My Social Media Diet or Creating a Mind Sculpture

We Need a Social Media Diet  

Don’t flinch just yet.  Everyone needs to think about and plan what our minds and attention will consume.  So much content is available:  YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and more.

I read online that the last hour before going to bed and the first hour getting up should be without any electronic screen time.  Before going to bed, lay out your clothes and prepare for the next day.  Sounds like the habit of a winner, so let’s include that as part of the plan.

The guy also talks about spending his time creating content, rather than consuming it.  Not everybody is up for that, but with three blogs and a podcast and two YouTube channels, I have no excuses.

Goals of a Social Media Diet

So what would be the goal for a media diet?  For a food diet, there is a weight goal.  For a media diet, there should be goals, too.  Like hobbies, interests, entertainment, education.  Historical videos are fun.  Shouldn’t there also be production goals?  If you have them, that is.

We make a choice about what to eat, and how that will make us feel.  Shouldn’t we also do the same thing for our minds and mood?  Wouldn’t it be a good idea to step outside ourselves and take a meta look at what we want out of our life before deciding what to watch or read?

My Social Media Diet

I don’t know what is right for anyone else, but my social media diet will be one part production for four parts consumption.  It will be split into one fifth pure fun with animals and jokes and silliness.  Everyone needs that in their lives.  Another three fifths will be news and politics - from all sides.  I enjoy listening to Ben Shapiro and Jimmy Dore.  So what.  The last fifth will be hobbies: ham radio, knitting and making soap.

“Social Media Diet” 

Maybe “diet” is the wrong word.  Diets are notoriously ineffective in the long run.  “Media Plan” sounds too corporate.  “Media sculpting” means you are doing the creating.  “Media sculpture?”  There are some artists out there who already claimed that phrase.

I hesitate to use the term “information” since it is so long and cumbersome to say.  We need to make this snappy.  “Brain food” comes to mind, but its already been taken.  Or “Brain growth plan.”  Too long.  OK.  “Mind sculpture.”  Yes, that’s it!

By consciously deciding what I feed my visual senses, I have a “Mind Sculpture” plan.  I think about what I want the end result to be, and plan, roughly, how that will happen.

Let’s see how this goes.  Will keep you updated.

Cure for Cutters and Bulimics ??

WhatTheBuck is a YouTube channel that is so entertaining and a delicious distraction from policy and politics. While usually dedicated to pop culture, this embedded video addresses cutting and bulimia in a kind-hearted way. I can't imagine anyone is going to be saved by the message if they've got a real problem, but if you just have a minor body image issue this message could be a relief for you.

Die Aussenseiter: YouTube Video on Dancing

YouTube video about what is really dancing and what isn't. It's all in German, but you know what they are talking about anyway. They make fun of all dance videos and also what seems to be dancing/exercise videos for senior citizens. I don't really know what they are saying at all, just a few words here and there. It seems to be one of those videos where you enjoy it just as much, or even more, without knowing what they guys are talking about.

It starts with a commercial, but that doesn't last long.

ATTACK on Rally for Sanity by Drinkingwithbob

YouTube's Drinkingwithbob is a powerful voice for anger and outrage, and he turns all his talents on denouncing the Rally for Sanity. He's always fun to listen to and often is funny as well. I will admit to being a fan, although I rarely agree with his political opinions.

Here's a New Perspective on Campaign Finance Reform

YouTube's Drinkingwithbob has a large and loyal fan base. I don't really agree with him much of the time, but he is fun to listen to and always raises thought-provoking ideas.

In this video, Drinkingwithbob points out that all the money spent by millionaires getting into public office would be better spent benefitting the state they want to run. With a few observations about why that is not the case.

YouTube parody of Hot Girls

If you don't troll YouTube you are really missing something. To think that all these really talented people were out there and until YouTube had no venue for video expression is a shame.

You Tube is also a political force by allowing international broadcasting powers to be given to anyone with a video camera. That's the real information revolution.

Twitter is Over Capacity - Could it be the World Cup?

I am trying to do some professional twittering and the service is over capacity. In a way, I think the World Cup and Twitter and both symptoms of the information revolution. The monopoly of data is broken. We can no longer have what we know and watch dictated by a small group of white, male editors. The freedom YouTube is that anybody with a small, cheap camera can publish a message internationally at no cost. And once that is done, there is no way to stop the message. And that is power.

That kind of power has always existed. The difference in the information revolution is that power has shifted downward to everybody in the world with access to the Internet and digital cameras. Granted, it's not everybody. Yet. But it will be, eventually.

The World Cup is finally getting some notice by Americans. I credit that to our increased connection to the rest of the world through the Internet. Twitter is overloaded with tweets, I'm guessing, from World Cup followers and fans. Twitter has enabled immediate information dissemination of the one event that interests most people in the world. There is no way to control that message.

Now President Obama has authorized a cut off switch for the Internet in the event of a cyber attack. I see where he's coming from. A well-aimed cyber attack would seriously hurt our economy. Remember, the aim of the 9-11 hijackers was to take out the American economy. It is American economic power that the terrorists target.

But what if there wasn't a terrorist attack? Or there was one and, out of fear, the Administration didn't open the Internet back up again? How would we keep our journalists honest? Who among us believes in the integrity of corporate journalism when The National Enquirer is a serious contender for a Pulitzer prize? Not me.

Susan Boyle: I'm Your Biggest American Fan!

The reaction of the Britain's Got Talent judges when Susan Boyle confidently strode on the stage said it all. There were no expectations for success. Our entertainment industry is so trained to judge everything by appearances and age that a singer is judged before she even sings one note. Imagine the absurdity of that. How can you judge a singer by appearance and age?

Susan Boyle has a voice that is transcendent. I watched her video dozens of times, and when I left to meet some friends, her voice still reverberated within me. And it wasn't just her voice. It was her heartfelt delivery and emotional truth.

Where has she been all this time? Singing in a choir in Scotland. Singing karaoke in a local pub.

This raises a point I've always thought about these talent shows: the people who are choosing the singers for music labels aren't getting the real talent that is out there. Susan Boyle is a star. In a few days, there has been over 11 million hits on her YouTube video. That's more than Britney Spears' new single "If U Seek Amy."

Susan Boyle's dream is to become a professional singer. I don't think she has to worry about that any more.












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