The Wheelhouse Review was a great blog run by a sharp, snarky bunch who had an enviable ability to keep themselves writing on schedule. I’m glad to say that I finally joined their ranks in July of 2014 with a reflection on the way we use social media and a valiant attempt at launching a new hashtag. Check it out below and then join in the conversation on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or whatever else you use instead of Google+.
This hasn’t just caught the attention of snarky internet writers who can’t be found on Google because they share a name with a once-famous basketball player, either. Plenty ofnews outlets from around the country (and even Canada!) have pointed out that social media tends to encourage people to post the highlight reel of their lives and discourage sharing anything else.
Unless you make “anything else” look good.
Which is what we’re going to do.
Here’s what I say we do: For the next week—or for however long we feel like it—let’s share the realities of day-to-day life, the frustrations and struggles and disappointments both major and minor that usually get edited out of a Facebook feed.
“But Rick,” I imagine you’d like to ask. “Didn’t you just say that people who take to Facebook to complain generally get blocked? I swear I even saw a music video about it!”
Yes, gentle reader, I did, but I think I’ve found a loophole: We’re going to share the lowlights of our life, and we’re going to make them as aesthetically pleasing as possible. The easiest way to do this is going to be with photos—carefully framed, possibly filtered photos of every sad thing, from day-to-day annoyances to major tragedies.
I’ll be getting the ball rolling today on Instagram. You can feel free to join in on the fun with the hashtag #MakeSadnessLookGood. Once we get the hang of it, let’s spread it to other social networks and see if we can’t raise some poor sap’s self-esteem (or at least get our most obnoxious contacts to filter us out of their feeds)
