Social Media
This is my third blog, here, on Steemit, and so far I am quite encouraged. I've been all over social media over the years, having stumbled upon a truly wonderful (now defunct) site called "Newsvine" a number of years ago. It was everything I'd ever wanted in one site, and then some. It was well-organized, well-moderated, and populated by some of the best online folks it has ever been my privilege to know, both online and "in Real Life." Newsvine was, for a number of years, my "online home."
Then, at some point in 2012 (I think that was the year of doom), the 'Vine was taken over by MSNBC. Its format was radically altered, and it took me only a few miserable weeks to realize I could no longer deal with it. In sorrow, I closed my account, and began scouring the web for "the second coming of Newsvine." I tried "My Space." I tried it and loathed it. I honestly cannot recall some of the sites I tried, but not one of them was even close to being Newsvine-like. Eventually, I stumbled across Facebook and joined it. It wasn't what I'd hoped, but it wasn't horrible, either. And, over time, as many of my Newsvine friends also joined, it became a quite comfortable site for sharing the fun stuff we discovered in our meanderings on the web. It was rather easy to avoid the rampant, vituperous political stuff... if a friend posted something you loathed, you just moved on. No one had to know you were there. You see, I've never enjoyed the truly nasty, trollish back-and-forths that some folks seem to thrive on. Those who like it are welcome to it. I'm not here to judge. But I don't like un-civil exchanges, and politics, even among those who tend to think alike, can be a mine field.
So, my Facebook page is mostly fluff, with the occasional newsy bit, and, rarely, something political. But... and here's the BIG "BUT..." I'm hearing about Facebook getting all "censory" (I honestly don't know if that is even a word). As in censoring some of their users. As in POLITICAL censoring! Whole pages are being removed without warning. And I began to worry: after politics, what's next? Religion (or lack thereof)? Sexual orientation (or multiples thereof)? Once the censoring begins, where does it stop? I began to imagine my friends disappearing, one by one. Then I saw myself vanishing, without warning. One day here, the next day... POOF!
As this debacle began to take hold of my consciousness, I happened to be watching an episode of "Redacted Tonight" on RT America, with host Lee Camp, and he mentioned that it was getting very difficult for him to post his political comedy stuff on sites like You Tube and Facebook. Then he said he'd joined Steemit. He said just enough to whet my curiosity, and, so, at my first opportunity, I looked into Steemit.
And... TA DA! Here I am! And... I guess the very best part is that, so far, I LOVE it! It isn't the second coming of Newsvine. Yet. But I think it can very well come awfully close. I think it can be whatever I want it to be. That is, after all, what Newsvine was. At least, it was that way to me. And, now, I am encouraging everyone I know to try Steemit. Some will, some won't, some may take their time about it, but I feel fairly certain that those who give it a try will end up staying for the long haul.
Thank you, Steemit. You may very well have become the salvation of Social Media.
R. I. P., Newsvine. R. I. P.
