#but there’s something about the melding of social media platforms

[phantomrose96]

Controversial opinion time, I don’t hate the idea of Tumblr Live. Like “hey I’m gonna go for a walk who wants to see the new flower buds”/“I’m gonna cook dinner and tell a story so I don’t feel like I’m cooking alone” seem fine to me, even appealing. But the Tiktok-ification and Instagram-ification of everything don’t sit right. And given how typically anonymous and faceless Tumblr is, a jump to “Live” feels pretty unnatural.

[cvrnelians]

unfollowed - chapter one

Kendall has been building up the courage to talk to you for a while now. When he finds your Twitter account, he sees this as the perfect opportunity to get to know you anonymously, without any preconceived notions.

He didn’t mean for it to go this far. He’s planning on telling you the truth eventually, he really is! One day. When it’s the right time.

Ideally, before you figure out he’s not Greg.

chapter two

-

chapter one

You figured you knew all there was to know (and more than you ever even wanted to know) about the Roys. Who didn't? They were that perfect mix of arrogance and absurd wealth that made news outlets go apeshit. You tried your best to tune them out as you scrolled through social media, but your attempts to evade them were simply unrealistic at this point.

When you were away from your phone, you were still inundated with information about whatever scandal of they week they were involved with. You would catch a blip of Roman being hounded by paparazzi on the news, or one of your professors would bring up Shiv's campaign strategies as a controversial talking point. They were even a source of conversation during forced family functions, somehow melding into a foolproof way to break the ice. You were doubtful of many things in this life, but if there was one thing you knew for certain, it was this:

Nothing created stronger bonds between people than by banding together to talk shit about other people.

Everyone seemed to have something to say about that family. There were so many of them, and they were so awful, and their power and influence only made them even more awful. You likened them to the popular kids at school, or the Kardashians or something. The general consensus was that everyone hated them, and yet, no one turned down an opportunity to see what they were up to, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year. They were a guilty pleasure for the masses, actors in a soap opera designed to make everyone stop and stare.

But mostly point and laugh.

It all started with a Twitter DM. Seriously. A Twitter DM.

In retrospect, you couldn’t help but think about how comical it all was—being romantically pursued through a Twitter DM. 

At least it wasn’t Instagram. Whenever someone messaged you there, you never gave it a second look. Instagram DMs from strange men you didn't know typically manifested as a reaction to one of your photos, which you were none too crazy about. A Twitter DM was strange in a different way. You had little to no identifying information on your account, just your first name and your birthday. Your avi was a photo of your cat taking a nap. If someone had something to say to you on Twitter, it wasn't appearance based. It was a genuine reaction to something stupid you said, plain and simple.

And so, because you had a grand total of seven followers (two friends you barely spoke to, your sister, three acquaintances from college, and one bot), the message stood out. As one could expect from someone with seven followers, your tweets were nothing groundbreaking. You treated Twitter like it was your personal diary, or some kind of vat to pour your stream of consciousness into.

Your most popular tweets?

i'm exhausted

i dyed my hair all by myself and it actually looks ok ( o :

should i go vegan

oh god i'm so exhaustedddddd rn

that one song by the gorillaz about sunshine in a bag??? that's my shit

i'm. so. EXHAUSTED ): ): ):

You were quite the wordsmith, if you said so yourself.

Best (or worst) of all, though?

can we as a society please make a pact to collectively block the roy family on every platform? i’m so sick of hearing about them and seeing their dumbass posts on my feed. i’m honestly going to have a mental breakdown make it stop please

Within ten minutes, someone favorited what you wrote. When you went to check your notifications, you were surprised to find that the person who liked it wasn’t anyone you knew personally, or the bot. When you tapped on the profile, you felt a pit in your stomach. You reminded yourself that you should really make your account private, simply to avoid such a bizarre, anxiety-ridden feeling. You hadn’t thought anyone would actually try and contact you. Why would they?

You breathed a sigh of relief when you pulled up the account, which was nothing too crazy. The impression you got from the very limited information you had (considering the person’s avi was the Gucci logo, which elicited a massive eye roll) was that it was most likely a man, probably in his twenties or thirties. Very into bitcoin. Very into US stocks. Very into retweeting disparaging things about Harvard and trashing various platforms’ “algos” and other things that were totally irrelevant to your life.

The one thing that broke up the monotony of it all?

The Beastie Boys.

Oh, and Wu-Tang Clan.

Whoever this dude was, he had a Spotify account, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. He had a penchant for screenshotting whatever (predominantly 90s of any and every genre, and occasionally EDM) song he was listening to and posting it for all the world (aka his 35 followers) to see.

As if anyone cared. You couldn’t be too hard on him, though, not when you had done the same thing on your own account multiple times, and continued to do so. You actually had similar taste in music, which you thought was always a fun commonality to share.

Just as soon as you started to lurk the profile, you got a message in your inbox. It happened so fast that it almost made you jump, like he knew you were looking at it.

I would have to agree. They’re pretty awful, but definitely not worth the mental breakdown.

Then, a few seconds later…

Kendall doesn’t seem so bad, though.

You weren't planning on responding. It was rare that you had any interaction with strangers on the internet. It wasn’t like you were avidly against it or anything. You just…never really found the time. But it was 4:30 in the morning, you were wide awake, your tv wasn't working, and you wanted something to keep your mind occupied. 

You got home from your sister’s wedding at around midnight, but you felt too wired to sleep. It had been a nice evening overall. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was fun. You were beyond happy for your sister and her now husband, who you suspected she was going to marry for years now. There was drinking and dancing and you saw family members you actually liked, family members you hadn’t seen in years. Your mom had flown in from California. Even though you spoke on the phone nearly everyday, getting the chance to actually see her was always wonderful.

Conversely, Aria’s wedding had forced you to come into contact with someone you hadn’t seen in years, someone you hated more than anyone else in the world.

Well, maybe that was dramatic. There were worse people in the world. But you did hate him. A lot.

Your father.

Crazy, how just one drop could poison the well, ruining a perfectly good night.

You shoved those thoughts down, instead redirecting your focus towards the weird little man on your phone. You decided you had reached your allotted crying limit for that week.

You both replied at the same time.

Really? I get weird vibes off him.

Not to make you feel weird or anything, but I'm scrolling through your tweets and you listen to some pretty good music.

That did make you feel weird—but a good weird, an amused sort of weird. This random person was scrolling through your tweets, developing a positive opinion of you based on your disdain for the Roys and the your penchant for blaring the Blood Sugar Sex Magik album in your car on the way to work. You had stalked his profile too, so you supposed it was only fair to allow him to do the same.

Wait. Weird how?

Oh thanks. I know no one really cares what music I’m listening to but idk, I just like posting about it.

I’m the same. It’s like, I like my music so I want other people to like it, too.

Weird how though??

Meanwhile everyone else is just listening to *their* music, thinking the exact same thing.

I can’t really pinpoint it. It just seems like there’s more than meets the eye with him, but maybe not in a good way. Like there’s a lot going on under the surface that we don’t get to see.

I get the impression that he has a lot to hide, you know what I mean?

Hah. I think you’re dead on with that one actually.

I read somewhere that he’s a pretty private person, which I think is kind of understandable all things considered.

Yeah, maybe. I don’t know, for some reason I get this weird feeling that in a few years it’s gonna come out that he’s done some seriously bad things that got covered up because he has money.

It’s one thing to keep things to yourself, but I think there’s more to it than that.

There’s private and then there’s secretive, if that makes any sense.

Yeah, I get that.

But what do I know? This is coming from someone that posts their every waking moment on twitter. I’m mostly anonymous on here, but maybe I need to “take a page out of his book” or whatever.

I would prefer not to, though.

Too complicated?

Yeah. And bleak. 

At least, that’s how it seems to me.

His replies had been coming in fast, but this one took a bit longer to arrive. You could see the little dots indicating that he was typing pop up and disappear a few times, like he kept writing something and deleting it. He seemed to actually care about your reaction to what he was saying, trying to come up with the right thing to say next...which was odd.

Then again, you kind of did, too.

Wow. Tell me how you really feel.

I’m not normally this judgmental. It’s just with that family in particular. They’re so oversaturated in the press. Maybe he’s a nice guy. He clearly has some depth to him. Who knows, though? I’ll never actually meet him lol.

I mean, not that I should care what some random on twitter thinks of me anyway. But idk.

“Some random” lol. Thanks for that.

I do have a name, you know.

What is it, then? I MUST know.

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

Post Malone??? Is that u????

Lol Jesus Christ. No.

Jesus Christ???? I didn’t know you had a secret twitter. Do you have a finsta, too?

Alright smartass. My name is Kendall, ironically.

Also, what’s a finsta?

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. You didn’t want to make him feel bad, though. If he didn’t know, he didn’t know.

Wait, how old are you?

My guess? Probably older than you. Actually, definitely older than you.

Oh???

But not by much.

Wow. Very elusive. Are you sure you’re not Kendall Roy?

Again, you were left waiting. The dots popped up and disappeared. Once, twice, three times.

I could only dream of being that handsome and powerful. But no, I’m not. Sadly. 

Lol I like how you had to think about it.

I was sending an e-mail for work, geez. I’m not obligated to respond to you immediately.

At 4 in the morning?

You must be a workaholic.

Oh, you have no idea…

You wondered if he was bored, too. He seemed genuinely interested in keeping the conversation going.

Usually I don’t like to give out my info but you seem fairly non-threatening. So, ballpark estimate, I’m somewhere in my late thirties.

It probably wasn’t the brightest idea to be talking to a stranger who claimed to be in his late thirties, which was, in fact, older than you. He easily could’ve been lying. Maybe he was twenty, maybe he was eighty. There was no way for you to know definitively what was real and what wasn’t, unless you did a bit of digging. You didn’t have much to go on, but you supposed it didn’t matter. You were just talking, and this little conversation would likely end within the next twenty minutes or so, when you finally willed yourself to shut your eyes and go to sleep.

What are you doing up so late, anyway? Assuming you’re in the US. You did mention that it was 4am.

Ah. So he was having trouble sleeping, too.

For context, I’m on the east coast, where it is also 4am. Which is ungodly late. Or early, depending on how you look at it.

I’m on the east coast, too.

You’re just as crazy as I am, then.

Speak for yourself, House of Gucci.

Lol wow you really are kind of a smartass, aren’t you?

I’m in New York.

No way! I’m in New York too. Upstate or downstate?

I don’t like giving out my info, remember?

You just opted to tell me you lived in New York completely unprovoked but ok.

And you’re right. You are older than me. "Ballpark” I’m in my twenties. But it’s nice to hear that you’re thirty and flirty and thriving.

Wow. I would love to be even just one of those things right now. 

You frowned at that.

Aw. I can relate.

Well, maybe we can commiserate together.

Maybe tomorrow? I really need to try and sleep. I have work in the morning.

I kind of figured. What do you do?

Damn. He really did want to keep this going, what with completely ignoring everything you just said about wanting to go to sleep.

I don’t like giving out my info, REMEMBER?

Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I’ll let you sleep. Sorry if this was weird, I’m at the airport right now and my flight got delayed. I wanted to kill some time and you seemed like you might be cool, so

Have a good night, alright?

You smiled to yourself, leaning back into your cocoon of pillows. Texting had actually made your eyes a little tired.

You too.

As you set your phone down on your nightstand, you saw it light up one more time. You wanted to groan. Was this guy seriously trying to keep it going even after you said goodnight? Were you going to have to block him?

But no. It was just a notification that he had followed you.

“Cute,” you mumbled to yourself, following him back.

If this weird, pleasant little interaction was any reflection of what “internet friends” might be like, maybe you would leave your account public.

…for now.

[fyexo]

221209 LAY ZHANG IS FINDING HIS WAY

A young Lay Zhang had a clear goal in mind: in 2005, he enrolled in a talent competition, the Hunan-based Star Academy. Zhang Yixing (as he was known back then) did it for 50 RMB — an incentive that his father had promised him if he got through the first round of auditions.

He did, but more importantly, the achievement meant that he went on to become a finalist on the variety show. “I never dreamed that I would become an artiste,” Zhang reminisces. But the experience unlocked something inside him, as the creative teenager found himself continually drawn to the allure of the stage. He’d go on to make cameos in other shows in China, and each time he gained even more confidence and experience. It helped that Zhang was an easy crowd-pleaser; he was charismatic, and bubbled over with youthful exuberance. Plus, he could sing, rap and dance — he had all the makings of a teen idol. Not surprisingly, he ended up at a global casting by SM Entertainment, held in Wuhan in 2008, and was soon headed to South Korea to train as a performer at the age of 17. In 2012, he debuted as part of EXO — the wildly successful South Korean-Chinese boy band that has topped music charts worldwide since its debut.

Now, at 31, an older Zhang has a different goal in mind: to create works that speak to his roots, and that are unapologetically his. After 10 years with EXO, the Chinese pop star will be focusing on his solo career. But the experience of condensing years of hard work into mere minutes of an intense performance alongside his fellow members is something that Zhang continues to hold dear to his heart today. “I feel that it’s because I’ve gone through all that back then that I developed this awe for the stage,” he says. “It’s just so unforgettable.”

A hand-written note on Zhang’s social media account says: “It’s time to say goodbye… It’s also my new beginning.” That fresh start would see Zhang venturing into uncharted territory, where he melds Chinese classical poetry, traditional instruments and historical facts with modern musical influences — adding cultural elements into songs, raps, music videos, and more. “I want to share my music and my culture with my fans from all over the world,” he muses. West, his latest five-track EP, is a widely anticipated sequel to 2021’s East — and continues to be a heartfelt ode to his Asian heritage. When sharing how he blends and finds harmony in melding Eastern and Western influences, Zhang gets particularly animated. “That makes the sound feel very unique,” he says. “There’s something different, yet the same.” In the lead single “Veil”, what starts out as dreamy chords from the erhu, a Chinese traditional instrument, quickly segues into slick trap beats. The same Oriental motif can also be detected in “I Don’t Care”, a song about cyberbullying, and how it is important to stand up to the haters.

