Life in the perilous social media universe
Navigating the new mass media
The traditional mass media has always been a mixed bag – a useful source of information and analysis when good journalists are at work, countered by a baleful influence tarnishing our political and community life and pushing the narrow agendas of Australian and overseas media proprietors and their wealthy cronies. In our era the new mass media is social media and it’s delivering just as mixed a message – possibly even more destructive and damaging than any form of media ever. Opportunist media ‘personalities’ and ‘influencers’ have seen the chance to make big bucks and are going all out for it – at whatever cost to our community and social life.
Our country and our culture are steeped in many decades of neo-liberalism. We’ve increasingly lost a sense of community, of looking out for other people, of celebrating a shared future. Wealth isn’t just a way to make life better, it’s an ambition in itself.
John Howard notoriously once commented that no-one ever complained about the value of their house increasing. That’s because the only people he knew or spoke to probably all owned houses – they weren’t struggling to find a place to rent and then to find the rent to pay for it.
Narrow, stripped back, dumbed down
The whole AI scramble shows how much arts, culture and creativity are valued – but only if those making the big bucks can get it for free, and as a narrow, stripped back, dumbed down commodity to fuel their private wealth-making. Public and private expression, especially creative expression, is at the heart of this crisis.
‘The whole AI scramble shows how much arts, culture and creativity are valued – but only if those making the big bucks can get it for free, and as a narrow, stripped back, dumbed down commodity to fuel their private wealth-making.’
The latest political zeitgeist reinforces the problem. It disrespects not just creative workers, but all workers. It vilifies the cultural diversity that makes Australia rich, both socially and economically, through the innovation it fosters. I grew up in Tasmania in the 50s – if it hadn’t been for migrants Tasmania (and Australia) would have been a basket case. Bouncing back from World War 2, our population grew and broadened, universities were established, science and learning prospered.
Fuelled by buckets of cash
Over recent decades the plummet in recognition and support for our creativity and culture is not unique. It’s reflected in the public reinforcement of an old Australian shortcoming – disrespect for learning, knowledge and science – that has always been lurking there in the background. The result is the decline of our education system and public life. All of this is fuelled by buckets of cash – from the wealthy and powerful, both locally and overseas – who are trying to narrow our future choices and remake Australia in their interests.
‘The plummet in recognition and support for our creativity and culture is not unique. It’s reflected in the public reinforcement of an old Australian shortcoming – disrespect for learning, knowledge and science – that has always been lurking there in the background.’
Yet speaking out and communicating and connecting with others is crucial to our future. We have to take the tools we have and hammer them into a shape that works for us. It’s much harder when they are owned and controlled by a handful of tech billionaires, who see them as just another way to boost their wealth and power. Yet this is the world we find ourselves in and being able to speak despite the shouting of the entitled is essential.
Breadth versus depth
Welcome to our contemporary perilous universe of commentary. Over the last year I have been trying to make sense of what is happening and rationalising my social media outlets by starting to publish material on Substack. Substack is designed for a different purpose to Google Blogger, where over the last 16 years I published almost 300 articles – with a few of them on earlier outlets for closer to 22 years.
Unlike Blogger, Substack is meant for regular engagement with a smaller group of readers. It’s designed for writers, so suits longer form pieces with more depth and subtlety. It’s the very opposite of what used to be Twitter and was then renamed to X in an adolescent wet dream of self abuse.
Yet, despite its strengths, Substack is privately-owned by American venture capital, so I suppose always has the risk of falling into the same pit as the rest of the social media nightmare.
‘This still astounds me, but it seems to mean that lots of people see my articles. Just how many read them is hard to tell – clearly quite a few.’
In comparison to Substack, my public blogs on Blogger between them get at least 2–3,000 views per week and in some weeks far more. This still astounds me, but it seems to mean that lots of people see my articles. Just how many read them is hard to tell – clearly quite a few. Unlike Substack, while Blogger provides breadth, but not depth, like Substack it provides little engagement – quite a bit less with Blogger.
This is quite separate to and on a scale far different from my food reviews on Google Maps, where my 58 photos over the last three years have between them attracted over 1.13 million views – I still can't quite grasp that.
We have both kinds
I now publish to both outlets – Blogger and Substack – sometimes, but not often, posting the same articles on both, with some cross-referencing. My most recent travel article on the handwriting blog, which is about my trip to France in 2018, is part of a series of articles also called ‘travelling light’, in keeping with the theme I use across a couple of outlets.
‘It is a personal view of the light – and sometimes heavier – matters that come up in daily life and make me sit up and take notice, whether travelling or staying put.’
I now have a public version of travelling light, a final, fifth blog to add to my suite of four blogs on Blogger. travelling light is different to all of the existing blogs – not serious articles about creativity and culture, not humorous snippets, not creative and travel writing and not articles about food and cooking.
It is a personal view of the light – and sometimes heavier – matters that come up in daily life and make me sit up and take notice, whether travelling or staying put. The closest to it was an older Facebook group I used to post to regularly when travelling, especially overseas. At the same time I’ll keep posting more news (with a more personal slant) so it’s more informative to a private version of travelling light on Substack, which is emailed directly only to a handful of interested people.
Irreverent writing about contemporary Australia
Travelling light on Blogger completes my set of public blogs. My main blog is indefinite article, echoing the indefinite article outlet on Substack, described as irreverent writing about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age.
balloon is a collection of short humorous articles, thought balloons for our strange and unsettled times – brief quirky articles about the eccentricities of everyday life, almost always with a sense of short black humour. handwriting, homegrown graffiti from the digital world – writing, rhyming and digital animations – is creative writing, including a series of articles about travel. Lastly tableland is about food, produce and cooking, land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko.
Wading in murky waters
As we wade forward into the murky waters of Australia’s future, hopefully social media will turn out to be a source of light and connection, not merely a poisonous snake pit of entitlement and grievance. We’ve had enough of half empty rather than half full – probably more like almost empty, if I think about it.
It’s like a car on a long interstate road trip, desperately looking out for petrol stations – or chargers. Australians can’t abide a whinger and even though there are some good reasons for it, we are certainly turning into an ocean of them.