Soapbox

Why Pinterest is damaging the Internet

by Veronica on February 6, 2012

in Soapbox

Pinterest seems to be the new OMG HAVE YOU SEEN IT thing lately, which, okay, fine.

It took me a while to get into it and then only a few moments to forget about it again. This probably says more about how my brain works than any particular thing wrong with the premise of Pinterest. I’m not a designer home kind of girl and pretty things usually just make me grumpy that my house is falling down and my finances are limited at best.

Every few weeks though, I would click through to Pinterest to see what was happening in the gardening and food sections. Gardens and food are something I can do and there were some nice ideas.

Ignoring the fact that I seemed to see the same pictures pinned over and over and over and fucking over again, I was able to peruse photos of walkways and overgrown vegetation and delicious foody things.

Until, one day, I found something that looked interesting. So I clicked on it, to find it’s source, so that I could read more about it.

Source: Google.com

Huh. Just one image, snagged by a Pinterester, using Google image search. There was no accreditation for the original photographer, and nothing available to tell me what on earth it actually was, or how to cook it.

Slowly as I found myself clicking on more and more things, I was finding more and more images grabbed from Google, with nothing about the original author.

And okay, I get that kittens or fuzzy bunnies or whatever maybe don’t technically NEED a source, recipes.

Artwork, crafts and awesome ideas however, definitely DO.

It’s like a giant game of Chinese Whispers, once things have been pinned half a dozen times, no one knows what it was originally about.

I am a big believer in not watermarking images, instead choosing to resize to “Internet friendly, but you can’t print it out”. I think watermarks distract from a photo and make things look messy.

But Pinterest makes me want to start watermarking things. It also makes me want to put a giant padlock on my site and disallow third party search engines from collecting images that Pinteresters could then pin, with no thoughts of accreditation.

Also, I think Pinterest enables people to use images in blog posts and then only give source credit to Pinterest. I’m sorry, but “found on Pinterest” is not source credit.

NO, NO IT ISN’T.

I’m calling you out Pinterest. I think you’re damaging for artists, for craftspeople, for food bloggers, for photographers and for people with interesting ideas that they kindly share with the Internet.

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My blog is not about you, or what you want.

by Veronica on January 28, 2012

in Headfuck, Soapbox

In the last couple of months, I’ve seen a few posts about the tracks that haven’t sat terribly well with me. Bloggers trying to justify why they’re not reading a certain other blog, or why they’re not commenting, or not driven to subscribe.

And I’m here to say:

My blog is not about you, or what you want.

No, it really really isn’t. It REALLY isn’t.

I write my blog because it makes me happy. I’ve slowly developed a like-minded community here, who enjoy what I write and have followed me along in this journey. Frankly, this is awesome and this is what I want.

But if you think I am weeping at night, wondering why you are not reading my blog, then, I’m sorry, but you’re sorely mistaken.

If my blog doesn’t do it for you, then move on. Don’t whinge about what I need to change (or what any blogger needs to change) in order to get you as a reader. Find someone else who is more your cup of tea instead.

I know that a lot of topics turn a lot of people off. For the record, no one is holding a gun to your head and making you read.

People blog for a lot of different reasons. I blog for connection. I want to connect with those people who read my words and get something out of it. If I write a post about the hell of PCOS periods, or the miserableness of watching a pregnancy slide down my legs in the shower, then I am writing those words for myself.

However, I am also writing them for the people out there who have felt those same emotions, or who find the post later and are so grateful that someone else knows how it feels.

I’m not writing for the candy-floss readers, who want my blog to be funny and lighthearted all the time. My blog reflects my real life, not the life I wish I was living.

There are topics out there that turn a lot of people off. Poo seems to be the latest DON’T YOU DARE WRITE ABOUT IT.

I’m here to tell you that if shit is a big part of your kids life, then shit will make it onto the blog.

And I’ll admit – I am sensitive in this case. Isaac’s bowel issues have gone from moderately annoying, to severe and impacting on our lives and I am at the end of my tether.

You can’t decide what I can and can’t write about, just to fit it in with your pretty sensibilities.

You can make the decision to only read what you want to read and not be an arse about it though.

I love my readers and my community here, but I will never be writing about pop culture and the pretty shiny things in life. I have one kid who scales the cupboards and steals my chocolate while screaming like a banshee, and another kid who can’t chew properly, can’t poo and won’t eat most food, while I spend a lot of the day downing anti-nausea drugs and trying not to puke, dislocate or miscarry.

THAT is my real life. THAT is what is happening here on a daily basis.

And if you don’t want to see that reflected in my writing, then I’m not sure this blog is for you.

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It’s really quite a vicious circle

by Veronica on January 9, 2012

in Blogging, Soapbox

So, picture this:

You start a blog. You write stories, you read stories, you comment on stories. Slowly, people drift towards you and read your stories. Three, six, twelve months in, you’ve got a popular platform, full of stories and the traffic, while not spectacular, is decent enough.

First, one PR company notices you. Then another and another and another.

And you’re flattered, you really are. You write stories on the INTERNET and suddenly, these real companies want to send you real things, to write about. You accept something here, a little thing there. You amaze yourself with what you can do, with what people want to give you.

The stuff accumulates in a box under your desk, or maybe it’s under your bed. There is stuff everywhere and a feeling, hanging over your head, like you’re forgetting something.

You’re trying so hard to keep up with the stuff, that you don’t realise you haven’t written any stories lately.

