As technology expands, I ponder if it is a good thing or just a monopoly of operations that appears to advance us vs really being clear, understandable, and effective.  With more social medias appearing or being revamp.  Apps galore for everything under the sun to be created, engaged, and appear to be helpful.  

I am of the Baby Boomer generation…born before the days of technology.  An era where people connected in person and on a rotary dialed phone (advancing into touchtone.)  We connected in person or by a telephone call (no call waiting or caller id at that point) It’s funny to think about my generations form of connecting.  We had the disappointment when we could not connect and possibly would reach out several times before we made contact.   I also think that people gathered more for barbeques and celebrations.  Word of Mouth was a proven effect tool in filling venues, getting businesses known and of course my favorite…sharing our thoughts about music and who was coming to (concerts) town and when.

So, I ask, with technology are we more advanced and connected or we more disconnected?  How much do you pay attention to social media for your entertainment interests or what you believe you want to experience?

As someone who became involved in the independent side of Literature, Music, and Visual Arts back in the early 2000.  I got involved in the early stages of Online Social Media Sites.  MySpace was the spot.  I really don’t recall how the popularity was developed in being Lady Flava of Flava Coffee House-Seattle, WA…this is where and I became excited and passionate about Original Artistry and explored local and national creative souls. I knew I had to find a way to involve myself and I did…from becoming a book reviewer, playing music in my coffee house, and displaying visual arts along with selling creative product in my coffee house along with hosting a weekly open mic.  My first involvement in putting on an event was in 2004, a jazz cruise on the Puget Sound.  I also hosted a national literary conference through Flava Coffee House in 2008.  Although there were challenges in being apart of this creative community along with the online community, I was hooked.  I wanted to learn more about the ins and outs of this exciting industry.  But again, this was the early stages of social media and when it was not as saturated as it is nowadays.

20 years later, I feel like the role that I was branded for in this creative industry is obsolete. Internet Radio Show Hosts, Pod Cast Hosts, Streaming Sites and on and on are so over saturated.  I love creating promotions and posting them to a variety of social media’s along with groups and pages within those networks. 

I remember the day when we couldn’t wait to get home and listen to our favorite radio show host and record our favorite songs onto a cassette tapes. We knew when a certain show host would be on and their format (brand) We knew from those show hosts when the new music would be released and where we could buy it from.

With all of these platforms out there, I believe it is hard to create, to brand and to share ones ART.  Sincerely, I do not hear anyone saying, “you need to listen to this radio show or go stream and create your own playlist over at…  I do see a handful of music talents off and on an author advertise their products/projects.  There is this interesting CHARTING thing which makes no sense to me…I have tried to research how a podcast of group determines that someone should be on a chart or how they move up.  I have never had a conversation with anyone that said they requested a song to be played on a podcast that they regularly listen to. (Can someone help me understand the process of charting)

It feels like to me that this industry in so many ways is over saturated with creatives and support positions that people stopped paying attention to an individual unless they have made some noise and have been able to draw attention to themselves.  There are those they do enough to stay out there and are drawing a crowd, but not growing their audience and consumers.

I don’t even know if people really read books still, I know that I own books but do not pick them up and read them. I really love listening to audiobooks, that’s a story for another blog. When I was coming up music and books were like trophies that we put on display…so a messy pile or others neatly lined up. We had conversations around the books we read and our favorite music. I believe those days are gone…and when I speak about this subject, I am speaking on those that are the unknown talents (like when records were pressed and DJ’s played the music on the radio show…we danced and we sang every word…We created memories to what we experience creatively.

So, I ask again, with the advancement with technology are we more connected or we more disconnected?  How much do you pay attention to creative souls on social media that you do not know…how often are you drawn to want to experience something that is creatively different?

 

LadyFlava of LadyFlavaNews

Asking A Question and Sharing My Thoughts