to the world that Christianity, and people seem forget that - and then impart negative qualities on those who don’t subscribe. At the same time, I feel like there’s this divide, also due to misinformation that religion as a whole is bad, its like you’re super religious and conservative or you’re not religious at all. It's a scale, not a switch, which media hasn’t done any favors to highlight in the past. Theres a lot of trope-y religious characters, rather than just characters who are religious but its unrelated to the story. However I feel like the same goes for a lot of things: race, sexuality, income - like, its very rare to see a character portrayed as queer and their entire identity isn’t tied to their sexuality. I feel like as we try to make shifts to talk more about sexuality, mental health, normalize these topics at the dinner table, we need to bring religion in with it. A little discomfort never killed anyone, it’s time for a change. 

[gabbi-gill]

I have had a few (minor) arguments with my sister over this topic actually. I tend to call myself a millennial, although I was born in 98’ so I’m technically Gen Z. Problem is, I feel so incredibly behind/out of the loop on literally any Gen Z trends. I regularly am asking my sister (16) “who is that? Oh ok, and why are they popular? Hmm that’s dumb… wait who’s that?” She’s probably incredibly sick of me. But then I feel silly calling myself a Millennial because as much as I remember MOST of the things that come with being a 90s baby, I don’t know a lot, as my childhood was more early 2000s. I naturally have a slight baby face so people often assume I’m in high school and try really hard to “relate” to me before I correct my age. What’s upsetting about it is the assumption I need to be talked to in a certain way for someone to keep my attention. It’s that all of my problems are attributed to being on a phone or having an Instagram - when in reality most the the time I spend on my phone I’m teaching myself how to cook though tutorials or articles. To be perfectly honest, I have my fair share of looking down on those younger than me - I joke anyone under 18 is practically 12 and anyone 12 is simply an infant. I do feel there’s some sort of disconnect though that happened developmentally with giving kids only technology from such a young age. I know kids who genuinely don’t know how to play with crayons. That’s weird to me. Like yeah I definitely grew up messaging on Pictochat on my DS under the sheets at 11 pm spending hours a day on Webkinz with my friends on weekends. I even had a cellphone from a young age (3rd grade) but crayons? I feel like that’s pretty basic. The best solution I guess is to keep sharing and educating those around us. Educate up to help those older than us keep in the loop, and down to teach younger kids what a world pre-iPad was like. I also think there’s something to be gained from the TV we watched as a kid. Our generation - I’m gonna call us Zillenials: we had shows that ultimately had a lesson in there somewhere about how to be a better person and friend. Currently the stuff on for kids seems to be just… sound. There’s really little plot, and it makes me feel like those writing don’t understand the audience is as capable of understanding as they are. The writers are downplaying topics they could run with as they are pretty much talking down to the viewers. That makes me sad. I’d like to hope there will be a return to that old model of TV shows that were educational. Both in academic and social ways. 

[gabbi-gill]

As an interior design major, I can say we run into this problem a lot. We create spaces that render people at a disadvantage. Adding wheelchair accessible spaces only in certain areas, placing unnecessary staircases strictly for there sake of aesthetics, adding accents that jut out from the wall and can harm someone who is visually impaired. We add features to museums that rely entirely on sound or leave plaques in tiny font next to exhibits without braille available. Most seating is designed with the expectation that the user will not feel the need to move or readjust in their spot. School desks are fitted assuming right-handedness, and airline seats are designed with the expectation that the flyer is a certain size. The world decided what a neurotypical body looked like and then built around that, and pretty much said, everyone else learn to adapt. And we see people existing in this world, attempting to adapt, sometimes struggling, and instead of offering a fix, to make usable all spaces, society seems to offer some sort of pity. Media often displays those with disability as heroic or extraordinary, as though they were incapable of achievement from the beginning. Which is even more frustrating when you think of invisible disability. Like I myself have ADHD, dyslexia, a working memory problem (it takes me longer to recall long passed events than most) and anxiety, as well as few other physical health issues. But on first glance, nothing LOOKS “wrong” with me. In fact my only visible disability is being Black in America… 👀 but that’s a whole separate conversion… Most people wouldn’t know how much I struggle with work or school, or how much effort it takes me just to write a simple post like this one — And for some reason, I feel like it needs to be a secret, like people will think less of me if they know. When I was in high school my ADHD was more widely known because of my necessary accommodations  offered for testing. People called me stupid and mocked me for taking so long to complete assignments, not knowing how much effort I was putting in to get the work done. So instead I just stopped telling people, I was written off as a perfectionist and left alone. What hurt me is if I was assumed to be neutotyoical, people assumed I was intelligent, rather than accept that I could still be just as smart, and just have difficulty with concentration. ADHD has no effect on cognitive level. It’s the assumptions that come from media that change people’s minds about the narrative they project onto others. Often media depicts ADHD as being a male only problem based in hyper activity and frustrated outbursts with low grades in school, and while that’s true for some, it’s certainly not the case for all. But since most people have nothing else to go off of, they just take that to be the truth. I hope we can move towards a time in which media showcases disability as more than the one most basic text book definition so people can be better educated. 