Most of his songs can feel vastly distinct at first; the groovy, flute-fuelled “NAMANANA” stands in stark contrast to the heavy, rap-driven “Lit” (the music video is a vivid reimagination of Xiang Yu in the historical Chinese opera Farewell My Concubine). But a common thread that runs across most of Zhang’s discography is a duality in terms of the language used. He flits comfortably between Mandarin choruses and English verses, connecting the dots, sonically, between seemingly distinct cultures — and thus bringing into full force his entire vision: of finding a higher purpose (and platform) for Chinese culture and folklore. He calls this Mix-Mandarin pop, or M-pop for short (not to be confused with Mandopop).

His music has certainly got everyone perked up, and tuned in. “Different languages help achieve different effects,” Zhang shares. Beyond cementing his popularity back in China, the pop star has also started to gain the attention of audiences elsewhere. His first solo performance in the States saw Zhang joining Alan Walker in a 2018 Lollapalooza set. The Chinese singer also lent his vocals to “Love You More”, in a collaboration with Steve Aoki and Will.I.Am. Diplo was impressed by the work ethic of Zhang when they met backstage, and referred to him as “the truth” in a tweet. In recent times, he sang — in both Mandarin and English — alongside American rapper 24kGoldn in “Dawn to Dusk”. “Through music, we can overcome language barriers,” he says in an Instagram post. Not that Zhang has ever let any obstacle get in his way. “Every small setback is a great opportunity to toughen you up.”

This might explain why the multi-hyphenate never shies away from a challenge — from his role as Er Yuehong in the action series The Mystic Nine, to voicing the sleek and chic Jackson Storm in the Chinese-dubbed version of Disney’s animated film Cars 3. Not one to be satisfied with the status quo, Zhang says: “I keep raising the bar on myself, on my music, on my dancing, and more. When I reach a certain level of quality, I raise it even higher — to make myself better.” In this continual pursuit for more, the entrepreneurial creative has embarked on yet another new path, as the founder of Chromosome Entertainment Group, where he, in turn, hopes to identify a new generation of superstars — and nurture in them a “respect for the stage”, the same reverence that got him performing in the first place.

These days, Zhang finds himself dreaming a new dream. He didn’t set out to become a global phenomenon — but along the way, he gradually found and settled into his own voice and identity. Zhang now wants to be remembered as a musician “with guts” — one who is unafraid to take risks, and make bold moves. “I hope to leave behind a spirit of not giving up, of chasing a goal regardless of the cost,” he says. It seems fitting that Zhang uses a quote from an ancient Chinese poem, A View of Taishan, to describe his journey thus far — “that at the summit, look beyond your feet, and everything else in the scenery will look small in comparison”. The stanza holds a huge amount of literary significance, but its essence, to put it loosely is be ambitious, trust the journey, and reap the reward. “I feel that the world belongs to the adventurous,” he says. And it’s clear that Zhang is embarking on the grandest adventure of all.

source: Fabian Loo @ Elle Singapore

[lornahansonforbes]

I saw this and this spoke to me. That place this person talks about could be a plethora of things for each of us. Outdoors. The forest, the high plains, lakeside or ocean views. Indoors. Self-imposed exile, various social media platforms and an electronic babysitter.

The word is avoidance. The adjective is avoidable. The action is will I avoid X or did I avoid X? Though it does begin with to confront X.

This place of learning is in myself and from there is that moment to actually learn and understand.

I suffer from bipolar depression, manic episodes and I go through minutes to weeks of hypomania. The spinning wheel goes round and round. Yet I live in constant fear that then will whip me around one hundred and eighty degrees and I easily fall into my demolition man mode. I have a tendency to raze.

I hurt the man I love. My photographer puts the lens cap on when I told him that I felt the universe had spoken to me and I still know that something is wrong but he will not hear or listen to the empath.

I don’t have it in me to let her know that I am in a space where I am in absolute fear. I’m not here to tell her that the itinerant did nothing and then like Grand Central Station, I heard way too many footsteps. I know my place. I’m nothing to her and I’ve no right to tell her anything because the response will be something to the effect of, “Okay, but it’s different this time and I was just living my life.”

I write and write and write. Then I share my thoughts, feelings, experiences and my words. That’s why I have this blog post. I put it out there and get nothing back. My echo chamber falls on deaf ears and dyslexia comes out from the depths of reading comprehension.

I’m going back to playing “Tag!! You’re It!!” By now I don’t have a ten foot pole. I’m not across the street hollering. I’m not in the room with you right now and expressing myself to you because I have to concentrate on confronting the problem that I avoid. I’m as faithful as that puppy and I will most certainly slip, fall and tumble down that mountain and drown in the deepest waters of the many rivers to cross. Fuck you very much. I will and I can always make musical references.

I want, I need, crave, desire to be held not in a disingenuous manner as I have always felt then and now. I hold myself accountable for my actions and mistakes. I’m the really very old person having a Walmart Temper Tantrum and I will be ignored because I’m just a little bitch. A fucking whiny little bitch. It’s never been about me and it will never be about me. I know I haven’t done anything ever before, during or after yet I’m confronted with food insecurity but I’ll sit here and make sure I’m not seen or heard as I wallow and smoke all my cigarettes because smoking is the perfect waste of time.

Lastly, I’ve learned that I will meld into the background and you’ll only see my feelings here on this page and I will continue to understand the moment that I’m not apart of the conversation or the problem but I get blamed for everything since I’m not able to breathe for you and you can’t make me. It’s obvious that you’re better than me and I’m doing my best for now. I’m just going to give you my best Meryl Streep and that facade won’t crumble.

I’m not an idiot nor an expert but I see and still you are correct that I’m wrong about everything. You cannot stop me from hearing Stephen Sondheim lyrics: “I’m old. I’m ugly and I embarrass you.” This is the place to learn and the moment to understand. I’m nothing and I’m glad you know that.

See, I didn’t avoid my feelings. I confronted them.

[rsenvs3000w22]

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter

Being a student in environmental sciences, I often get a lot of questions from family and friends. From simple things like how does this [blank] process work? To more complex questions like should I be concerned about climate change and what can we do about it? During these conversations, I always hope I’ve communicated effectively without throwing in too much dull or unnecessary information. I desperately want to answer these questions in a way that makes the topic exciting and pushes them to want to learn more.

When I think of these conversations, I envy the social media accounts that can discuss these topics with ease and make them exciting to learn about. One account I think of right away off the top of my head is asap science. While not nature interpreters, they explain science in an easy to understand and fun way.

Here’s an example of one of their videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yywWKtKheQ&ab_channel=AsapSCIENCE

Here’s another great example from Tik Tok I found:

https://www.tiktok.com/@environment_explained/video/6923522211345075458?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter would be to run a social media account that teaches people about the earth and environmental sciences. I’ve always been passionate about these topics and the natural world and want others to feel the same excitement. I mentioned before on my blog that I believe stewardship comes from feeling connected to nature or the issues at hand. This is why I think this form of communication is necessary for tackling environmental problems. Social media has the potential to reach large amounts of people, especially those who might not take a trip out to a conservation area or nature center. As well, many of these topics can feel overwhelming and most people don’t like the discomfort that accompanies environmental problems. Having a platform like Tik Tok or Instagram that breaks these issues down can make environmental issues feel more manageable and help gain interest.

As a soon to be graduate in environmental sciences student I feel equipped with the knowledge for a wide arrange of topics. The first challenge however is ditching the scientific jargon and cutting back on the information. Being a good scientific communicator and for different audiences is something I don’t have much practice in. This is one of the reasons I’m excited about this course.

Creativity is another must for this area of interpretation. Art is one of my hobbies and I went to an arts high school to practice art. Since coming to university I have definitely become rusty and not had to push myself creatively. However, there’s no better way to improve than just starting. Improving and expressing myself creatively is something I’ve missed and wanted to improve upon – which is why this interpreter role is my ideal. It melds together two of my major interests perfectly.

[niallercanons]

Your headcanons are so cute! Could you write one one being a part of Niall’s songwriting team and like slowly falling for each other? <333

ASDFGHJKLKAJSHDDJ when I saw you submit a request I started losing it since I’ve been a huge fan of your writing for a while (Public Display of Erection is literal gold) and never thought you’d want me to try and write something for you. Thanks for the request and hope you enjoy this!!

(TW: Pretty much none)

(Word count: 961, my longest yet I think!)

You’ve been a songwriter for a decent amount of time now, working with artists of many different genres.

You’ve written for and with Taylor Swift, Halsey, Kacey Musgraves and Julia Michaels to name a few.

Most recently, you’ve been writing with the Scottish Beyoncé himself, Lewis Capaldi.

You guys got on great during the writing process and have become very good friends.

During one of your conversations with him, Lewis mentioned that his friend Niall Horan was beginning to write his sophomore studio album and needed a songwriter to write with him and asked if you’d be interested.

You’ve been a fan of One Direction (your favourite member being Niall funnily enough) since the X-Factor days and when the band went on hiatus and began their solo careers, you’ve been drawn to Niall's the most.

His Flicker album was a complete and utter masterpiece to you and you’d be lying if you said you haven’t day-dreamed about writing with him.

Needless to say, you accepted Lewis’ offer without hesitation.

Later that week, you got an email from Niall’s team about working with Niall in the studio and working out your schedule and available times.

After everything was finalized, you got followed by Niall across all your social media platforms which cemented your opportunity to work with him.

Before really realizing that though you just screamed into your pillow for five minutes about how Niall Horan knew you existed.

A week after that, you went to Niall’s studio to begin writing.

There, you met Niall’s producers, band and of course, Niall.

Not gonna lie you felt some butterflies when you shook his hand and he smiled at you.

(15 year old you is screaming inside)

Niall also felt the same way about you.

Granted he didn’t have a crush on you when he was a teenager but he seriously admired your writing.

He got a chance to look at some of the lyrics you had written for Lewis and he was impressed, to say the least.

Your writing style was one he loved and wanted to see it melded with his on his upcoming album.

He also thought you were very beautiful ;)

And so the two of you got to work writing!

Things were a little awkward at the start but once you guys got really into it, lyrics and melodies flowed like a waterfall.

Both Niall and you had never had a writing process with other writers go so smoothly.

In the first 9 months, you, Niall and Niall's album already had 8 songs written, sung and done but hit a bit of a snag around the 9th and 10th song.

With a deadline needing to be reached for Niall’s upcoming single, you and Niall elected to spend the night at the studio to complete the songs in time.

With there just being the two of you, your guys’ topics of discussion were a mix of actual songwriting and random topics that came up for pretty much no reason.

Around 2 am, you and Niall finally finished writing the songs and could relax.

Instead of you guys going your separate ways back to your respective homes, Niall got some food delivered to the studio and the two of you spent the rest of the night just talking to each other.

You guys talked to each other about some light-hearted and laughable topics (you once got your head stuck between two subway doors in New York on your way to a meeting with an artist) and some more serious ones (Niall’s feelings about starting out in the music industry at such a young age and his early insecurities and fears about his solo career).

Just like your song-writing, conversation flowed so naturally and without pause.

Soon, the sun started to rise in the sky and you and Niall left the studio to get some rest at home.

As you both drove home in your respective vehicles, one thing on both of your guys’ minds was your feelings towards each other.

While the two of you have teased and playfully flirted with each other before, that night at the studio really cemented your guys’ feelings for each other.

Y’all liked each other.

A lot.

But someone was going to have to say something about it before the album was done being written and you’d be off to write with a different artist.

Sadly, the frenzy of Niall's first single of the album and press tours needing to be conducted made the two of you push aside your feelings and focus on the album.

It was only after “Nice to Meet Ya” and “No Judgement” were released that you guys revisited and discussed that night at the studio.

You guys were in a corner away from everyone else at a party that was being thrown in celebration of the two singles.

While everyone else was celebrating and mingling, you guys just took some time to talk about your feelings and everything that was going on.

You guys really liked each other and wanted to work for it. Simple as that.

“After the album’s out, would you maybe want to go grab a pint together sometime?”

“I’d love to, Niall.”

I won’t say much but you guys really enjoyed each other’s company at that party.

When he found out from you two, Lewis also made a point to tell everyone that he was the reason you guys got together and orchestrated the entire thing in hopes you guys would get together.

Despite the eye-rolls and remarks you sent him because of that, you were pretty thankful Lewis told you about Niall when he did.

Not only did you get a relationship out of it, but now you’ve got more things to write about in the future ;)

[soler97]

The Age of Unreason

Men want certainty, not truth.

- possibly from Bertrand Russell

A thoughtful friend asked me what 2020 will be remembered for, apart from the obvious, ie Covid and Trump losing. I could not think of anything.

My friend suggested it is the realisation that in the 21st century millions of people are turning away from science and reality towards a variety of beliefs that border on the crazy. Examples are QAnon, flat earthers (yes, they are serious), deniers of Covid, about 40% of Americans believe the Rapture is coming, biblical fundamentalism, climate change denial, neo-Nazis, Holocaust denial, belief in Trump as a saviour, doomsday predictions, sundry cults, alien abductions, New Age beliefs, and a multitude of conspiracy theories, such as that the moon landings were a hoax, or that 9/11 was an inside job.

Some of these beliefs appear harmless, but occasionally, they inspire horrific violence, such as the killing of 920 people by the Jim Jones cult, the sarin attack in Japan, the Breivik massacre, the Oklahoma bombing, the Waco siege, the Christchurch massacre, and the Heaven's Gate suicides.

It is difficult to generalise about the various strange beliefs that people hold, as these include conspiracy theories, varieties of denial, religious fantasies, extremist political or racist views, and beliefs like the flat earth, that elude classification. There is no common thread underlying this spectrum of beliefs. Rather, they can be characterised by what they reject, which in a nutshell, is rationality.

