This, all of this. These platforms are driving us bananas, damaging our personal relationships, etc. We keep trying to play a game that is, ultimately, rigged against us in hyper-addictive, manipulative, damaging spaces. And, unless you have considerable success to carryover from legacy media, there aren’t any other options.
This is so true. In my poetic life, I am often plagued by feelings of frustration. I’ve had many breakdowns because I feel like I’m not successful enough. It ruins any love we originally had for it.
The evolution into digital creation has fascinated me. I remember in the late nineties/early aughts when people just spun up websites and blogs . We shared recipes, what was on our mind, what we were cooking. It was messy af, but it was fun , and shared a window into our world.
I couldn't hack food media now. I'm not polished enough, I don't want to test with a million substitutions but i am glad there are folks like you balancing the content creator reality and still being real.
It's funny you say this because I created my substack as a creative outlet because trying to understand my "statistics" on Instagram for my photography business became extraordinarily disheartening. There was a three-month period where my reels, which were fun to create, went viral multiple times and then my engagement plummeted. I lost contact with my community and it was so disheartening. Substack put me in their e-mail weekly and it's a list I own.
I created my newsletter because I'd rather communicate to X amount of people my way- without worrying about everything being perfect to fit an algorithm, that is really designed for business owners to invest in ads. You have an entire following here who show up week after week because they like your aesthetic- focus on that. Because, as we're learning with Twitter, social media is not the real world. It's controlled, contrived, and meant for you to feel this way. Your e-mail list, though- that's yours.
I'm tired of seeing 3-second attention-grabbing videos with the same sounds and the same foods over and over again. Thank you for addressing this. The saturation and popularity of similar content makes me wonder why I even bother scrolling sometimes.
I took almost a monthlong break from social media and I feel like I can use this essay as a reference because it summarizes how I feel about the industry at the moment. It’s exhausting.
Great piece. The creative industry I'm in is very feast or famine, thinking in abundance and feeling your worth gets very hard some days. Grateful for your work and perspective.
I totally understand what you’re saying. I’m normally a poet/fiction writer/essayist, but I’m trying to get into food writing. I like to bake, and I like to eat. I’m also 1/4 Maltese, so I have that to draw on. I think it depends on what you’re looking for. Everyone looks for different things in food writing. The most important thing is to be happy with what you put out, as you cannot control the rest of it!
This, all of this. These platforms are driving us bananas, damaging our personal relationships, etc. We keep trying to play a game that is, ultimately, rigged against us in hyper-addictive, manipulative, damaging spaces. And, unless you have considerable success to carryover from legacy media, there aren’t any other options.
So grateful for your work.
This is so true. In my poetic life, I am often plagued by feelings of frustration. I’ve had many breakdowns because I feel like I’m not successful enough. It ruins any love we originally had for it.
The evolution into digital creation has fascinated me. I remember in the late nineties/early aughts when people just spun up websites and blogs . We shared recipes, what was on our mind, what we were cooking. It was messy af, but it was fun , and shared a window into our world.
I couldn't hack food media now. I'm not polished enough, I don't want to test with a million substitutions but i am glad there are folks like you balancing the content creator reality and still being real.
Well, I hope I don't come off as a content creator, lol! I just want to be a writer.
You're a writer surfing in a content creator world.
It's funny you say this because I created my substack as a creative outlet because trying to understand my "statistics" on Instagram for my photography business became extraordinarily disheartening. There was a three-month period where my reels, which were fun to create, went viral multiple times and then my engagement plummeted. I lost contact with my community and it was so disheartening. Substack put me in their e-mail weekly and it's a list I own.
I created my newsletter because I'd rather communicate to X amount of people my way- without worrying about everything being perfect to fit an algorithm, that is really designed for business owners to invest in ads. You have an entire following here who show up week after week because they like your aesthetic- focus on that. Because, as we're learning with Twitter, social media is not the real world. It's controlled, contrived, and meant for you to feel this way. Your e-mail list, though- that's yours.
I'm tired of seeing 3-second attention-grabbing videos with the same sounds and the same foods over and over again. Thank you for addressing this. The saturation and popularity of similar content makes me wonder why I even bother scrolling sometimes.
I took almost a monthlong break from social media and I feel like I can use this essay as a reference because it summarizes how I feel about the industry at the moment. It’s exhausting.
Great piece. The creative industry I'm in is very feast or famine, thinking in abundance and feeling your worth gets very hard some days. Grateful for your work and perspective.
I totally understand what you’re saying. I’m normally a poet/fiction writer/essayist, but I’m trying to get into food writing. I like to bake, and I like to eat. I’m also 1/4 Maltese, so I have that to draw on. I think it depends on what you’re looking for. Everyone looks for different things in food writing. The most important thing is to be happy with what you put out, as you cannot control the rest of it!
Ooh son is going to love that masala, thanks!