[gabbi-gill]

When we talk about representation matters the main point people tend to focus on is the fact that representation is important because it makes people feel seen and helps reduce the feeling of aloneness. But what I feel is never talked about is how representation matters. Theres a difference between showing an all Black cast in a way that portrays all of the characters as having similar personalities and interests that are based on stereotypes and tropes, vs having an all Black cast that showcases a diverse range of personalities, talents, interests and abilities.

UNPOPULAR OPINION:

The truth is representation if not done right, can be just as limiting as having none at all. It pushes fans narratives and enforces stereotypes, which only make it harder for the media industry to try to break later. I’ll go back to this example from a few weeks ago, because I relate to it closely - I never saw a lot of characters that looked like me growing up, which is unfortunate, but when I did, they still felt so far removed from how I saw myself, I didn’t relate to them any more than I related to the popular blonde. I appreciate a soft pastel, princessey pop aesthetic, but somewhere along the lines of media history, it was decided that role was not for women who looked like me. The same goes for fantasy, there are rarely women of dark skin tones portrayed as soft fairies or elves. And while there’s nothing at all wrong with being outspoken and physically strong, the assumption is that the Black character is sassy and fiery and ready for a fight/battle. And that isolates people like me, who don’t fit that narrative, because now we’re seen as “outliers” of the norm, a norm that was set by the media. Which is why I believe that unless we have proper and equal representation, it’s not doing much, I’d almost people assume nothing at all about me than falsehoods.

[gabbi-gill]

I’m and art major myself, so we actually spent a whole unit last year studying women and people of color in art who are often ignored from the list of greats and classics. Why? Simply because the opportunity didn’t exist, back when classical art was being produced, women were barred from creating or showcasing and almost they made or wrote had be under the name or guise of a man. The system was set up (by men) to benefit and showcase, more men. Specifically white men. Bonus points if they’re wealthy… Speaking of men, let's talk masculinity. What happened there? The rules for what’s “masculine” are so rigid. Which is funny considering historically most of the things that are now considered very feminine were reserved only for me, men at the time, specifically men of status. High heels were for men, ruffled collar shirts, makeup, wigs, the color pink - all things that now get categorized as feminine. Heck even crop tops were originally considered gender neutral when they were popularized in the 70s, but now its considered a girls item and its considered weird to see a man put on eyeshadow or a crop top (even though its arguably a very good look just sayin’) I honestly wouldn’t mind if canal polish wasn't the standard, the problem comes with the need to poke fun at those who do, and its not just dress - its like a whole mentality that there are activities that are feminine: self care, dressing up for fun, playing with makeup, talking about feelings. Clearly this is unhealthy for a number of reasons, and as much as we need to get over the idea that all women are overly emotional and only think with their heart and are dramatic, we need to stop assuming men have no feelings, and are content to bottle everything up, it causes unhealthy release of emotion later. I’m gonna shamelessly be a kpop stan for a sec here and talk about my favorite group Exo, whose last album concept was like good vs ever hero vs demon theme. The boys are wearing dramatic makeup and crop tops in the video and teasers. The group has some members away right now on military service, and on stage at their concert, they cried, and said they missed them. They hugged each other and laughed and held hands - I thought it was sweet they cared about this created family they had so much - but if I had a dollar for every time someone told me “they look gay” while watching over my shoulder I would have had enough to buy my own concert ticket - ugh. The idea that “feminine” dress or expressing your emotions is something men can’t do is what’s crating this toxic divide. And I wish that culture they have in Korea where it’s okay to dress that way, or cuddle on stage was brought here. Its part of the reason I like kpop so much, beyond the vocals and visuals I like the values.  