Rationality can be defined as the desire to be guided by reason, which we apply to the available evidence. The third ingredient is the willingness to admit we are wrong. So turning away from rationality means letting emotion or emotionally-based belief take precedence over reason, an unwillingness to look at factual evidence, plus a dogmatic belief that one is in possession of the ultimate truth. Many irrational beliefs run counter to Occam's Razor, which tells us to prefer the simplest explanation that covers the known facts. Complex processes may require elaborate or involved explanations, but the point is not to introduce unnecessary factors, especially ones of a fanciful nature.

Clearly, there are too many irrational beliefs to do them justice, so let us look at flat earthers, Heaven's Gate and QAnon to see whether there is a pattern.

A Flat Earth

Flat earth map with the Antarctic ice wall at the perimeter

A bizarre example is the contemporary belief that the earth is flat. Is such a belief even possible in the 21st century? It may be feasible to construct a world view that makes a flat earth plausible. However, it requires factors such as a massive world-wide conspiracy to hide the truth, the abandoning of all of modern cosmology and much of physics, as well as weird ad-hoc explanations for why planes fly in circles around a flat disc, rather than around a spherical globe. Also, that ships at sea disappear below the horizon requires adjustment to the laws of optics. If that still does not cover all the facts countering a flat view, then one could invoke mind control by Martians, or something of the sort. The point is that if one wants to conjure up fantastical reasons to invalidate what we know of reality then it is always possible to do so.

It seems to me that the flat earth people are not interested in gaining knowledge about the world. They are uninterested in discovering what lies beyond the putative ice wall in Antarctica that holds back the oceans or why NASA might be guarding it. They just believe in the flat earth and that is that. Their only concern is to bolster the theory, which I think they hold on emotional grounds. They are willing to perform elaborate mental contortions to support their belief, and it is interesting to observe how much of modern science they are willing to jettison in order to keep their belief afloat, eg gravity.

Whereas the explanations given for the earth being flat are interesting, to me it is more interesting to enquire what causes people to seek these explanations in the first place. What causes people to believe the earth is flat?

Four factors come to mind. One is a desire to be rid of experts and eggheads, who insist on telling ordinary people what to think. In the case of the earth's apparent flatness, the boffins are telling us to deny the evidence of our senses by invoking the large-scale curvature of the earth, something that is far from apparent in ordinary life. Flat earth is like the last stand of common sense in the face of the inexorable advance of science, which keeps telling us the world is far stranger than we thought. It is also a form of contrariness and rebellion against authority. The second is the ego-gratification of knowing a secret that is hidden from nearly everyone else. The third factor is on religious grounds. The fourth is a desire to return to a comforting and anthropocentric model of the universe, rejecting the notion that our planet is an insignificant speck in the incomprehensible vastness of the universe.

Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period (323 BC). However, early Christian writers tended to believe the earth is spherical, though with some notable exceptions. Curiously, it wasn't until 1849 that the flat earth belief was resurrected by Rowbotham and later others. He argued that the "Bible, alongside our senses, supported the idea that the earth was flat and immovable and this essential truth should not be set aside for a system based solely on human conjecture".

In the internet era, the proliferation of communications technology and social media have given individuals a platform to spread pseudo-scientific ideas and build stronger followings. The flat earth conjecture has flourished in this environment. Social media and the internet have made it easier for like-minded thinkers to connect and mutually reinforce their beliefs. They have also had a levelling effect, in that experts have less sway in the public mind than they used to.

The belief that the earth is flat could be seen as the ultimate conspiracy theory, given how many people are needed for a cover-up on such a scale. According to the Flat Earth Society's leadership, its ranks have grown by 200 people per year since 2009. Judging by the exhaustive effort flat earthers have invested in fleshing out the theory on their website, as well as the staunch defenses of their views they offer in media interviews and on Twitter, it would seem that these people genuinely believe the earth is flat. They tend to distrust observations they have not made themselves, and often distrust or disagree with each other. I imagine they are maverick individuals who enjoy challenging the status quo.

Paul Sutter, "The question isn't 'why do people believe in a flat Earth?' but rather 'why do people believe in a conspiracy?' And the answer is the same reason it always is: a lack of trust. Many people don't trust the society around them, most notably the representatives of that society. By claiming that the Earth is flat, people are really expressing a deep distrust of scientists and science itself."

Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate Logo

Far more bizarre than the flat earth belief are the doctrines of Heaven's Gate, which melded the Bible with belief in UFOs into a religious cult. It was founded in California in 1974 by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. These two pondered the life of St. Francis of Assisi and read works by Helena Blavatsky, RD Laing, and Richard Bach. They studied several passages from the New Testament, focusing on teachings about Christology, asceticism, and eschatology ("the end times"). Applewhite also read science fiction, including Robert Heinlein and Arthur Clarke. They concluded that they had been chosen to fulfill biblical prophecies, and that they had been given higher-level minds than other people. They wrote a pamphlet that described Jesus' reincarnation as a Texan, a thinly veiled reference to Applewhite.

Eventually, Applewhite and Nettles resolved to contact extraterrestrials, and they sought like-minded followers. They published advertisements for meetings, where they recruited disciples, whom they called "the crew". At the events, they purported to represent beings from another planet, the Next Level, which sought participants for an experiment that would bring people to a higher evolutionary level.

In September 1975, the group visited the small town of Waldport, Oregon, to give a lecture about how UFOs were soon going to make contact with the human race. Roughly 150 people packed into a motel hall to hear Applewhite. At first the town thought it was a joke. However, soon after, in a testament to Applewhite's charisma and powers of persuasion, 20 people - or about one in 30 residents of the town - drove off to a meeting of about 400 people in Grand Junction, Colorado, in the hope of meeting aliens.

Later, the crew sold all their worldly possessions and said farewell to loved ones; the group vanished from the public eye. From that point, "Do and Ti", as the two now called themselves, led the nearly one-hundred-member crew across the country, sleeping in tents and begging in the streets. Evading detection by the authorities and media enabled the group to focus on Do and Ti's doctrine of helping members of the crew achieve a "higher evolutionary level" above human, which they claimed to have already reached.

Most of their followers are described by researchers as having been longtime truth-seekers, or spiritual hippies who had long attempted to find themselves through spiritual means. The clan of UFO followers all seemed to have in common a need for communal belonging in an alternative path to higher existence without the constraints of institutionalised faith. The group purchased alien abduction insurance that would pay out $1 million per person, covering abduction, impregnation, or death by aliens.

Applewhite began to emphasize a strict hierarchy, teaching that his students needed his guidance, just as he needed the guidance of the Next Level. A relationship with Applewhite was said to be the only way to salvation and he encouraged his followers to see him as Christ. In the 1980s, the group became more like a religion in its focus on faith and submission to authority. Students who were not committed to this lifestyle were encouraged to leave; departing members were given financial assistance. He specifically cited sexual urges as the work of Lucifer. Applewhite, "We do in all honesty hate this world".

In March 1997, Marshall Applewhite videoed himself in Do's Final Exit, speaking of mass suicide as "the only way to evacuate this Earth". After asserting that a spacecraft was trailing Comet Hale-Bopp and that this event would represent the closure to Heaven's Gate, Applewhite persuaded 38 followers to prepare for ritual suicide so their souls could board the supposed craft. Applewhite believed that after their deaths a UFO would take their souls to another level of existence above human, which he described as being both physical and spiritual.

News of the 39 deaths in Rancho Santa Fe motivated the copycat suicide of a 58-year-old man living near Marysville, California. The man left a note, "I'm going on the spaceship with Hale-Bopp to be with those who have gone before me," and imitated some of the details of the Heaven's Gate suicides as they had been reported in the media. At least three former members of Heaven's Gate committed suicide in the months after the mass suicide.

Heaven's Gate members believed the earth would be wiped clean and refurbished before 2027, and that the only chance for their consciousness to survive was to leave their human bodies at an appointed time. Initially, the group had been told that they would be transported with their bodies aboard a spacecraft that would come to earth and take the crew to heaven, the Next Level. When Nettles (Ti) died of cancer in 1985, it confounded Applewhite's doctrine because Nettles was allegedly chosen by the Next Level to be a messenger on earth, yet her body died instead of leaving physically to outer space. The belief system was then revised to include the leaving of consciousness from the body as equivalent to leaving the earth in a spacecraft.

While the group was against suicide, they defined "suicide" to mean "to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered" and believed their bodies were only vehicles meant to help them on their journey. Suicide, therefore, would be not allowing their consciousness to leave their human bodies to join the Next Level. They believed that, "to be eligible for membership in the Next Level, humans would have to shed every attachment to the planet". This meant members had to give up all human characteristics, such as their family, friends, sexuality, individuality, jobs, money, and possessions.

The Evolutionary Level Above Human was seen as a physical, corporeal place, another planet, where residents live in pure bliss and nourish themselves by absorbing pure sunlight. They do not engage in sexual intercourse, eating or dying. Heaven's Gate believed that what the Bible calls God is actually a highly developed Extraterrestrial. Evil space aliens - called Luciferians - falsely represented themselves to Earthlings as God and conspired to keep humans from developing. Technically advanced humanoids, these aliens have spacecraft, space-time travel, telepathy, and increased longevity. They use holograms to fake miracles. Heaven's Gate believed that all existing religions on earth had been corrupted by these malevolent aliens.

Applewhite taught that "aliens planted the seeds of current humanity millions of years ago, and have come to reap the harvest of their work in the form of spiritually evolved individuals who will join the ranks of flying saucer crews. Only a select few members of humanity will be chosen to advance to this transhuman state. The rest will be left to wallow in the spiritually poisoned atmosphere of a corrupt world". Only the individuals who chose to join Heaven's Gate, followed its belief system, and made the sacrifices required by membership would be allowed to escape the prophesied disaster.

In a group open only to adults over the age of 18, members gave up their possessions and lived a highly ascetic life. The group was strictly regimented, tightly knit and everything was communally shared. Eight of the male members, including Applewhite (who was gay), voluntarily underwent castration as an extreme means of maintaining the ascetic lifestyle. "They couldn't stop smiling and giggling," surviving member DiAngelo told Newsweek. "They were excited about it."

Lalich speculates that they were willing to follow Applewhite in suicide because they had become totally dependent upon him, hence were poorly suited to life in his absence. He isolated them socially and cultivated an attitude of complete religious obedience. Applewhite's students had made a long-term commitment to him. Most of the dead had been members for about 20 years, although there were a few recent converts.

Three of the people who suicided left exit statements on their website. These extoll the joys of the Next Level while summing up people on earth as the walking dead. The texts are not the ramblings of disordered minds. The content is fantasy, but they are written in a lucid way in excellent English and give every appearance of sincerity. Unlike the Flat Earth Society, which no doubt numbers people who joined for a joke, as well as those who are not fully convinced, there is little doubt that the members of Heaven's Gate were totally committed to their beliefs. After all, they gave up their sexuality and their lives for their ideal.

QAnon

QAnon at the Capitol invasion

QAnon is a powerful but diffuse contemporary movement that sought to have Trump re-elected. It is animated by a loose collection of extreme right conspiracy theories whose central theme is that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against Donald Trump, who is fighting the cabal. QAnon claims that Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Soros, and others are planning a coup against Trump and are involved in an international child sex-trafficking ring. It alleges that an elite cabal of pedophiles, comprising, among others, Hollywood A-listers, leading philanthropists, Jewish financiers and Democrat politicians, covertly rule the world. Followers of QAnon believe that there is an imminent event known as the "Storm", when thousands of members of the cabal will be arrested and possibly sent to Guantanamo Bay prison, and the US military will brutally take over the country. The result will be salvation and utopia on earth. QAnon promises a "Great Awakening", in which the elites will be routed and the truth revealed.

However, this summary is misleading because QAnon is amorphous, multi-faceted and confusing. In addition it keeps shape-shifting.

The conspiracy theory began with an October 2017 post on the anonymous bulletin-board 4chan by "Q". Q claimed to be a high-level government official with Q clearance. Q predicted the imminent arrest of Hillary Clinton and a violent uprising nationwide. It is likely that Q has become a group of people acting under the same name. QAnon's adherents, while seeing Trump as a flawed Christian, also view him as a messiah sent by God. Trump himself pretends to know little about QAnon, which is a lie. Trump has amplified QAnon messaging at least 216 times by retweeting or mentioning 129 QAnon-affiliated Twitter accounts, sometimes multiple times a day. Being a savvy politician, Trump is perfectly aware that many, perhaps most, of his supporters are QAnon people. He made a correct political calculation, deciding to give only scant public endorsement to QAnon. Showing full support would hurt his standing with moderate Republicans, whereas he does not need to do anything to retain the devotion of QAnon. They are happy with the crumbs he throws their way, being accustomed to snatching at Q's hints.

Q's posts have become more cryptic and vague, allowing followers to map their own beliefs onto them. Part of QAnon's appeal is its game-like quality, in which followers attempt to solve riddles presented in Qdrops by connecting them to Trump speeches and tweets. Q enthralls readers with clues rather than presenting claims directly. Travis View, a researcher who studies QAnon, says that it is as addictive as a video game, and offers the "player" the appealing possibility of being involved in something of world-historical importance. According to View, "You can sit at your computer and search for information and then post about what you find, and Q basically promises that through this process, you are going to radically change the country, institute this incredible, almost bloodless revolution, and then be part of this historical movement that will be written about for generations."

Although Q's claims are false and the prophecies routinely fail, this does little to decrease Q's influence. Believers overlook the lack of results and failed predictions because they gauge the movement's success by its popularity, its opposition from the mainstream media, and its recognition by the President himself. On multiple occasions, Q has dismissed his false claims and incorrect predictions as deliberate, claiming that "disinformation is necessary". This has led psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky to emphasize the "self-sealing" quality of the conspiracy theory, so that evidence against it can become evidence of its validity in the minds of believers. "The absence of evidence is reinterpreted as evidence without batting an eyelid." Conspiracy enthusiasts believe that the burden of proof lies with their opponents, ie that QAnon's claims are valid in the absence of positive proof that there is no cabal and no trafficking of children by Democrats.

