#157 theoldmortuary ponders.

Feeling like a fish out of water is a common feeling when considering Social Media. Like most people I was lured and then fell headlong into Facebook and Instagram when they first launched. Then by complete accident I became responsible for the ‘ public’ Social Media face of a large art group in London. In that curious way that humans do I became known as an amateur expert, long before Social Media management became an actual job that people learned. I’ve always thought that in group situations you either chose someone for a job because they put themselves forward for it, their ego emblazoned on their foreheads like an accurate pigeon strike.

Others, like me, get chosen, almost by accident because we have a tiny nugget of experience and no one else really wants to do it. Social Media was never part of my actual day job. In 14 years I’ve done some SM learning but in reality I remain a dabbler while Social Media has marched on  gathering glossy Social Media managers, influencers and all sorts of other job titles that baffle anyone in the real world.

This week I popped my amateur and now Plymouth based Social Media head out into the real world of Social Media and attended courses provided by Cosmic.

https://cosmic.org.uk/cosmic-digital-training

My amateur head feels less amateur now. My digital hand has been held, first in a group and second in a one2one session by a lovely man called Adrian. I know what I’m doing OK at, I also know where I am falling a little short. Adrian has placed his digital hand on my virtual back and pushed me well and truly out of my comfort zone. Personalities need to be revealed, videos need to be created. Tutorials need to be created….

What I learn for an art group might bleed into my blog life. You have been warned! Two tiny videos follow that definately show that I am a dabbler by nature. The unboxing videos of a new set of paints all perfect and glossy and a three month old tin with very clear signs of dabbling.

Have a fabulous dabbling Saturday.

BlogBlock/Spring Clean

I’ve not been blogging as much as recently as I feel I should. There are many reasons for this. The start of my bloggersblock came on almost overnight in September when I couldn’t write about my experience of visiting the 9/11 Memorial museum in New York. I just couldn’t find the words that fitted the sensations and emotions of my visit. 6 months on I’m not sure I feel any more competent .This is important to me but really shouldn’t stop me writing about other stuff. To me it seems like a cavernous hole in my blogging capability but until I wrote this who even knew it existed. So why did I make such a big thing about it.

The middle bit of my blockage came with research and contemplation. I started this blog because someone told me it was hard and I wouldn’t be able to keep it up. Maybe not the best motivation for starting a blog and actually they weren’t entirely wrong. I am a stubborn and determined mule when told I can’t do something. Then I run out of swagger grow a horn and flitter unproductively about like the mule/ unicorn crossbreed I really am.

I’ve researched long and interestedly into blogging and the use of social media , in particular for digital migrants like myself. Finding readers for a blog written by someone over fifty is in itself a challenge because the age range of the ‘average’ blogger or blog reader is somewhat younger. I also needed to contemplate the point of my blog, my initial spurt of writings had a loose theme but in many respects I was all over the place . I made a vague New Year resolution that I would sort it, the blog, out and give it more focus. January and February came and went and here we are half way through March and I’m no nearer to a tidy focussed blog than I was a year ago when I started. In my defence I have been busy doing art and learning new skills and writing for other people. I realise now how challenging it is to be a lone operator, there is only me to do the stuff.

The denouement is that my blog is more or less what I want it to be . It needs to be tidier and more focussed and needs regular but not obsessive attention. A little digital spring cleaning and a breath of fresh air should sort things out

If anyone has any hints or tips please share them

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