Monday

The first theme reflection ran long and made weaving in the highlights from a busy weekend difficult. A focus on a new storyteller workshop ate away at the remaining grains of sand in today's sand dial. Let's dig into a reflection of tools and responsible use.

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🤘We are here every day, and every minute you spend with us sends ripples of gratitude through our souls! 🤘

Another story about the destructive nature of social media is running through the feeds again today. Misinformation, disinformation, and words run through rage machines designed to enrage and engage many lonely people. Kyle Chayka writes a good piece for The New Yorker on social media and how the news abdicates responsibility to it and then reports on it. Social media is a distribution tool and wasn't designed to make or report on actual news. Twitter could give firsthand accounts of news as it was happening by people in the middle of it. Natural disasters, protests, or global unrest were all texted out in a few characters around the globe. News people and journalists will also be the first to tell you as a tool; Twitter was a great place to start when covering the news or a beat. You could start with Twitter, which helps you understand a situation. It was also a place to test a story idea or get early feedback on your work.

Twenty years ago, we were introduced to social media; Facebook helped us catch up with friends and family. Twitter gave us everything from up-to-the-minute news and hot takes to discovering that school was canceled or the kid's practice location changed. They were tools, easy to use, easy to post to, easy to grow your lists, likes and reach – like all good things; as the tools grew, the money followed. Facebook knew more than most and grabbed up an enormous amount of data on its user base and served up ads, turning it into a company with a Market Cap larger than McDonalds, Pepsi, AT&T, Pfizer, Exxon, Walt Disney Co. Bank of America, Mastercard, and Goldman Sachs. All in under twenty years. Twitter went a few years before it introduced advertising; a few years after that, someone thought it was worth 44 billion dollars, and an argument could be made it is being burned to the ground.

Most homes in the US have some form of gas or electric appliance, which means somewhere in the house is an open flame burning 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Most also have running water; these tools help us to make meals, wash our clothes, and bathe our bodies. They are tools; if the open flame is not controlled, if the water is not contained within your home's plumbing, it could catch fire or flood. Use the tool, manage it, and don't expect it to be something it's not. 

News Flash!! Social Media is NOT news; it's a tool for distributing "Fill in The Blank ."The convenience and reach of these tools are the reason most of the largest companies in the US are tech companies. Journalists didn't abdicate the responsibility for the news to social media; they use it as well as anyone in business. Good journalism, reporting, and content production take time. Fact-checking and responsible sourcing take time. Social media has no use for anything that gets in the way of distribution. Social media is fast and furious; if you follow the money, the advertising dollars are not going into journalism. The abdication is on the user's part, where the responsibility lies. Get your news from multiple trusted sources, and confirm your news, thoughts, and questions by discussing with others you trust. If you get your news from a digital silo, the advertisers and platforms will thank you. If you get your news from many places and run it through in-person conversations with other real people, the world will thank you.

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This weekend in Las Vegas, a dream headlining gig at the When We Were Young festival brought the reformed Blink 182 with fellow 90s Bangers Greenday for what looked like a moment of Life is Good. A friend-of-the-work said last month, "It's hard to hate people you harmonize with." – Glen Phillips.

Anti-War.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

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🤘We are here every day, and every minute you spend with us sends ripples of gratitude through our souls! 🤘

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

5 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

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