Experts judge that QAnon's appeal is comparable to that of religious cults. According to Renee DiResta, QAnon's pattern of enticement is similar to that of cults in the pre-internet era where, as the targeted person was led deeper and deeper into the group's secrets, they became increasingly isolated from friends and family outside the cult. Rachel Bernstein, an expert on cults, has said, "What a movement such as QAnon has going for it, and why it will catch on like wildfire, is that it makes people feel connected to something important that other people don't yet know about... All cults will provide this feeling of being special."

A series of ideas began burbling in the QAnon community: that the coronavirus might not be real; that if it was, it had been created by the "deep state", the cabal of government officials and other elite figures who secretly run the world; that the hysteria surrounding the pandemic was part of a plot to hurt Trump's re-election chances. QAnon is a movement united in mass rejection of reason, objectivity, and other Enlightenment values. Some QAnoners are highly focused on what they perceive as degeneracy in the mainstream media, a perception fuelled in equal measure by Q and by Trump. QAnon may be propelled by paranoia and populism, but it is also driven by religious faith. The language of evangelical Christianity has come to define the QAnon movement. QAnon marries an appetite for the conspiratorial with positive beliefs about a radically different and better future, one that is preordained. As one adherent proclaimed, "It's not a theory. It's the foretelling of things to come."

Edgar Welch is a deeply religious father of two, who until December 4, 2016, had lived an unremarkable life in a small town. That morning, Welch grabbed his collection of guns and drove 580 km to a neighbourhood in Northwest Washington, DC. He held an AR-15 rifle across his chest as he walked through the front door of a pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong. Welch was there because of a conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate, which three years later became a pillar of QAnon. It claimed that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of Comet Ping Pong. The idea originated in October 2016, when some conspiracy theorists asserted that sexual abuse of children was taking place in the basement at Comet, where there is no basement. After firing a rifle to break a lock, Welch realised his mistake and gave himself up to police. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The New York Times wrote in June 2020 that posts on TikTok with the #PizzaGate hashtag were viewed more than 82 million times in recent months. The abuse of children fantasy arose because someone suggested that emails written by the restaurateurs referring to 'pizza' and 'pasta' were code words for 'boys' and 'girls'.

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

by Goya

Anthony Comello was charged with the March 2019 murder of Gambino crime family boss, Frank Cali. According to his defense attorney, Comello had become obsessed with QAnon theories, believing Cali was a member of a "deep state". Comello was convinced he "was enjoying the protection of President Trump himself" so he decided to act. Confronting Cali outside his Staten Island home, Comello allegedly shot Cali ten times. A May 30, 2019, FBI Intelligence Bulletin memo from the Phoenix Field Office identified QAnon-driven extremists as a domestic terrorism threat. Although the conspiracy that QAnon imagines does not exist, there is a real danger that QAnon itself might become a conspiracy of armed vigilantes, determined to bring about the promised "Storm". The storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters, including QAnoners, is not a good sign.

Heavy on millennialism and the idea that a reckoning awaits the world, the theory has found fertile ground in the American alt-right. Some 56% of Republicans believe that QAnon is mostly or partly true. At least 35 current or former congressional candidates have shown support for QAnon. A Time magazine article listed Q among the 25 most influential people on the internet in 2018. Counting more than 130,000 related discussion videos on YouTube, Time cited the wide range of the conspiracy theory and its prominent followers and news coverage.

Why did Q's cryptic post on an obscure message-board ignite a movement involving millions? Why were so many eager to embrace such a far-fetched conspiracy theory? Perhaps it was the surge in confidence of the Right in the wake of Trump's win. Whatever the reasons, the grass was dry and Q provided the spark. Not all QAnoners come from a rightwing background. For those who have had no agency to suddenly discover a path into the game is heady stuff.

QAnon is not confined to the US. It has organised protest demonstrations in 200 countries, ostensibly to "save the children". One in four Britons are said to believe in QAnon-related theories. According to The Guardian, QAnon is growing in the UK, spilling over into anti-vaccine and 5G protests, fuelled by online misinformation. At a QAnon rally, Shemirani, a nurse suspended for promoting baseless theories about Covid19, told the crowd: "Our government has declared war on the people of the UK."

"There is a high possibility that the spirited belief system which surrounds QAnon can slowly become a political movement in the UK," Liyanage said. "It will be successful because no one can fight it through reason. It's not a rational belief system but mostly a supernatural belief system."

The time for Trump to arrest the pedophiles and satanists is fast running out. It is interesting to speculate what effect his departure will have on a conspiracy theory in which he is the key figure. My guess is that the powerful energy and passion that drive QAnon will shift focus.

My own view is that QAnon is a blank slate onto which people project their darkest nightmares, as well as their hopes for a Christian utopia. Where do the ideas of satanism, eating children, sinister cabals, sexual depravity, and other crimes against children come from? The answer is simple: from the minds of those who form QAnon. QAnon is nothing but a mirror showing people their shared fantasy. People are sharing with each other their worst fears, as well as their hopes. The dark parts are projected onto the favourite targets of the alt-right, ie Hillary and other Democrats, Jews, and liberals, whereas the messianic hopes are projected onto Trump and Q. However, it is a mistake to see the QAnon conspiracy theory as the work of Q. Although Q was the initial cause, his cryptic and vague messages are merely prompts, asking people to fill in the blanks. This is what many have done and the result is a miasma of fanciful lies about corruption, sexual perversions and violence. The irony is that whereas the accusations made by QAnon are entirely baseless, QAnon might itself become a violent entity, little better than the chimera it rails against.

James Baldwin wrote, "It is a terrible, an inexorable, law that one cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own." Voltaire put it more starkly, "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

Is Credulity Humanity's Achilles Heel?

The three belief systems discussed  have almost nothing in common except the rejection of the consensus view of reality, combined with belief in a fantasised conspiracy. In each case, powerful unseen forces are seen as perverting or hiding the truth of what is really going on. All three beliefs appear absurd except to people who are believers. The puzzle is why do apparently normal people adopt such ideas?

In a study published online in March, 2014, in the American Journal of Political Science, Oliver and Wood, found that about half of Americans endorse at least one conspiracy theory, such as the notion that 9/11 was an inside job or the JFK conspiracy. "Many people are willing to believe many ideas that are directly in contradiction to a dominant cultural narrative," Oliver said. According to him, conspiratorial belief stems from a human tendency to perceive unseen forces at work, known as magical thinking.

In the Middle Ages the Devil was a convenient factor that could be used to explain anything weird or harmful, while the deity took responsibility for the rest. With the advance of science, both the Devil and God gradually lost their explanatory powers. God became "the God of the gaps", being only needed to explain what was missing in our understanding of the physical world. Nowadays, the term "act of God" is reserved to describe the insurance industry's view of natural disasters.

In the modern era magical thinking has undergone a new twist. God and the Devil have been replaced by conspiracies. A recent survey of 26,000 people in 25 countries asked respondents whether they believe there is "a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together". In the US 37% replied that this is "definitely or probably true". So did 45% of Italians, 56% of Spaniards and 78% of Nigerians.

2020 was the year of Covid19. The coronavirus has triggered the rise of myriad myths, waves of misinformation and virus conspiracy theories, including that it does not exist - believed by 22% in Poland, where there have been nearly 1.4 million cases. The virus has also had an incubating effect on unrelated conspiracy theories because it has thrown humankind into a state of fear and isolated people in their homes with too much time to think and surf. The extra time in the virtual space means increased exposure to the proponents of conspiracy theories, without the balancing effect of social interactions.

According to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the normal process is that as people begin to acquire knowledge of a given subject, their feelings of competence rise quickly towards a peak, before declining, as they begin to realise how much more there is to know. In the case of conspiracy theories, such as QAnon, people can arrive almost immediately at that delicious peak of confidence, without actually learning anything at all. QAnon is like a super-car that can do 0 to 100 kph in 3 seconds flat. Many are captivated by the vicarious thrill of believing they are privy to vastly important secrets about which millions of people have no idea. This is the seductive appeal of conspiracy theories.

What causes us to believe? There is an analogy between religions and conspiracy theories. Once you pay the price of entry, ie faith in a religious doctrine or conspiracy, the payoff is that much of the confusion and mystery of life is dispelled because you are in possession of the answers. Yuval Harari: "Our lives are repeatedly rocked by wars, revolutions, crises and pandemics. But if I believe some kind of global cabal theory, I enjoy the comforting feeling that I do understand everything. The skeleton key of global cabal theory unlocks all the world's mysteries and offers me entree into an exclusive circle - the group of people who understand. It makes me smarter and wiser than the average person and even elevates me above the intellectual elite and the ruling class: professors, journalists, politicians. I see what they overlook - or what they try to conceal."

The spectrum of irrational beliefs shares one characteristic: they are all unfalsifiable. Their adherents never say, "If such-and-such happens I will discard this belief." This is particularly apparent in doomsday predictions. The predicted date comes and goes, but the true believers simply reset the clock to a future date. A cult called the Seekers went one better. They believed a UFO would save them from a cataclysm on December 24, 1954. Afterwards, some of the members claimed that their group's devotion had saved the rest of the world from disaster. They responded by proselytizing with renewed vigour. Cults and conspiracy theories are highly resistant to correction. Even the thoroughly discredited Pizzagate is still believed by masses of people.

The self-validating nature of the beliefs ensures that all evidence can be construed as confirmation. New findings that contradict a belief are interpreted as proof of the further workings of the conspiracy to hide the truth. Yet cults and conspiracy theories are not the only systems that guarantee their own validation. If one questions what is taught in a personal growth course one is rebuked with, "You are resisting". Pseudo-science is very difficult to debunk. Inconvenient facts, such as aliens not showing up, are explained by another tweak to the doctrine.

To be fair, the process of theory adjustment happens in science proper as well. When a theory fails experimental test it may be given an additional proviso that accounts for the discrepancy. For instance, the fact that personal experience can be handed down as a genetic legacy to future generations seems to contradict standard evolutionary theory. As it turns out, there is no contradiction. A new sub-science called epigenetics explains the mechanism of this process in terms of alterations to the DNA molecule that do not change the genetic code but which influence gene expression.

Since science is a human activity, it is subject to the foibles of our species. It too has dogmas that are difficult to overturn. Thomas Kuhn has written persuasively about paradigm shifts in science. He saw the history of science as consisting of normal and revolutionary phases, in which the community of scientists in a particular field are plunged into periods of turmoil, uncertainty and angst. These revolutionary phases, such as the transition from classical physics to quantum mechanics, involve great conceptual breakthroughs and lay the basis for a succeeding phase of business as usual. This is captured in an aphorism that is only half humorous, "The measure of the greatness of a scientist is how long they hold up advancement in their chosen field."

The history of science features dogmas that were held too long and new ideas that took an unreasonably long time to be accepted. One example is the resistance to the theory of plate tectonics, another is the opposition to a bacterial explanation for the cause of ulcers. The mainstream rejection of functional medicine and the progress it has made in curing Alzheimer's Disease is a current example.

Nevertheless, the greatest strength of science is that it is tentative: any scientific theory may be overturned and replaced by a better theory in the future. The criterion of a theory being scientific is that it makes predictions which could, in principle, be falsified by new data. Yet to a fundamentalist or a common sense sceptic, such as a flat earther, this is not a strength but a weakness. They point out that science can never prove anything, that scientific theories have been debunked plus questions science can't answer. Hence science is not to be trusted. With the authority of science diminished, the field opens for persuasive individuals with pet theories, especially about conspiracies. Why conspiracies? Because a belief that goes counter to the accepted view of reality requires a widespread suppression of the truth.

The bottom line is that many people do not perform due diligence in checking the information they encounter and its sources. Given the virulent spread of QAnon and other conspiracy theories, this is a massive under-statement. The worry is that many obtain their news from questionable sources, such as Facebook and YouTube.

Ultimately, eschewing reputable news media in favour of bulletin-boards and succumbing to their conspiracy theories has deeper causes. These are alienation and a lack of trust in society and its leaders. Why are people alienated and distrustful? Perhaps the underlying problem is not credulity but its opposite, ie a loss of belief in the system. Those who are drawn to far-right conspiracy theories have lost trust in democracy and the modern state. They think the US no longer embodies the ideals they believe in. Conservative Christians and right-wingers resent their defeat in "the culture wars", which were about abortion, separation of church and state, creationism, recreational drug use, homosexuality, and censorship. Perhaps the "Great Awakening" is their dream of a return to how things were. The fact that they grasp at ludicrous ideas indicates the depth of their disaffection.

Of course, irrational beliefs, superstitions, baseless theories and weird cults have been with us all through history, ever since the invention of writing, and probably long before. The difference now is that we supposedly live in the age of reason and science. Furthermore, knowledge is far more freely available than at any time in the past. The problem is that disinformation, extravagant falsehoods, fringe beliefs, and sensational stories are more easily disseminated than ever before, and they seem to capture peoples' attention more than sober facts. The difference between 30 years ago and now is that anyone can post anything and potentially reach millions of people. It's the old story - those who know least have the loudest voices. The paradox is that although reliable knowledge is now easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection, millions are turning their backs on both science and common sense.

My conclusion is that despite the advances of human knowledge, human nature itself has not changed. We remain a species ruled by emotion rather than logic, and hence we come to believe all kinds of nonsense.

Another conclusion comes from an insight of the brilliant intellectual, Yuval Harari. He is convinced that we human beings can only prosper and live in harmony with each other provided we believe in a shared myth. If so, then a propensity towards credulity might be built into our genome. Unfortunately, credulity is dangerous, as shown in Heaven's Gate, the Jim Jones cult and QAnon.

Tad Boniecki

January 2021

[connywrites]

quicksands of the mind

and the sinkholes you may find

-

content warnings for suicidal ideation, self-harm

He hadn’t wanted to kill himself in a long time. Even on a bad day, he’d tell himself he didn’t want to attempt suicide at all, but the deeper scars in jagged horizontal lines down his forearms reminded him otherwise. There wasn’t much memory with them aside from waking up in the hospital with blurry vision, unable to hear properly while the nurses asked questions, watching him jitter and shake. Watching him dig and pull at his own skin and having to pull him away, just short of restraining him as he wasn’t actually violent and didn’t have enough strength to do any real damage, but having to make sure he’d keep his hands to himself for the rest of the night.