[gabbi-gill]

Let’s be honest, no one ~deserves~ to be poor just as much as most ultra rich millionaires often times don’t ~deserve~ and of the money they made. “Self made” in this case often just means takin from or undercutting others to your own advantage. sorry,  I said it. So let’s talk about poverty and some assumptions about it, and how media is doing pretty much nothing to help. Well, for starters let’s talk about the assumption that poverty is a choice and it’s linked to laziness or lack of motivation. When in reality, that’s not the case. There’s this idea floating around that if we supply everyone with the essentials or enough money for the essentials, then they will stop working, and the economy will crash. (I’ve seen this idea circulated a lot on social media or the news recently) Here’s the thing, most people aren’t happy with just the essentials. It’s the reason we don’t all just settle for camping constantly. Like, yeah we could graduate and buy a little fire starter kit, and a nice tent, sleeping bag, and water filter. We’d save so much money not having a mortgage or loans, wow! Umm… no one wants to have ONLY the essentials. We aspire to live in luxury, the millionaires do too, that’s why they hoard millions. Unfortunately, society has this idea that if you’re rich it’s because you worked hard and if you’re poor it’s because you didn’t, and never takes into account the fact the system was set up with cracks and holes designed to make people slip though and stay at the bottom. The fix for this? Provide or make it so everyone in society can provide for their essentials. And watch what happens. I guarantee the market won’t fall apart okay? Ok, let’s talk about media now. Movies, magazines, fashion - everyone seems to be chasing not just designer, but simply clothes that make you look expensive. If you look expensive or wealthy people impart all these randomly good qualities on you by default. Not sure if you guys are familiar with the site Wornontv.net but they will show you where to purchase items characters in select shows are wearing. (you’re welcome.) A lot of these outfits are entirely designer, even if it doesn’t fit the profile of the character or match what the character should be able to afford. Let’s be honest, the show about college students should not have kids wearing $300 crop tops… And while I suppose this could be chalked up to lazy costume design, I feel it has something to do with keeping the look unattainable for the viewers so a celebrity is never in a matching outfit. 

[gabbi-gill]

Normalizing whiteness is simply assuming that white/European ideals, looks, and cultures are the default and anything else to exist is deviant. 

Anyone ever get teased for the snack they brought to school not being traditionally American as a child? Yeah, that.

The most common example I can thing of is one of the most annoying questions I get all too often: “so like, where are you FROM from?” Or “where are you REALLY from?” The game of asking and answering goes on until I provide an “exotic” enough or interesting enough answer to satisfy the asker. I’m from Indiana, not very interesting to be honest, and Indiana isn’t exactly a state known for its diverse population. So when I honestly answer “Indiana,” I’m often met with “no, where are you really from?” 

“Indiana.” 

“Where are your parents from?”

“Michigan and New Jersey” 

“Ok where are you GRANDparents from?” 

*sigh*

At this point I’m usually fed up and will just end the conversation by either making it uncomfortable, or if I’m feeling fun, I’ll cut straight to the chase after the honest answer is rejected and look them straight in the eye and say “well I’m at least 47% Norwegian, and my dad is German, so” and shrug. No one is bold enough to fight me on that. (They should have just accepted Indiana the first time.)

Just a few weeks ago as I was leaving 7/11 with my roommates I was stopped by the cashier who asked if I was from out of town, being out of state I said yes. He said “Mmm yeah, I could tell, you got that exotic look about you, one of them different complexions” I just left. 