The emails flood in, but not the comments. Traffic doesn’t drop – much – but it doesn’t grow either.

Companies love you, but new readers don’t stay long. Giveaways coax in the traffic, but it drifts away again.

You notice that you aren’t telling stories when you find yourself clenching your teeth at night, trying to work out when to write about the stuff sitting under your desk, gathering dust. When nothing fits into your schedule anymore, when you’re trying to keep everyone happy and failing.

So maybe you say no to the stuff. Or maybe you add a disclaimer that you’ll accept the stuff, but not always write about it. Maybe you quit, because it’s all too much pressure and like hard work.

Or maybe, you’ll just start telling stories again. They’ll bubble over and out and you’ll try and find your balance – that knife edge where you’re only writing about the things you want to write about, without being guilt tripped into anything else.

But you’ll backslide, because guilt trips are everywhere. Children are starving to death and look at this great cause and omg someone should raise awareness.

Maybe you’ll notice. Maybe you won’t.

It won’t matter terribly much, but here’s the thing:

People love stories.

PR companies love people.

People do not love PR stories.

It’s a messy cycle and it’s easy to get caught up and spit out. The sludge of stats and subscribers and traffic and stuff and money and events and needtowriteaboutthis and pitch this and promote that and help the cause and and and…

It’s all just a bit much.

I want the stories back.

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You don’t get to police the Internet

by Veronica on December 21, 2011

in Soapbox

Say that something gets written. Something you don’t agree with. In fact, it’s something that your moral standards find so terribly offensive that you’re moved to write something grumpy and grumble to your peers.

And say, that in your grumbling, more offensive things are said. The torches get lit and the pitchforks come out. The mob moves in, only to find itself met by another, equally angry mob.

People demand that everyone mark everyone else as spam on twitter so that the offensive content cannot continue. It doesn’t matter what side of the argument you’re on, the other side is WRONG and you must shut down the discussion, in case someone hears it.

Offensive remarks are made on all sides and suddenly, there’s a flame war happening, with torches and BURN THE WITCH and shouting. Everyone is a bit hot under the collar.

While I can see that Mob A has some valid points, Mob B has some valid points too.

It all just feels like mud slinging, until someone shouts “LET’S TELL ON THEM! SHUT DOWN THE OFFENSIVENESS! STOP IT SPREADING!!”

Because I have been here before. I have seen this happen before and no doubt I will see this happen again. Chickenliver vs Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper anyone?

Cries of “BREACH OF TOS” “HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING” “I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!!!” get thrown around and people get angry. Blogs get reported (here there and everywhere, because everyone has a pitchfork by this point) and everyone feels vindicated.

BECAUSE I’M RIGHT.

Only, what if you’re not right? What if the other side is right? What if neither of you is right? What if this is not a black and white issue, but the whole thing is various shades of grey?

Do you have the right to police the Internet, just because you’re standing on the (slippery) moral high ground and think that you’re right?

Do you have the right to incite a mob to flag and mark as spam, just because something doesn’t fit with your sense of moral standards?

The Internet is a huge place and there is something to offend everybody. There is also a red X in the corner of your screen that you can click to make the offensiveness go away.

You can choose to stay silent, or speak out, as you choose. But whatever you do, you have to own that choice and wear the consequences. You have to own your words and stand by them.

There is always someone who is going to disagree with you and there is a whole other conversation that needs to be had about transparency and business practices, but right now, I’m watching the mobs try to police each other and wondering why no one has realised that this whole thing isn’t really all that important.

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Why businesses using social media badly, is worse than them not using it at all.

by Veronica on December 15, 2011

in Blogging, Soapbox

Finally, small businesses have jumped on the social media bandwagon. Sure, it took them two years to catch up to the rest of us, but here they are finally, tweeting and facebooking away.

It’s good, isn’t it?

Well…. maybe not.

When I find a new product that I love, the first thing I do is hunt them down on twitter, or facebook. This way, I keep track of lots of products I enjoy, through various social media channels – although twitter is the biggest way I follow.

What I’ve noticed happening though, is businesses using social media badly. Things like not responding to questions, refusing to acknowledge new followers and generally acting like they’re “bigger” than everyone else out there in this pond.

News flash: Social Media has lowered the barriers between businesses and consumers and consumers are not wanting to be talked at anymore. They want a conversation and a business they can relate to.

It’s called SOCIAL MEDIA for a reason – you use it to be SOCIAL.

When I spot small businesses on Twitter not following back their buyer base, I get grumpy. You’ve got 300 followers, but only follow back 30 people and refuse to reply to me if I ask you a question, or respond to your tweets? Sorry, but maybe I don’t want to buy your product anymore.

I see a lot of Tassie businesses wanting my money and yet, they won’t follow back on twitter. They won’t be drawn into conversation, they won’t respond to my tweets and a few of them have been downright rude.

If you can’t be polite to your clientele, then how do I know that you’re a business I want to support?

I can see that a lot of businesses are aiming at being “exclusive” and I call bullshit.

Exclusivity in your conversations does not make your product more desirable. It doesn’t make me want to visit your restaurant or buy your product, knowing that you have 800 followers and only follow back 30 of them. How is that the POINT of SOCIAL media?

It’s just mind boggling to me, that businesses would treat their customer base like they’re unworthy to be spoken to.

Here’s the thing – you don’t have to be knowledgeable about social media to do it well. You just have to be friendly.

That’s all we want.

And honestly, having a rude social media presence is worse than not having one at all.

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