Death, itself, was a far-fetched concept for someone who had always avoided it by the skin of his teeth. Leo had gotten in fights, been mugged, stabbed, smacked, punched, hit, crashed his motorcycle and wound up in the hospital with grave injuries and a permanent limp, taken bullets, and while a fair collection of his scars were self-induced, they were never quite so severe as to what others had done to him. It fed into the idea that he was a coward if he wasn’t brave enough to take it to the next level, but the thought that maybe it was because he simply didn’t want to die had revisited him more than once.

Thus it left him in a battle against himself, in a dark room, surrounded by comfortable blankets, a warm meal and some candles, as Markus made a habit of setting up. His old friends would be jealous; he knew they would because he experienced that exact envy ever since Markus came to be. To be birthed into a perfect world, to live with wealth and gratitude, to want to give and to be given back to, to live with someone that gave and gave and gave so much; the person that was his own father, in a home that could have been his own, with kindness and empathy that he could have had. Love was theoretically a natural deterrence against misery; why would you make the ones that cared about you suffer by letting yourself go, giving yourself the freedom of nonexistent peace while they were left to pick up the ugly pieces? Suicide was the coward’s way out, yet it somehow felt more embarrassing to try and get someone else to do the job, whether they knew your intentions or not.

Carl gave and gave, and he took and took, and Leo had the audacity to be angry when his gentle-hearted father stopped giving, trying to pull it to a full stop 28 years into his life. Well overdue, in his mind. The tears stung his eyes and the knot swelled in his throat, and the nausea welled in his stomach as he remembered everything he’d done. The way he’d spoken to him, the way he torn him and his life down with all of the 5 swear words he seemed to hold in his very limited vocabulary.

You won’t help me, so I’ll just help myself.

A vile, evil person, he’d convinced himself he was long before he could differentiate himself from the drugs. Feeling like a shitty person before he ever hit puberty and long after he’d left his teenage years behind, it took multiple hospital visits, near-death experiences and long nights doing things he’d regret with worse emotions than he’d convinced himself the rage ever was; it took multiple attempts to sober up to differentiate that it wasn’t him at all.

Red ice made him angry, and withdrawals from red ice made him angry. Sobriety left him miserable, and since he’d convinced himself he’d be miserable no matter what, he could certainly allow the excuse to do drugs. To get into fights, to stare down the barrel of a gun while he challenged the trigger finger until it blew, to antagonize and steal and lie and believe that it was all worthwhile in the favor of why wouldn’t I do it, anyway? And life doesn’t mean anything in the end or if I’m going to die young, I might as well make it fun.

None of it was fun. Nothing was worthwhile and it never lasted longer than a burnt soda can with singed ashes resting in the bottomside curve, dripping into the container that’d been full of cola he’d poured down the drain after jabbing the holes, too nauseous to ever consider taking a drink.

Seeing red.

All his life. His mother, his father, his lack of any sort of care-giving whatsoever made it all too obvious that nobody was going to care and subsequently, why should he? His birth was an accident. His mother was paid to raise him, and when the money was gone, so were her patience.

He knew what that was like. Maybe he got it from her. Carl was such a saint with seemingly eternal intelligence and wisdom, he could barely believe they were related by blood. So lead to the delusion between years ten and twenty-two that he might have been – probably was – adopted until he finally couldn’t take it anymore and had to look up the family history.

He was never in the old photographs, his mother too embarrassed to include him in such a thing.

Then again, she didn’t have any pictures of Carl either. He wondered who were in all those photos on her walls were supposed to be, let alone if they ever really meant anything to her.

Photos were artificial, mirrored captures of the past, and why would you hold onto that? He couldn’t think of a moment he’d want to take a picture of, that he was happy about or proud of. He never smiled in the camera – sometimes he glowered into to lens from afar when he was in group photos at the parties, tagged for some kind of crazy escapades he’d taken part in on the social media platforms until those people, too, grew tired of him. Stupid, boring, violent. What’s your problem? What the fuck is wrong with you?

‘What is wrong with me?’ There was a suffocating discomfort as he took in his surroundings, the disassociation spell abruptly ending as he realized where he was again.

Everything. Everything was wrong.

Nothing. The drugs were wrong.

When nothing felt right, he did what he’d always done; left the area to go on a long walk until his legs hurt and he’d exhausted himself, physically and eventually mentally, awake on days-long insomnia binges until his brain couldn’t function. Time wasn’t a fathomable concept to him at the moment so he didn’t bother checking the clock or otherwise identify the surroundings for indications, staggering in a tired daze as he’d walked towards the door.

Leo knew he would be there as soon as he opened it, as Markus had a nature to do – particularly when he was in a bad place. He had no idea if he’d been there the whole time, nearby, or somehow heard his thoughts from across the mansion with his super-sonic bat hearing, but either way, he’d always come even when he wasn’t summoned.

In the past, it was unnerving. Sometimes it was scary. Usually it was annoying.

Tonight, it was nothing short of appreciated.

“Bro,” he murmured with a strain in his voice, something like an agitated whine as he acted outright bothered by his presence.

“Brother,” Markus replied with only slight mock-disdain wrapped within his sincere concern, as he didn’t feel so much like reciprocating whatever deflection Leo was trying to give in regard to his bad mood. Leo may have tried to be secretive about his depression, but the signs were there; from skipping meals, isolation, and losing sleep to the fatigue, lack of ability to focus or concentrate, the way he moved slower on his feet and seemed to be in a daze, how his limp got worse as the aches in his joints increased. How long had Leo showed symptoms that he’d felt this way? Two weeks ongoing. Why? Markus wasn’t sure, only able to shuffle through his library of estimated guesses, and even then, he preferred not to in favor of avoiding the mistake of making assumptions. Leo’s business was his own, and by now, he knew he could share it if he so felt the need.

The tears wasted no time returning to Leo’s swollen, baggy eyes, sclera reddened from the strain of lacking what he physically needed and feeling too many emotions that he didn’t.

Markus opened his arms and he was all too eager to fall into them, letting his body grow weak. Not unlike the way he did the boy’s father, Markus shifted to kneel and prompted Leo to do similarly, curling his arms around the back of his legs while he let his body grow lax, finally able to trust as Markus scooped him up in his arms. Fingers curling into the fabrics of the soft, white cotton sweater, he hid his face into his chest as he let himself be carried away from the room.

For a long time, Leo refused to be looked after, and for a short time, Markus refused to pamper him. Eventually, they’d learned to meld Markus’ natural design as a caretaker, as well as Leo’s neglected internal need to be taken care of. Now, it had nearly come naturally for both of them.

Markus knew the signal for the routine, wandering to the bathroom, ensuring he was gentle as he settled Leo on the stool that he’d returned to the area – it was Carl’s to use when he was brought in for the oral hygiene routine, now left by the bathtub rather than the sink so Leo could sit down without being on the floor as Markus was aware of his exhaustion, always present and ever-increasing. The less energy he used, the better. While Leo settled in the space he was given, Markus leaned to turn on the faucet, adjusting it to a warm temperature but avoiding the hotter end in case of inducing a fever.

“Arms up.” With his head down as he was already half dozing off in his seat, Leo straightened up to look at him through squinted eyes, taking a few seconds to understand the command before doing as he was asked. Careful not to further alarm or hurt him, Markus took the shirt by the hem and pulled it up over his shoulders, then along his arms until it was peeled off.

“Would you like me to?” The subject was touchy, so he never finished the sentence. Leo responded with an awkward nod, crooked as his body swayed. Reaching for the waistband of Leo’s pants to tuck his fingers beneath the rim the same way he had with the sweater, it took a bit of nudging to peel them down and away, his attention focused on Leo’s face for the sake of the man’s own dignity even if he wasn’t entirely coherently aware of the situation. Once the clothes were folded and put to the side, he rose to his feet to reach under Leo’s arms in the proper, harmless way so as to lift him and bring him to the bath.

It was personal, and some might consider it intimate; now, it had become nothing more than natural.

“S’this what it was like with dad?” Feeling the warmth of the bath warm his feet, then his ankles, up to his legs, Leo roused, feeling another bout of tears roll down his cheeks. He wasn’t sure why, losing track of the reason for his despair hours, days, weeks ago.

“Somewhat,” Markus replied simply. Leo was in no condition to make conversation, but he also respected the fact it seemed to help him to speak. With his hands making way to the water, Leo watched the flow of transparent liquid, feeling a bit more awake from the sensations and temperature change.

“I loved him. I really did.” That was why he was crying, and the waterworks were only encouraged by his increasing depression. Settling on the floor next to the tub in a comfortable position, Markus reached forward to thumb the tears from his cheeks – an impractical gesture as he knew they wouldn’t stop, but a useful one as Leo would appreciate the heartfelt action.

“I know.”

No, you don’t, his mind argued, but his mouth was too tired and his head was too sore. Markus caught on.

“There is more to you than what you did in the past,” Markus reminded him, neglecting the use of who you were as he was well aware that Leo’s negative personality aspects were stirred up for good reason, but most of which was external from parental neglect and the incessant substance abuse.

“Remember that.”

Leo felt the lump in his throat again as he turned his head to glance at Markus, unable to put together an entire meaning to the words he said, but trying to register them nonetheless.

“Will it ever stop hurting? His death.” This time, Leo wiped at his own tears, too tired to acknowledge that it was a waste as his hands were wet from the water anyway.

“I want the caramel one.”

“Got it,” Markus responded to the request first, opening the cupboard under the sink to grab the requested bath soap, squeezing a generous amount into the pouring water before putting it away again.

“I can’t answer that for you, Leo.” Leo cringed from hearing his name, as if it had somehow hurt him.

“Tch, who named me that, anyway? I bet mom flipped over one of those stupid baby books and pointed with her eyes closed. Probably was drunk, too.” Bitterness dripped from his words, and Markus neglected them; responding to Leo in this state in any way, bad or good, would only encourage the negative thoughts and he’d quickly learned not to do so.

“Pillow?” Eyes now closed with the tears slowing, Leo nodded. Repeating the action as with the bubble bath, he retrieved the item from the closet, setting it against the porcelain rim and ensuring it was firmly set in place before he put an arm around Leo’s upper back, supporting him from behind the shoulders as he slowly leaned him back.

Leo had learned to appreciate the care, but it had taken him a long time, and for the most part, he didn’t accept it – the usual exception being nights like this, when he’d given up every last desire to fight. When he was too tired to remember being so vulnerable, when he’d let Markus touch and hold without his internal defiance telling him to refuse, to feel invaded like he’d been so many times before. When he’d needed so badly to be looked after and wanted so simply to be loved that the idea of a machine replicating such a thing was dissipated from his mind, and Markus was no longer cold metal and plastic; only warm hands and soft words.

“Did dad want to die?” Markus stiffened in place, frozen by the unexpected question.

“He loathed the probability of it, but he tried to live his life to the fullest, even if he didn’t feel like he was.” Was that too many words? Markus wasn’t sure, toying with the idea he might have been saying it just as much for himself.

“What do you mean?” It was too many words.

“Carl knew it was coming. I would not say he craved death, but over the time I spent with him, he focused on it more.” It was strange to Markus, the way Carl had spent his last days griping over the people around him, the artificial art industry, his own body’s faults and the fact his age was catching up to him. It made Markus feel no better, but it didn’t hit home so much until after it was much too late.

“Why are you asking?” It was dangerous territory, and generally Markus knew better than to ask, but the worry began to overcome his consideration for Leo’s personal boundaries.

Leo’s eyes opened and he turned his head to look at Markus, somehow looking even more exhausted than he was moments ago. Markus turned off the faucet, dipping a hand into the bath water to ensure its temperature was still ideal.

“I never thought I’d grow old. I still don’t think I will. But he had so much to live for.” Markus’ eyebrows lowered slightly as he didn’t fully understand the sentiment.

“You have plenty of years ahead of you. Whether you have anything to live for is a matter of opinion, and therefor up to you.” Pausing, Markus decided it was finally time to ask.

“What’s the matter?”

The tears came again and Leo closed his eyes, sighing.

“I don’t know.” Slightly stunned, Markus didn’t expect the answer, as Leo almost always had a reason to be upset, even if it seemed minor or nonsensical to anyone around him, sometimes even himself.

“I just… I don’t feel so good.” Markus tilted his head, feeling an urge to reach forward and pet his brother’s hair back in a show of consideration, but that was too close, he knew too well after months of experiencing and discovering Leo’s own personal space and when, where or why he wanted to be touched.

“Elaborate?” He paused, catching the fact he hadn’t watched his vocabulary.

“Explain, please.” Leo was too tired to snarl at his own stupidity, rolling onto his side to face Markus, though his eyes remained closed.

“I don’t feel well and I don’t know why. And it won’t stop.”

Then it clicked.

“If you would like, I can book you an appointment to see someone. I know you do not trust therapists, but there’s a walk-in clinic. You fill out some paperwork, tell them your problems and they suggest some medication.” Leo immediately furrowed his eyebrows at the idea of pills, scowling.

“I know you don’t like them,” Markus added wittingly.

“But they might help you feel better, even just a little.”

“Okay.” He didn’t feel like arguing. Markus was aware he’d likely forget his agreement tomorrow, but they could discuss that when the next day came.

“We should get you back to bed.” Leo didn’t say anything, reaching for the side of the tub as if to go and pull himself out. Markus couldn’t help but smile at his stubborn insistence for something like that, in a state like this, patting him on the hand in a faux mocking gesture that was playful in its motion. Leo opened his eyes with more alertness than he’d felt before he started crying in the first place – catching the smile, the restlessness in his mind settled again.

“I take that back. I should get you back to bed.” Looking lost, as if he didn’t remember how he got here, Leo’s eyes widened as he recoiled on himself, closing his legs and bringing them close to his body in a moment of recognized embarrassment.

“Oh, really? Now?” This time, Markus couldn’t help his own sarcasm, even if it was in jest.