Ok now the pop culture part, I promise I had a point. Mean Girls! We know the movie, we love the quotes. But let’s talk about that scene when Cady is introduced to the class. For those of you not familiar, or who need a refresher: They announce there’s a new student joining the class from Africa. Cady, the new student from Africa is fair skinned, red hair, freckled - but all eyes go to the only black girl in the classroom to which she replies “I’m from Michigan” It’s meant to be a funny moment, but honestly? Only one black student in the whole class? And it’s assumed that because she’s dark she MUST be from Africa. I should point out that this student is depicted with natural twisted hair and a shell necklace, very dark skinned. It plays into this idea that the assumption is the students are white, and anyone different from that must be the outlier, the newbie, the odd one out. And yes although its the first day back to classes for the semester, what’s worse is no one seemed to remember this poor girl, who clearly had been a student here longer than Cady, and was completely forgotten. 

[gabbi-gill]

I can tell a personal story for this one, one voice is not THE voice of a race, a culture, or a collective. However unfortunately when left in a group, the one minority quality in a person will make them the token spokesperson for their marginalized group. Example. When I speak, no one assumes I’m speaking on behalf of all women, unless I’m the only female in the room. However, when I’m the only black person in the room, I’m suddenly the only opinion that matters when the discussion is focused on race and equality. This happened to me in my history class in my small predominantly white private school. I was asked my the teacher, (very nicely, he wasn’t trying to be offensive) if I wanted to sit the slavery unit out. I declined and took the class as normal, as I myself have no personal trauma with slavery, so the class was to be the same for me as anyone else. However the problem arose when I was the only black student in my section, and students repeatedly bounced their questions to me, as if looking for approval. And I realized the teacher offered me an out not because he thought the unit would upset me but because the pressure of speaking on behalf of all Black people was too heavy for a 9 am US history class. It’s unfortunate that a voice carries more weight than it should because my thoughts and ideas are condensed down to represent a whole and not a self anymore. It’s leaving the ability to let the thoughts of one individual, in this case myself, affect the way the class perceived and created stereotypes about an entire group. If you based your entire knowledge of Black girls based on my Tumblr alone (don’t be shy, go to my full page, I made it cute) You would assume Black girls are very soft and into a pastel pixel aesthetic with an affinity for pink and kawaii pop culture. This is not how the media depicts us* PVMC when I was younger was very limiting, there were clearly set boxes for everyone based on physical identity and the media decided them. I was meant to have an extroverted and sassy personality. My East Asian friend was meant to be reserved and studious, but my white friends, they were meant to be rich, popular, protagonists. It made me feel like most POC were simply side characters in a white dominated world, but as I grew to understand the origins of certain trends and popular movements I realized just how much of the “White Culture” I had grown up with was appropriated, and essentially stolen and whitewashed to be “original” *friendly reminder that you can wear and do what you want, you’re not bound to your race, just be respectful 

[gabbi-gill]

I understood it that an Intersectional approach to looking at PVMC would taking each part of the media and it’s source into account - who produced it, when, what’s their background (race/class/gender) and what bias comes with that? And then what’s the intended audience. A hair product commercial marketed to women is going to be different than one marketed to men, at the same time a hair product marketed to women of color is going to be different than a hair product marketed to Caucasian women. And the commercials make sense to be different, however the commercials should all market in the same way generally, which is why we don’t see commercials specifically for people with blonde straight hair or thick short 4c hair - it’s not open enough to allow overlap? Because the market isn’t a single identity, it’s a group, and now, I feel like we’ve even started to see a shift in hair products for men or women to just “curly or straight” and its just, a bottle and a hair texture and that’s it. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense. I feel like this comparison made more sense in my head, haha sorry.

Our own bias, preference, and history will change the way we consume media, I’m blanking on a good example…

As I understand it, a lived experience is a response to both someone's experiences, and how they live through and respond to them. We’re meant to look at every aspect of a person's life and identity - Including parts that are not directly connected to the topic at hand. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. What I found diffract about this part is I can think of multiple examples of lived experiences turned into pop culture, but not failures of it. I can see Beyoncé creating Lemonade about her life as a Black female. I can see the way movies and music have changed to fit the narrative of one writer telling their story in a popular package. But in terms of failures - I default to finding media where there’s a lack of political correctness? I guess?

I think the best type of media to express the lived experience is music. Like I mentioned with Beyoncé  and Lemonade before (I just took a class on Beyoncé last semester I’m going to reference her a lot, expect that) Beyoncé explores all aspects of life, in America, as a Black person, as a woman, as a mother, and an artist, and she rolls then all into this album and lets it speak for itself. And even today scholars still take it and examine it and take it apart line by line, because the experiences she talks about are so personal but so general it’s worth studying.

