1 Week = 7 'Grams

This is no big secret, but I struggle with social media. Trying to use it to my advantage seems uncomfortably self-serving, and the existence of tween-aged multimillionaire "influencers" baffles me.  If it all disappeared tomorrow, I would #notmissitonebit.

Having said that, I was compelled to set up an Instagram account in June so I could see what son #2's teacher was posting during their school trip to Germany.  But I myself never posted, not then or in the weeks after. I occasionally thought about it, and then...meh. 

"You have to post," my son told me. "Or people will think you're a bot." Well, in my defense, turning into an internet bot sounds like a great premise for a science fiction story, but I saw his point. So last week, I made up my mind to post one picture each day. 

I did, and here they are:

Ornamental grasses

Me shadow, tree shadow

"Fall"

A study in primary colors

Hunter moonrise

"Drafty" in here

Milkweed Monday

Nothing spectacular, but at least I finally got my feet wet. I anticipate that I will continue to post on occasion, so this is technically a Take It. And if you'd like to see what those future posts look like, you can find me on the 'gram as jensunwriter.

Happy Wednesday! 

The Bluebird of Randomness

There are a lot of things in this world that I assume I would enjoy if I put more time and energy into them. Knitting, for example. Podcasts. Riding horses. And definitely social media.  The thing with that last one, though, is the return never seems worth the investment of my time and energy. At least with knitting, I'd presumably have something to show for it, even if it is just an awful lopsided hat.

Anyway, this week I decided to jump back onto my twitter account for the first time in months. To be clear, I don't dislike twitter. I dislike some of the ways it is used--trolling and hate speech and making policy at the highest levels of government. You get the gist. But the rest of twitter can be fun and/or informative in a way that feels...efficient and ephemeral. It's full of breaking news, random facts, cute animal photos, and poignant moments. It's also an overcrowded marketplace where people can sell their ideas and books and jewelry and services 24/7.

But the question is, do I need it?

After seven consecutive days, my answer is...I don't know. I had fun with #AdviceFromYourDog, and I was definitely pleased to read some of the many wonderful #WorldBookDay tweets. I enjoy seeing what other writers are up to, and I like a funny gif as much as the next person. And it really is powerful to witness thousands of people pulling together in times of adversity. The flip side is that twitter does seem like the wild west in some ways, and I'm always afraid I'm going to stumble across a bit of ugliness that will make me want to Windex my eyeballs.

And twitter always, always, feels like a waste of time to me. But maybe that's not such an awful thing, in small doses. Moderation, right? Just like with potato chips.


As for Take It or Leave It, twitter has earned a probationary Take It. For now.