“Come on, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” Markus’ extent of maturity was elusive to Leo, and it still showed every day as he didn’t understand, only felt his metaphysical boundaries being penetrated as he was aware of his aches, pains, scars and natural bodily anatomy all over again, cheeks reddening when he looked off to the side. Shifting to sit up, he lowered his legs and held up his arms as he’d done when he’d went to forego his shirt, cuing Markus to lift him up from underneath them just as he had done before.

“I don’t want to go to bed.” Realizing that wasn’t exactly what he meant, Leo reconsidered his thoughts.

“I don’t want to be in that bed.” With a moment of understanding, Markus repeated the actions he’d done when he picked Leo up from the doorway but with more ease as he was already sitting down in the tub, scooping his other arm up underneath the back of his legs to lift and carry him.

“I’ll take you to the guest room, then.”

Leo was asleep in his arms before he reached the door.

[automaticcollectorwinnerell-blog]

Crocs' unholy marriage of clog shoe and fanny pack shows why the company is experiencing explosive growth in the face of a huge fashion upheaval

Two of the most controversial fashions in the world - fanny packs and Crocs - have melded to form a mutant amalgamation. Japanese fashion brand Beams partnered with Crocs to create the "Pocket" Croc, a Croc with a fanny pack attached to its ankle strap. The collaboration debuted earlier this month, with shoes selling for 5940 yen, or about $53, on Beams' website. Read more: You can buy Crocs with miniature fanny packs and sun visors that are perfect for summer Some people were less than enthused about the clog-fanny-pack hybrid. Fast Company announced the collaboration with the headline: "Crocs Just Got More Absurd." The New York Post cut even deeper, stating: "Crocs add fanny packs, somehow get uglier." Crocs' collaboration with Beams. Beams But, fanny-pack-Croc haters are wrong. The fashion Frankenstein is not only on the cutting edge of aesthetics; it is also a brilliant business decision, in line with the strategy that has driven Crocs' impressive comeback in recent years. Essentially, the argument against fanny-pack-Crocs is built on a lie. Are the shoes ugly? Maybe. But, assuming that this ugliness is unappealing to customers and detrimental to business is completely off base. While apparel trends have long relied on people's understanding of what is and isn't flattering or attractive, at this point the counter-trend of ugly fashion has fully permeated the mainstream. "Ugly products have become so ironic that they're now trendy, thanks to designer brands launching their own ugly clothing items," Business Insider's Mary Hanbury reported in 2018. "It's an excellent marketing ploy - these unappealing products with large price tags create a backlash and subsequent buzz on social media." Balenciaga Crocs. Balenciaga Vetements debuted high-top sock sneakers and boots that hit your hip for hundreds of dollars. Y/Projects crafted a thigh-high Ugg. Ugly, unflattering denim has achieved such dominance that often unflattering cuts are the new normal, helping drive a 9% increase in women's jeans sales between February 2018 and February 2019. Crocs has been perfectly positioned for the concepts to travel from the runway into the mainstream. After all, Balenciaga debuted platform Crocs during Paris Fashion Week in October 2017. When they became available to the general public a few months later, they sold out within hours - despite the $850 price tag. With ugly getting cool, Crocs is thriving. Earlier in April, the company reported that its same-store sales grew 10.8% in 2018. Online sales were up 22.5% for the year. The brand's popularity is skyrocketing among trendsetting teenagers. In October, Piper Jaffray's biannual survey of teen preferences found that Crocs ranked 13th out of all footwear brands in teen popularity, up from No. 27 the prior year. Read more: Crocs' popularity is skyrocketing among teens as ugly fashion takes over "We see this as a real connection to a generation and a consumer group," Crocs CEO Andrew Rees said of Gen Z during a call with investors in April. "We're offering them a product which has incredible value." Post Malone's Crocs collaboration. Crocs Crocs has found success by partnering with celebrities and other fashion brands while simultaneously leaning into the inherent "ugliness" of the clog. The brand's two collaborations with rapper Post Malone in late 2018 rapidly sold out. Already in 2019, Crocs has released collaborations with several trendy streetwear brands, including Pleasures, Left Hand LA, and Chinatown Market. Each of the collaborations quickly sold out. Read more: Crocs and Post Malone have a new collaboration after the rapper's first shoe sold out in less than a day The Beams collaboration is perfectly in line with this strategy. If anything, the bulkiness of the fanny pack only makes the Crocs more appealing in the current fashion moment. Are there a few practical concerns? Sure! My colleague Mary Hanbury pointed out that people might tread on the back of the shoe, accidentally ripping off the Crocs' fanny pack. "Also, in busy crowds if you reach down to get some money out you might get knocked over and crushed," she added. But, these risks pale in comparison to the potential pay-off - for both Crocs and for the Crocs wearer. People who ridicule fanny-pack-Crocs are missing the point. There's something joyful about an ugly, semi-practical, semi-absurd shoe. Teenagers realize this joy, as do people steering the ship at Crocs. It's anti-Crocs curmudgeons who are missing out.

[gavinsimon]

What is Social Media?

The term social media refers to a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through virtual networks and communities. Social media is internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content, such as personal information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with social media via a computer, tablet, or smartphone via web-based software or applications. While social media is ubiquitous in America and Europe, Asian countries like Indonesia lead the list of social media usage. More than 4.5 billion people use social media, as of October 2021.

Understanding Social Media

Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family but was later adopted by businesses that wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method to reach out to customers. The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone on Earth, or with many people simultaneously.

There are more than 3.8 billion social media users around the world. Social media is an ever-changing and ever-evolving field, with new apps such as TikTok and Clubhouse coming out seemingly every year, joining the ranks of established social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. According to the Pew Research Center, social media users tend to be younger. Nearly 90% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 used at least one form of social media. 

Types of Social Media

Social media may take the form of a variety of tech-enabled activities. These activities include photo sharing, blogging, social gaming, social networks, video sharing, business networks, virtual worlds, reviews, and much more. Even governments and politicians utilize social media to engage with constituents and voters.

For individuals, social media is used to keep in touch with friends and extended family. Some people will use various social media applications to network career opportunities, find people across the globe with like-minded interests, and share their thoughts, feelings, insights, and emotions. Those who engage in these activities are part of a virtual social network.

For businesses, social media is an indispensable tool. Companies use the platform to find and engage with customers, drive sales through advertising and promotion, gauge consumer trends, and offer customer service or support.

Social media's role in helping businesses is significant. It facilitates communication with customers, enabling the melding of social interactions on e-commerce sites. Its ability to collect information helps focus on marketing efforts and market research. It helps in promoting products and services, as it enables the distribution of targeted, timely, and exclusive sales and coupons to would-be customers. Further, social media can help in building customer relationships through loyalty programs linked to social media.

Social media apps include:

-Facebook

-Twitter

-Instagram

-Tiktok

-Youtube

-Pinterest

-Messenger

-Viber

-Snapchat

-Telegram

-Discord

-WhatsApp

Users can connect with others and form communities via social media. It's about creating relationships rather than just announcing or posting something and then not engaging with them. It is obviously altering one's communication style.

Here are some of the most well-known advantages and disadvantages of social media:

ADVANTAGES

1. Worldwide connectivity - Through social media, we have the opportunity to connect with others and share knowledge. Communication is the glue that binds us all together, and it is readily available.

2. Information spread fast - Everything significant, such as big news events, missing persons, weather information, and so on, can be covered throughout the world in a matter of seconds.

3. It lets us share anything with others - Instead of persuading a publishing house, social media allows artists to satisfy a million people while maintaining creative freedom.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Privacy problems - Sharing your online location, getting in trouble at work for tweeting something inappropriate, or sharing too much information with the public can all lead to problems that are difficult to resolve.

2. It changes lifestyle habits and sleeping schedule - Because most social media is done on computers or mobile devices, it can sometimes encourage people to spend too much time sitting in one place for too long. Staring into the light from a computer or phone screen late at night can interfere with getting a good night's sleep.

3. Fake information can be shared – Of course if information can be shared, it is inevitable that some of it are false information so we need to double check the information first before we share it with others

To summarize,

Social media has taken the world by storm, capturing more than 3.8 billion users worldwide and counting. Whether or not each platform resonates with you personally, there are endless ways for businesses to market to their consumers and target them to ultimately make a purchase. Allowing us to stay connected with friends, find information easily, and add our own personalities to the online world, social networks are here to stay. It is just amazing as of a century ago, none of this social media apps and platforms existed and it is quite difficult for messages and important files to be sent in a quick span of time, but now, with just a few clicks and an internet connection, talking to a person on another place or country isn't a hassle anymore.

References:

[snoppy-dog]

the really fucking insidious thing about tiktok and the way people behave on that platform is really just how every piece of content seems like it has to portray the user as having an idyllic life.

Everytime I see someone post something interesting in regards to the industry i work in, that I think is a nice useful tip, the rest of their page is just filled with heavy idealization of their lives, making it seem like theyve got it made an its easy going, and you just gotta keep the attitude up.

and i mean man its just rougher than that. 100% of the time i see someone give some advice, i say "hey thats helpful" and then in all of two seconds flat, im feeling inadequate and like ive somehow done things wrong

And I know this existed on other platforms as well, but it really feels like tiktok has combined all the worst things of all social media and melded it into something awful

[aion-rsa]

Upcoming Movies in November 2020: Streaming, VOD, and Theaters

https://ift.tt/3evPPz5

At this very moment, Halloween decorations are coming down, shattered Jack-o-Lanterns are being swept up, and bounties of candy are being traded by the most discerning of Trick ‘r Treaters. Yes, All Hallows’ Eve is done and November is here.

Seasonally that means warm sweaters and warmer, fuzzier movies at the cinema (or streamer in 2020 parlance). Even though we are still nearly two months away from Christmas, a glance at the upcoming November releases reveal it’s already the season to be jolly. But there’s more than feel-good cheer. There are also horror movies, awards contenders, and comedies to look forward to, whether in a theater or from the comfort of your own home.

Let Him Go

November 6 in the U.S. (December 11 in the UK)

Did you walk away from Man of Steel wishing you could just get a film about Kevin Costner and Diane Lane dealing with the seedy side of family life in rural America? Then you’re in luck, because Let Him Go looks like a slow-boiling thriller that actually takes advantage of their talents. In the film from writer-director Thomas Bezucha (pulling from a Larry Watson novel), the pair plays retired sheriff George Blackledge (Costner) and his wife Margaret (Lane).

After their son dies, the Blackledges’ daughter-in-law marries again, taking their grandson into a new family. But when the grieving grandparents realize her second husband is abusive, and is himself the son of even shadier figures (Lesley Manville and Jeffrey Donovan), George and Margret are roped into a nightmare of familial trauma and treachery. Do they let their grandson go, or face the scariest thing in the heartland… Manville’s Blanche Weboy.

Mank

November 13 (December 4 in the UK)

Prior to its December bow on Netflix, David Fincher’s hotly anticipated Mank will have a limited run in theaters later this month. The picture, which is already being hailed on social media as a masterpiece by many, is Fincher’s first film since 2014’s Gone Girl and has the tantalizing setup of being about the sometimes overlooked writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, co-screenwriter of Citizen Kane.

With an apparently sweltering performance by Gary Oldman as the hard drinking and morally ambivalent writer, the picture is shot in much the same style as Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece. Mank also pulls from other styles and seems to investigate the disputed claim by critic Pauline Kael that Mankiewicz deserved sole authorship for Citizen Kane’s script. Either way the film, which also features a screenplay by Fincher’s father, Jack Fincher, looks like one of the most unique and exciting movies of 2020.

Freaky

November 13

Writer-director Christopher Landon did an unlikely thing a few years ago with Happy Death Day: He made the Groundhog Day concept of being forced to relive the same day over and over again into a genuinely clever and amusing horror-comedy. He now seeks to do the same trick twice with Freaky, another Blumhouse Productions theatrical release that reworks the concept of Disney’s Freaky Friday with a blood-curdling twist. Instead of being about a mother and teenage daughter switching place, now the teenage girl is swapping bodies with a serial killer.

It’s a gonzo premise, which gives a lot of room for actors Kathryn Newton, as heroine Millie, and Vince Vaughn, as “the Blissfield Butcher,” to do big, bold things—especially once they switch characters.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

November 13

Netflix’s first major Christmas movie of the 2020 season aims to be a real showstopper. How can it not be with songs by Philip Lawrence and the immeasurable John Legend? The Grammy winning pair are now trying their hand at a Christmas musical with Jingle Jangle, a toe-tapper fantasy that melds Dickensian Yuletide iconography with a star-studded cast of diverse talent.

At the center of it is Forest Whitaker as the ultimate toy inventor who’s on the brink of unveiling his masterpiece. But after it’s stolen by the dastardly Keegan-Michael Key, two children must go on an adventure to save… look, it’s a family holiday movie with John Legend songs. You’re either in or you’re out!

Ammonite

November 13 (U.S. Only)

After months on the festival circuit, Francis Lee’s much anticipated Ammonite finally arrives in theaters this month. The film stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan as a pair embarking on a forbidden romance, yes, and it also promises a look at a world on the cusp of change. Some of it will be significant and relatively sudden, with Winslet playing the pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning, who in real life reached international notoriety for her scientific discoveries of Jurassic fossils along the English Channel. Some of it will be painfully slow if nonexistent.

The latter struggle occurs when Winslet’s Anning agrees to essentially chaperone Charlotte Murchison (Ronan), the depressed wife of a wealthy benefactor. But as Anne and Charlotte’s business arrangement becomes a friendship, and then blossoms into something more, their work along the coast becomes a point of interest for not only the pair, but also all those watching from the wings. A definite awards contender, it’s one many have been waiting to see for themselves since the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Fatman

November 13 in theaters, November 24 digital (U.S. Only)

Mel Gibson is playing Santa Claus. To reiterate, Mel “Mad Max” Gibson, is portraying old Kris Kringle.

But you should realize this isn’t your daddy’s Santa. Hell, it’s not even your Santa. But if this grindhouse VOD release somehow works… it might be one you are happy exists.

