Sorting the Sites

 by Charlotte Hinger

Barbara Fradkin a long time of Type M' recently shared all of her frustrations with social media in a post entitled Social Media Self Destructionn. She captured my feelings so accurately that I can't help drawing attention to all that she said. Right now I'm sorting through a number of sites to decide which ones I want to continue and which I should abandon. 

My feelings about all the sites go back and forth. For some time now, I've turned away from Facebook because I'm tired of all the ads and promotions. Also, I'm acutely aware of the all the danger involved with constant internet activity. I don't like the idea of marketing companies combing these sites for data. 

I've never exactly set the world on fire when it comes to social media usage. I now actively dislike some of the sites I previously used. I liked the concept behind Twitter. But because I am still grief-stricken over some the cuts Elon Musk made to government programs, I cancelled my account when he bought Twitter and renamed it "X". 

As to Instagram, I honor the requests of family members who don't want their pictures plastered all over the internet. In fact one granddaughter has specifically asked that her child's face not appear on Facebook or anywhere else.

 I'm not a great photographer. In fact, I'm usually late when it come to taking pictures. No one oohs and ahhs over my photographs. That said, I'm extremely grateful for the camera function built into my iPhone. Coupled with editing software, most of my photos at least provide a record of moments I would like preserved. Nevertheless, there is little point in my continuing with Instagram. 

I'm on LinkedIn and appreciate the connections it provides. I love reading all the business news and the career opportunities posted. I love it when a friend has a new book coming out or has received a promotion. 

As an example of sites I find frustrating, this morning I tried to find out what had become of a daily podcast I enjoy. Some of the links were vicious diatribes about this recording. There is no excuse for this violent rhetoric and the filthy language used to refer to it. The offending site? One that contains the Morning Office recording of a daily rituals used by Episcopalians world side. I can assure you, there's nothing there that would justify this profane commentary. 

I adore YouTube. I don't know how I managed without it. As a life-long knitter and seamstress, I'm crazy about all the videos and demonstrations. I look up everything: how to fix my garage door opener, how to hem jeans using the original hem, how to MIR and MIL in knitting. I wish I had kept track of all the ways this site has rescued me. 

As to Facebook--it stays. The truth is, I miss it. I especially miss hearing about all my friends in Hoxie, Kansas. 

Now that I've pared down my list, I'm going to visit them regularly. It helped to go through this soul-searching analysis. The next step will be to become a faithful visitor of the sites that made the cut. 

21st Century author promotion -or- What could possibly go wrong?

By Rick Blechta

Unlike Aline, I’m a more self-promotion type of person. I built an author website very early on* (1999) when this promotional tool was The Next Great Thing. In those days one had to pay a lot money to have a pro do a website, or take the bull by the horns and do it yourself. I’m pretty good with computers for some unknown reason, but learning HTML coding was like learning a language where the rules of grammar and spelling keep changing.

I eventually got it up and running and was very proud of myself. I had a website!

Then the trouble began. About the time websites came along, spammers did too, and these modern devils figured out early on that they could harvest website-oriented email address to spread their odious evil. My rick@rickblechta.com email (catchy, no?) was swiped probably the week I inaugurated my site. It has been used widely ever since to tell the world about the latest scam and get private information to use for the spammer’s criminal enterprises. It’s easy now to keep email addresses out of spammer’s greasy clutches, but that horse left the barn years ago. In fact, I just checked and they snatched the barn too!

My website is currently black-holed for the fifth or sixth time, so I’ve taken it down while I figure out what to do. The way it looks at the moment, I’m going to be forced to come up with a new website name — which is never a good thing — and hope that people can find it. I can put a “pointer” to direct people using the old website to connect to the new one, but with rickblechta.com on the “Do Not Use” list, it’s probably not going to work very well. There’s also the matter of designing a whole new website. At least now there are templates and web-hosting sites galore to make that somewhat easier. Still, it’s a daunting task.

Last year, I was told I should get on Instagram. Good idea, I thought.*

Trouble is I pissed those fine people off in a big hurry! By the time I was almost finished setting up my account, they informed me that I was banned for something I’d done. Try finding out why. You can’t talk to a human being, and the reason I received from their online help section basically boiled down to “because”. There’s no recourse, no way to get real help.

So does anyone think I’m in a hurry to start tweeting my fool head off?

I’m sure glad I don’t have the same publisher Aline has!
_____________________
*And promptly got myself into a world of trouble.