[gabbi-gill]

I would define PVMC as whatever is trending and to an extent, why - is it something we can buy? Is it popular for the sake of a nation wide inside joke? Is it just outrageous to look at? From the article, looking at Storey’s definitions of pop culture, I most closely agreed with statements 4 and 5. "Popular culture is folk culture, something that arises from the people rather than imposed upon them: pop culture is authentic (created by the people) as opposed to commercial (thrust upon them by commercial enterprises).” And "Pop culture is negotiated: partly imposed on by the dominant classes, and partly resisted or changed by the subordinate classes. Dominants can create culture but the subordinates decide what they keep or discard.”Specifically because I’ve always thought of pop culture as more fluid than fixed, and what one could consider culture, on its own, to be more set in stone. Pop culture is heavily tend based, and those trends are set by those we have deemed, well…for lack of a better word, popular. I know we often think of pop culture being related to consumable media, like what we read or watch or listen to - but a decent part of pop culture are the figures we let dictate it. In terms of my own consumption, most of my media is visual, a lot of scrolling and liking, haha, yeah, kinda shallow. But it’s a brain break for me - Most of my media consumption comes from Instagram, or Spotify.  I keep up with a lot of my favorite celebrities across the globe. I’m a bit more careful about my news or figures I choose to follow or keep up with. And even people I follow on more a surface level interaction, I still will understand “ah yes I’m being marketed something, this is an ad.” And honestly I’ve come to be okay with that. As long as I know what I’m being sold and that I’m not being tricked. I think you can enjoy the media you consume while also being critical. Being critical doesn’t mean the same thing as tearing it apart, it simple means to take a closet look at and recognize the flaws in it. See, as an artist, we have critique all the time. And though it may not always feel that way, the point of crit is to look at the piece with a more analytical approach, and recognize the flaws in it and room for improvement, but compliments and praise are also part of that process. Art, which is media, is the same as pop culture consumption, appreciate it for the good and enjoyment it brings, but also take a deeper look at it - was the composition poorly thought out? Was this area rushed? How could this have been better executed?

[gabbi-gill]

Name: Gabrielle Gill 

Nickname: Gabbi 

Pronouns: She/Her

Major: Interior Design 

Year: Senior 

Age: 22

Pet: Dog -- Sadie, Shih-tzu/bichon mix (pictured above)  

Interests: Baking, fashion, Disney, kpop (Exo, NCT, RedVelvet) 

I’ve always had an interest in pop culture and media, especially how race plays a role in it and as I’ve been playing around with my social media presence and engagement more, I found myself curious about it. 

Culture: A set of ideas, traditions, or styles set and maintained by a specific group.

Popular Culture: Popular culture is the set of ideas and typically trends (not traditions) set by a group of people that determine what is in or out. It’s a wider type of media, typically in what can be consumed by the eye or ear. 

I do believe there is a difference between the two and it most easily boils down to who has been participating and for how long that theme has existed. There’s also an element of why, is it trendy? Does it tell a story? What started this and why do we keep it? 

I tend to not watch a lot of TV so my social media exposure comes from my roommates (what they show me) and my Instagram (what I find) but because I have rather specified interests, and I’ve curated my feed to show me things that match my interests, I tend to feel like I’m only up to date in certain aspects of pop culture. 

I consider myself to be both a producer and consumer. I have my own fashion instagram where I consider that platform to be my production side, but as with most social media, half of it is engagement, so I interact a lot with other accounts and end up as a consumer. That and I tend to not hide from media so I’m exposed to it in stuff like the ads the come up on the side of Google or any news I keep up with. 

In terms of being a critical consumer, I like to think I’m reading further into whats handed to me, I know a lot of what I see in final production in terms of social media is set up and well planned, nothing about it is natural. And I know this and take what I observe with a grain of salt. In terms of my own production I try really hard to be transparent online about what I’m doing and why and how I did it. But even then there’s a superficial element to it that I’m aware of, I just hope it’s not outweighing the positive of what I’m trying to put out.