Read more

Movies

20 Christmas Movies for Badasses

By Michael Reed

Movies

The 17 Best Christmas Horror Movies

By Elizabeth Rayne and 3 others

The gist is Gibson’s Kris is a bitter burnout who has become disillusioned by the lack of Christmas Spirit out there. He’s even collaborating with the U.S. military to make ends meet. But when a lump of coal pisses off the wrong kid, that child sends a hitman (Walton Goggins) to take Santa’s head. This is like an ‘80s revenge flick, right down to Gibson’s starring role.

For better or worse, we’re intrigued.

The Princess Switch, Switched Again

November 19 (US Only)

Netflix made a sequel to The Princess Switch. You know, the holiday movie where Vanessa Hudgens plays both a posh princess and an all-American everygirl, and then they switch places like in The Parent Trap?

Either you know what we’re talking about or you don’t, and if you do, good news… they’re switching places again this month!

Run

November 20 (US only)

Run is a Hulu original that appears intent on causing teenagers around the world to think twice about their parent’s smiling concern. Because concern and smiles is what Sarah Paulson’s Diane Sherman is all about. A tightly wound “helicopter parent” if there ever was one, Diane refuses to see her daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen) as a burden. In fact, she likes Chloe just the way she is, confined to a wheelchair, helpless, and on perhaps unnecessary medication.

Read more

Movies

Best Modern Horror Movies

By Don Kaye

Movies

A24 Horror Movies Ranked From Worst to Best

By David Crow and 3 others

But when taken from Chloe’s point-of-view, this is terrifying. Too bad it will be incredibly difficult for her to run away from home. But as the title suggests… that may be what’s best, dear.

Small Axe

November 15 in the UK, November 20 in the U.S.

Rather than a single film, writer-director Steve McQueen follows up the underrated Widows with five movies in this anthology set. The BBC/Amazon co-production, which will see its premiere respectively on those platforms on each side of the pond, provides a nuanced and trenchant study of the Black experience in the United Kingdom. Each film is standalone but traces a different story or era.

For instance, the first film in the “series,” Mangrove, stars Black Panther’s Letitia Wright and tells the true story of the Mangrove Nine, who clashed with London’s Metropolitan Police in 1970, and whose trial resulted in the first judicial acknowledgment of behavior motivated by racial hatred within British law enforcement. Meanwhile John Boyega plays real life Metropolitan Police officer Leroy Logan, who joined the force with the aspiration of changing it after he saw his father assaulted by two policemen.

These promise to be probing and hopefully revelatory works of cinema, whether you view them as a collection of films or a single miniseries.

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square

November 22

Yeah, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is great and all with its three ghosts and Tiny Tim. But you know what it didn’t have? Dolly Parton as a singing angel. Checkmate, Charlie.

Read more

Movies

The Best Christmas Movie Soundtracks of All Time

By Ivan Radford

TV

Christmas in The Twilight Zone: Revisiting Night of the Meek

By Arlen Schumer

With Netflix’s Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, Christine Baranski plays a “Scrooge” styled owner of a small community’s land—and she’s planning to sell it this Christmas. That is until she has an intervention from an angel played by none other than Ms. Dolly Parton.

And did we mention Dolly wrote all 14 songs in this thing? It’s a Dolly Holiday, indeed.

Hillbilly Elegy

November 24

The Ron Howard who won an Oscar for directing A Beautiful Mind appears to be stepping to the forefront again with his first Netflix original. After spending time in the galaxy, far far away, Howard looks determined to offer a harrowing, and heartstring-pulling, account of three generations of “hillbillies” struggling for the American dream in Appalachia.

J.D. Vance (Gabriel Bosso), who is a real-life author, returns to his small town after attending Yale. Back home, he will have a reckoning with his childhood and the mother who defined it, Bev (Amy Adams). Actually Bev’s movie, Hillbilly Elegy see her experiences with J.D. and his siblings over the years from her unexpected teenage motherhood to their current estranged relationship.

Awards chatter will have you believe Adams is a Best Actress frontrunner for her turn, as is Glenn Close who plays J.D.’s grandmother Mamaw, but we imagine many might just be happy to see a family more dysfunctional than their own this Thanksgiving season.

The Croods: A New Age

November 25 in the U.S. (January 29 in the UK)

You remember The Croods, right? The DreamWorks movie about cavemen and a voice cast that includes Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and Nicolas Cage… No, really, it came out in 2013! We’re serious.  Well, they made a sequel and this one also includes the voices of Peter Dinklage and Kelly Marie Tran, and it’ll be in theaters. So, yeah. There you go.

The Christmas Chronicles 2

November 25

It’s only Thanksgiving and we’re already on our fourth Christmas movie from Netflix. Yet we suspect this is going to be the one to generate the most excitement since it follows up on the first time Kurt Russell played Santa Claus as a burly mountain man of action for the streaming service.

That 2018 effort was cute, but this sequel is taking things to a whole new world—the North Pole to be exact—and will feature CG elves, a Dickensian Christmas village, and most spectacularly Goldie Hawn in more than a cameo role as Mrs. Claus.

Additionally, Chris Columbus has graduated from producer to writer-director status on this sequel. As he’s the director behind Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, his clout and fantastical eye promises to bring some epic holiday majesty to a film that is still about Russell kicking ass and taking names for his naughty list.

Uncle Frank

November 25

One of the most anticipated Thanksgiving releases of the year aimed at a slightly older audience, Uncle Frank appears to be a substantial film about the ties that bind. Family ties are, after all, what brings Sophia Lillis’ Beth Bledsoe to visit her dear Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany). In 1973, Frank is a charismatic and worldly relation to a small town girl like Beth. But it’s only when she crashes his Manhattan apartment that she becomes the first family member to realize Frank is gay… and a delightful companion for a grim road trip to his native home in rural South Carolina.

Read more

TV

Hulu New Releases: November 2020

By Alec Bojalad

TV

Sky Cinema and NOW TV: What’s New in November 2020?

By Kirsten Howard

The film has played the festival circuit to already positive acclaim ahead of its Amazon Prime release, with the word being it’s a return to form for Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball. It also is supposed to have standout performances for both Bettany and It’s Lillis.

Superintelligence

November 26 (US), November 27 (UK)

HBO Max also brings some holiday cheer at the end of the month with Superintelligence, a new Melissa McCarthy high-concept comedy. In the film, McCarthy plays Carol Peters, a woman who believes nothing exciting ever happens to her. That changes when her smart TV, smartphone, and even smart microwave begin talking back to her.

What at first appears to be a prank is actually a test since she’s been selected for “observation” by the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence (voiced by James Corden). The AI wants to use Carol as a case study in examining the human condition… possibly as it decides to conquer us. Can Melissa McCarthy save the world?

Black Beauty

November 27

Disney+ has one major narrative film release in November, and it’s a new version of Anna Sewell’s beloved novel Black Beauty. Adapted by Ashley Avis, this is the timeless tale of a teenager and the singular bond she forms with a horse that keeps them connected for a lifetime. The 1876 novel was pivotal for a dawning appreciation of the plight of work horses in Victorian England, and the desire to treat animals more humanely. Indeed, the book is narrated from the vantage of the horse!

The new Disney film appears to be updating things, with the male horse of the novel now being voiced by Kate Winslet. It also appears to feature a modern American setting, but with a promising cast that in addition to Winslet includes up-and-comer Mackenzie Foy as heroine Jo Green and Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen as John Manly.

Possessor

November 27 (UK only)

Brandon Cronenberg’s follow up to 2012’s Antiviral is a sci-fi horror thriller which sees a convert corporation develop tech that allows agents to inhabit other people’s bodies and carry out assassinations. Andrea Riseborough stars as the star operative who finds herself getting lost in one of her quarries, while Jennifer Jason Leigh is her handle. Possessor already played the festival circuit and was scheduled for a UK theatrical release at the end of November until a second lockdown was announced. Now the movie will be released on UK Digital Platforms.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Upcoming Movies in November 2020: Streaming, VOD, and Theaters appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/34WP3ry

[hazelaricayosyebes-blog]

Blog 2: "The True Significance of Advertising Media"

In our everyday life we use and buy different kinds of print media (newspapers and magazines), broadcast media (television and radio) and new media/ digital media (online advertising). These media categories are commonly referred to as traditional advertising media. But do we even know the significance of this advertising media? It is understood that print media is a way in which text and images are being transferred to paper. However, print media have a huge advantage and also have a great impact on the intellectual capabilities of every person. This gives boundless information and news. In addition, print media includes the accuracy of such information and all the messages and news have a rich source of credibility. Broadcast Media in other hand is also conveying message and information but this time this includes electronic systems such as television and radio. Furthermore, this also conveys advertising of something or telling news. Moreover, broadcast media can connect with several audiences with the help of different networks. 

 The new media is very useful as today's generation defines new media as mass communication using digital technologies such as the internet. It is under digital technologies and services that provides information through social media also online news. New media is very easy to use as new technology is developed and widely adopted. The media convergence is the blending of multiple media forms into a one platform for purposes of delivering a dynamic experience.  Media industries are grappling with new opportunities that are called “convergence”, people tend to get very excited about convergence, because it gives so much promise. The melding together of different media is both impressive and overwhelming. Abs-Cbn, GMA, TV5 are the broadcasting media here in the Philippines along Magnum Radio, Wild FM and MOR. Social Media platforms are all parts of the New Media while Newspapers and Magazines are parts of Print Media. It is very obvious from the word film these are all movies and theater acts. All in All this isn't just information sources but also, entertainment castings.

[identybeautynet]

OnlyFans courts beauty content creators

OnlyFans courts beauty content creators OnlyFans is trying to break out of its sexy box. The 5-year-old social media platform broke into the mainstream in 2020 as people sought to supplement a sudden loss of income due to Covid-19 and were driven to consume more digital entertainment. But it also gained popularity during a crucial inflection point of the creator economy and is now trying to capitalize on this rapid growth by expanding beyond what it is best known for: porn. One burgeoning area of the OnlyFans ecosystem appears to be beauty content, which has proven popular across other major social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok. Gabi Mrugala, whose username is GroovyGabs, joined OnlyFans in Nov. 2020 after a friend who makes fashion content on OnlyFans suggested it. Prior to OnlyFans, Mrugala worked behind-the-scenes in the film industry and was looking to build an audience for her self-help wellness content. She said she likes that her videos and photos on OnlyFans can be less polished than those on Instagram and still gain traction. She currently has 23,000 followers on OnlyFans but declined to share her monthly earnings. A creator can opt to charge a monthly subscription fee of up to $50 for people to follow them. They can also charge people to send direct messages to them and to see specific posts or photos. And, of course, they can receive unsolicited monetary tips. OnlyFans takes a 20% commission. Subscribing to GroovyGabs is free, but Mrugala monetizes through tips and direct-message gratuities. She also has an Amazon wishlist for flowers. “I’m choosing to stay as a full content creator, because I am fulfilling my purpose by helping other individuals,” Mrugala said. “ is a place where you can be more personal and more yourself. A lot of people prefer to wear a full face of makeup on Instagram — there’s nothing wrong with that. But on OnlyFans, it feels like a lot of individuals will support you regardless of .” OnlyFans operates differently than most social media sites, but it was intentionally designed to not become a user’s only social site, said Ami Gan, OnlyFans head of communications. For example, the ability to search for a specific person to follow is not possible, though there are some suggestions offered on who to follow based on who OnlyFans wishes to promote. Additionally, when someone joins OnlyFans, they do not select the type of content they are interested in seeing or following, which negates OnlyFans as a platform for discovery. Gan declined to share what percentage of content is adult but said creators are also not categorized. “OnlyFans is an add-on to someone’s existing social media. You can populate your OnlyFans profile by doing a swipe up through Instagram, or sharing that you’ve launched an OnlyFans and direct traffic that way,” said Gan. In the past, notably in the 1990s music industry, artists who sought to capitalize on their fame to earn more money were regarded as “sellouts” who were diminishing their artistic integrity. Kurt Cobain from Nirvana was accused of selling out, while the Beasty Boys have a lifelong policy to never license their music for commercials. But, fast-forward to 2021, and content creators are not only more willing to solicit brand deals or direct payments from followers but, to an extent, they’re applauded for doing so by their followers. Now, just like OnlyFans helped disrupt the creator economy and the attitude toward paying content creators, it is now seeking to disrupt its own reputation. According to Bloomberg, OnlyFans is seeking outside capital at a $1 billion valuation and to become more of a “mainstream media platform,” rather than a place for porn. Co-owner Leonid Radvinsky, who owns 75% of OnlyFans, has received scrutiny for questionable business practices in the past. For OnlyFans, sex sells until it doesn’t. In Dec. 2020, OnlyFans soft-launched OF.TV, which offers broader lifestyle content on topics like meditation, cooking, music and comedy. Both Mrugala and Alyssa Olson, whose username is BodyPosiStylist, have been invited by OnlyFans to post on OF.TV for free, in exchange for promotion of their account. Both said the exposure significantly boosted their followings. “We do have that reputation for having sexy content, which is something we don’t shy away from. Its intention back in 2016 was always for all types of content creators from all genres,” said Gan. She said, due to the company’s “liberal content policies,” adult content has flourished. But, by 2019 there was a variety of content creators including from the music industry and lifestyle space. Celebrities like singers Cardi B and Aaron Carter, as well as actress Bella Thorne, all joined OnlyFans, bringing it even further awareness. Gan said OnlyFans has 130 million users and 130 million content creators, while only 300 creators have made $1 million through the platform. But, as The New York Times reported in May, even the non-adult content comes with a wink and a nudge that alludes to the platform’s origins. When designer Rebecca Minkoff began its OnlyFans profile in February, one locked post said, “This is what we don’t show you,” followed by a coquettish wide-eyed, red-cheeked emoji. This barrage of sexual association on and with OnlyFans can create some barriers for content creators. Mrugala said she does not promote her OnlyFans account through her other social profiles and does not publicly tell people she has an OnlyFans, as she is waiting until the stigma of association goes away. “It’s changing rapidly. I will feel more confident in sharing OnlyFans with others. I don’t really care what other people think, but I want the stigma to go away,” she said. Meanwhile, Olson posts a mix of hair-styling tutorials and body-positivity photos. She said she appreciates the ability to post content that spans genres. Olson has been in the beauty industry for 11 years, working in cosmetology and hairstyling, and began her OnlyFans account in Oct. 2020. She described the response from OnlyFans followers as “day and night,” compared to other social channels like Instagram. She has 50,000 followers and has received $1,500-$15,000 in monthly earnings, whereas her Instagram presence hovers at around 1,000 people. Olson monetizes through selling lingerie photos and unsolicited tips, and occasionally charges for direct messages when she is behind and has hundreds to answer. “I was excited about OnlyFans because I had my personal Instagram and my business Instagram but I could never meld those two things together,” said Olson. “I’m looking to build my name as an influencer. People aren’t working for free anymore, especially after the pandemic. You can go and enjoy my content on Instagram for free if you want, but you can see a lot more and see more in-depth if you are willing to pay $5.” BEAUTY TIPS: OnlyFans courts beauty content creators. OnlyFans courts beauty content creators, OnlyFans courts beauty content creators, OnlyFans courts beauty content creators, OnlyFans courts beauty content creators, OnlyFans courts beauty content creators, OnlyFans courts beauty content creators,  Read the full article

[dippedanddripped]

he North Face and Steve Lesnard introduce FUTURELIGHT campaign in attempt to change how consumers think about their gear.

