There are two Internets. One where snark is the common language, where entitlement is the common currency, where shock value is the principle form of recreation, where the elevation of one’s self comes at the expense of another, where anonymity grants its people the right to turn off the lights and throw punches at the dark.
Then there’s the other Internet. The one I didn’t know about until recently. The one where support is the common language, where sharing is the common currency, where participating is the principle form of recreation, where free advice is on tap, where character is king, and where criticism takes a backseat to feedback.
A place far from the racist-homophobic-misogynistic slurs of twelve-year-olds wearing XBOX headsets (yeah, I said it).
This is an audio short dedicated to that second Internet. It’s about putting your guard down and letting other people in. It ends on a bittersweet note, but that’s okay.
I love your stories, although “stories” seems to small of a word for what they are. (that was intended to be a compliment) 🙂 Anyways, they are amazing.
Wow, thank you! That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard all day. I’ll keep them coming.
“… where free advice is on tap, where character is king, and where criticism takes a backseat to feedback.”
It’s taken me a while to get going on Twitter properly. As a latent passive-aggressive character, it still feels like intruding on others’ space if I post up too much of my work in a day. As much as I want to promote my work … well, you get it.
(and not editing my own work properly before posting, as happened today, is only the start of a self-recrimination shit-mood. Damnit.)
That being said, this audio read my mind. It’s everything that the “other” internet conveys – real support, real objective criticism. It pisses me the hell off, when people promise to read work and renege on it in the next forgetful moment. I know our lives are all fantastically busy, but –
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. But I try, every day, to read ‘n review as many of my follower’s work as possible, Twitter and WP. When it’s not reciprocated, I feel like a spoiled, whining child.
I don’t even know why I’m admitting this. Apologies.
Anyway – I wholly empathize with this post.