Where do we go from here?
Greetings
For the last 20 years, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about and participating in platforms, from MySpace, Blogger and email to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. I have tried to operate under the premise that each is simply a vehicle and what’s most important is the story, the substance of what I put out into world. I have had my own site for close to 15 years and have regularly advocated for Owning Your Own Platform. And yet, I haven’t practiced what I preach over the last couple of years. In 2023, I published only two posts on my site.
As tends to happen at the beginning of a new year, I am revisiting platform - including this newsletter - and recently posted some thoughts on my site and have been reviewing the design and layout of said site. Check out Navigating The Social Media Limbo: Where Do We Go From Here? I would be curious to know where you think we are going.
I am a big Neil Gaiman admirer. I was first introduced to his work by a friend who recommended I read his Sandman graphic novel series, which lead me to all his other writing. I am still building my collection of the full Sandman series.
Gaiman is still active on tumblr (remember that?) and, in an interview on Icelandic television, shared his Radical Vision for the Future of the Internet. On his blog, Cal Newport shared these thoughts and his own thoughts on the online communication landscape.
One of my favourite rap groups is Outkast and I have been fascinated by the decisions Andre 3000 has made around life and career. Late last year he finally released a solo album New Blue Sun and to say that many were disappointed is the ultimate understatement. And many an opinion piece has been written about this disappointment because it contains zero rap. The first song is titled I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time
I, for one, love the album and I love that he is living truthfully and authentically (for himself) as opposed to what ‘the market dictates’. He serves as a great example. As we grow, we should evolve in ways that make sense to us. Check out the GQ interview Andre 3000 on his New Album and Life after Outkast.
I also enjoyed his conversation with Questlove on Questlove Supreme.
It feels like we, as a species, are at a crossroads. The Palestinian people are being bombarded to oblivion while we, as the world, watch. Palestinian poet and academic Refaat Alareer was killed in an Israeli airstrike late last year. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with his work outside of his poem If I Must Die.
I just started reading a book Alareer edited titled Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine.
100 Little Ideas is “a list of ideas, in no particular order and from different fields, that help explain how the world works.”
I find watching these videos strangely calming.
I have had a subscription to Masterclass for about two years but go through extended patches when I don’t go through it. In the beginning, I tried to go through each masterclass with a notebook, taking notes as I go, but that became time-consuming. Now I just watch and what gets absorbed, gets absorbed. These days I watch most when on the stationary bicycle at the gym. When I go, I generally do 30 minutes on the bike which allows me to get in two to three lessons. I just finished LeVar Burton’s masterclass on the power of storytelling.
That’s it for today. Please share, subscribe and/or comment.
Also, check out my podcast and book Listen To Your Footsteps.
Easy
Kojo