If the thought of wrapping up in a raincoat for your next long run resonates with the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard, you’re not alone. Personally, I would rather brave the elements and endure a bone-soaking, pneumonia-incubating chill than endure a crunchy outer shell that makes me feel like a clam in a hotpot. And if a very amateur athlete feels this way about the state of water repellent technology, you can bet that the pros have something to say about it as well.

They do, and The North Face took notice. In its latest product release as part of its new branding campaign, The North Face introduced its much anticipated FUTURELIGHT fabric, which promises to change the paradigm in the world of outdoor apparel. The North Face spent several years developing FUTURELIGHT, which utilizes a proprietary process called nanospinning, wherein microscopic nozzles spin webs of ultra-thin fibers into a waterproof fabric with hitherto unmatched air permeability.

The North Face seeks to push the limits of innovation in equipment and apparel with FUTURELIGHT. With a wide range of variability in weight, stretch, breathability, durability, construction, and texture, the technology unleashes unlimited permutations for maximal customization.

But in a world where you can control your oven from your car, cash a check from your couch, or conduct open heart surgery on babies still in the womb, why has it been so difficult for athletic apparel manufacturers to come up with a better jacket for rainy days? In recent years, many have touted groundbreaking products, but none have delivered on their promises.

With its introduction of FUTURELIGHT, The North Face finally delivers. The brand’s approach reflects a shift in its marketing strategy, likely the result of newly-appointed Vice President of Marketing Steve Lesnard, who has an impressive track record of success working at some of the most iconic brands in the athletic apparel industry. In a departure from past marketing efforts, the product takes center stage in the brand’s latest campaign.

What is at the heart of The North Face’s highly anticipated product release and its shift in marketing focus? It all boils down to the breakthrough. We’ll take a look at how Lesnard melds the best of innovation and time-tested strategy to endear outdoor enthusiasts to The North Face brand.

Table of Contents

Embrace innovation.

Start with a big idea, and then stick to a solid strategy.

Build trust by providing true and meaningful innovation.

About Steve Lesnard

If you found this article useful, share it:

Embrace innovation.

With new technology delivering heaps of data to marketing teams, it’s easy to get caught up in analytics and metrics. That’s why it’s more important than ever to create space for creativity and innovation as you embark on your next product marketing campaign. Lesnard looks to a multi-level approach to incubate groundbreaking innovation from both without and within.

While most marketers understand the foundational importance of the creative process, Steve Lesnard takes it a step further by inviting the end-user to take part. In launching FUTURELIGHT, The North Face looked to its team of company-sponsored world-class athletes for feedback and inspiration. Their pleas for a product that would change the way athletes interact with the environment led The North Face on a multi-year journey.

The result was FUTURELIGHT, which promises to deliver the paradigm-shifting technology that superusers were asking for.

But elite athletes weren’t the only ones with a say in the campaign. By constantly listening to and learning from consumer feedback, The North Face discovered that users were looking for more than just new gear. They wanted to get outdoors but didn’t know how to do it.

So as part of its latest product launch, the company focused not only on creating groundbreaking products but also on creating a tool chest of resources to educate and equip consumers. From choosing a destination to learning how to pitch a tent, The North Face campaign delivers the full experience that consumers were asking for.

In a process that he refers to as “personalization at scale,” Lesnard notes that brands that are equipped with better information about the aspirations and desires of their target consumer will be able to adjust quickly to constantly evolving market conditions and provide a more satisfying consumer experience. The more you know about your customers, the better equipped you are to deliver a product experience that exceeds their expectations.

Steve Lesnard adds another layer of genius to this concept of personalization at scale by looping continuous consumer feedback into the marketing and design process. Just as FUTURELIGHT fabric offers itself as a living, breathing alternative in a world of stifling waterproof gear, Lesnard’s process allows for a continual flow of consumer-inspired innovation to keep the company’s offerings nimble and fresh.

Start with a big idea, and then stick to a solid strategy.

Once you’ve catalyzed the creative process, the next step is to cull the most compelling ideas and turn them into your campaign’s “big idea.” Then, apply that idea naturally to the platforms that most resonate with your target audience. This approach creates a more powerful platform from which to engage with and impact your target consumer, while still integrating a single message across all relevant channels.

But while a post-it note explosion on the walls of your breakout room might help you come up with your next breakthrough idea, your marketing strategy will require a more disciplined approach. A good marketing strategy will encompass your marketing goals (i.e. who you want to reach and how you will reach them) and lay the foundation for a solid marketing plan. While your marketing plan – to include goals, timelines, milestones, and activities – may change over time in response to your market, your actual strategy should be laser-focused and stay relatively consistent.

In its new FUTURELIGHT campaign, The North Face issues a clear invitation to consumers with its slogan: “Defy the past, wear the future.” But while the invitation is the same across all marketing channels, the way it delivers that invitation varies widely. The brand relies heavily on cultivating its relationship with social media influencers to reach younger consumers while leaning more heavily on traditional marketing channels for brand loyalists.

While Lesnard is known for pushing the limits of innovation in his creative process, his work with elite athletes, in addition to his own athletic endeavors, has taught him the value that discipline brings to the branding process. According to Lesnard, a big idea that is well focused has the capacity for exponential reach.

Build trust by providing true and meaningful innovation.

Today’s consumers are quick to see through sales-focused transactional intent. As a result, marketing efforts must be directed at providing products and services that add value and benefit to consumers’ lives.

With FUTURELIGHT, The North Face wanted more than an uptick in sales; it aimed to completely disrupt the industry and shift the paradigm of how athletes interface with their gear. To do so, the company knew that it needed a product that would truly deliver on its promise.

With this objective in mind, The North Face committed to the design process with a tremendous investment in time and resources – three years of research, development, and extensive testing in the lab and in the field. FUTURELIGHT was tested extensively by the brand’s global athlete team of climbers, skiers, alpinists, snowboarders, and trail runners. From sun to snow, high to low, and everything in between, the company’s product engineers persevered until they got it just right.

“What if you could wear a jacket that feels alive. What if your gear could breathe as hard as you do. What if you could wear the future. What if… there was no if?”

The North Face asked the question. Then it delivered the answer. And by doing so, the iconic brand is poised to endear a new generation of brand loyalists who will remember how The North Face kept its promise.

According to Lesnard, there is simply no substitute for true and meaningful innovation. From influencers and super users to weekend warriors, who are the people you are really trying to serve, and how can you best deliver what they’re asking for? Brands who understand this will establish an authentic connection with their users that has the potential to deliver an unlimited return on investment in the long run.

About Steve Lesnard

Steve Lesnard is the newly appointed global VP of marketing at The North Face. In his previous tenure with one of the largest athletic brands in the world, Lesnard served as global vice president and general manager of the company’s running division, launching industry-changing innovations and driving a $5.3 billion business.

While there, he led two Olympic marketing campaigns, led the company’s running business to its current position as a global leader in the sporting industry, and ran the European marketing organization. Lesnard also led the development of the women’s marketing business across the world, turning a niche industry into a multi-billion-dollar division.

As a sports fanatic and outdoor enthusiast since childhood, Lesnard has also provided consulting services on various global marketing campaigns for several other brands in the athletics, fashion, and tech sectors. He releases regular podcasts on which he shares his experience and insights on consumer-centric global marketing and branding campaigns.

Lesnard’s passion for creating global branding campaigns in the athletics sector is fueled by his personal zest for sports and the outdoors. From martial arts and running to mountain biking, kite surfing, and snowboarding, Lesnard relishes any activity that allows him to appreciate the “strength, power, and beauty” of Mother Nature. Lesnard currently resides in Denver with his wife and three children.

[swseats]

ECLECTICLE 9/16

There must be something in the air. Maybe it is the recent Full Harvest Moon (which won’t be back under the same circumstances for another 30 or so years), but folks are being a little, well, full of themselves online. And it isn’t cute.

On one of my social media feeds, a really empowering meme came across my desktop. I thought it had something good to say and it would be helpful for a number of people. Just as I was about to re-post it, I made the mistake of glancing to the side where the comments rested like quicksand, waiting to lure me in with the promise of safe purchase.

Three comments in and already people had begun to explain “That’s not how *I* see things” or “That’s not how it happened for me”. Each comment came across in a flippant way. And below each response were two or three more comments, each one even more rude than the previous. Why is it that people respond so quickly and in a way, that is - quite frankly - not nice?

A few days ago, I re-posted an article on a social media platform that got a couple of people riled up. Their responses were, truth be told, unduly harsh. What baffles me is how people -- and this is a broad generalization -- can be so tone deaf in their responses, completely negating what they are trying to say. Plus, they end up looking like jerks.

Both of these people -- as they responded to the main article and the corresponding comments -- came off alternately as arrogant, pedantic and just mean. There was really no other way to interpret their word choices and phrasing of things. And this wasn’t even Twitter!  There is a fine line between witty and condescending; unfortunately, they both blew past that line. 

When I post on social media, my hope is that when folks weigh in on a topic, with the possible exception of  How To Make Our Pizzadilla, they are looking to have a conversation. With that idea in mind, here are five things that I try to remember for myself. Five guidelines that I think will make for more positive interactions online:

Take a breath Often times, giving your brain some oxygen will short out the negative angry thoughts and give us the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.

Give it time No matter how much something I just read may tick me off, I always benefit from giving it a little time so that I can formulate a cogent reply. I also re-read whatever it was that set me off. It is not uncommon for me to have missed or misread something.

Go High Ad hominem attacks just get in the way of productive civilized discussion. Focus on the subject at hand without insulting the original speaker or commenter.

Keep your Hot Takes to yourself. No, really. Keep them to yourself. Responding from a purely emotional or visceral space just muddies the water. It makes it difficult -- if not impossible -- for your point to be heard or understood. Step back from the keyboard, close your eyes, and formulate a coherent comment. And last but not least:

BE NICE!

+++ 

It's amazing what ugliness can emerge from a human mouth unburdened by the slightest cognitive effort. -Jeremy Spiegel, MD "Stop Being Such A Jerk", Psychology Today, June 30, 2010

+++

If you’re new here, ECLECTICLE Is my “Eclectic Listicle” of the recent things that have been happening in my world. It is a regularly occurring place to toss out items of interest and information. My hope is that you will enjoy it and find something useful. So, let’s get going. 

+++

Just because you don’t need them doesn’t mean no one does. -Alice Wong,  "The Rise And Fall Of The Plastic Straw", CATALYST 2017

+++

What I’m eating:

Nepali Momo (Nepali Style dumplings)

Momos are a Nepali style dumpling that can be either steamed or fried. And the fillings are flavorful and delicious. For my first try at these delightful pillows of goodness, I chose the vegetable version from Momolicious’ Kathmandu Momo (Steamed Momo served with their special tomato, cilantro, and Sichuan pepper sauce.

The handmade dumpling had just the right chew. Not too thick and not too thin. The spices in the filling came through beautifully and included cumin, cilantro, and I think I tasted a little clove minced in with the Sichuan pepper sauce. All together, it felt like a nice warm hug for my taste buds.

There were a few dipping sauces to go along with the dishes. I chose the soy sauce -- because that’s who I am -- and the bright orange Momo Sauce. That Momo Sauce was so good, I used my finger to wipe out the inside of the small portion cup sized container. If you have a chance to grab an order, know that in one order there are enough momos to share -- unless you are like me and then you will devour the whole thing.

What I’m reading:

I have had so many experiences in restaurants where you could not hear yourself above the din of clattering dishes and cacophonous conversations. I’m glad restaurants are paying attention. Why we need to rethink the concept of noise in restaurants 

This is such a fascinating story. It’s encouraging that the owners are able to meld food and social purpose in such a delicious way.  'We just want to build a community': Mozzeria's story of empowerment and access 

As we uncover -- and talk about openly -- the history around the slave trade in the United States, it is becoming more and more important to accurately tell the stories. Plantations are talking more about slavery - and grappling with visitors who talk back

This is quite the hobby! This Latte Artist Forms Foam Into Flocks of Birds - Atlas Obscura

What I’m Listening to:

Podcast: East Bay Yesterday

Title: Betty Reid Soskin interview

Host Liam O’Donoghue brings us lovely interview with a true piece of living history: Betty Reid Soskin. As Liam writes in the intro to this podcast:

“...Betty Reid Soskin shares stories of growing up in Oakland during the 1920s “when the hills used to burn every year.” She traces her journey from working in a segregated union hall during World War II to co-founding one of the East Bay’s first Black record stores to becoming “America’s oldest National Park ranger” at the age of 85.”