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Webtivism and Blogging

8/14/2012

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When I first started this, I was trying to make The Daily Consternation something like a print version of The Daily Show, wherein I would generally migrate my news headline-mocking from Facebook to here.  I was seeking to gain more control than Facebook afforded.  But a key feature of riffing on news headlines is being able to link to news articles in such a way that the headlines are displayed in a little window the way Facebook does it - and I haven't been able to figure out how to replicate that here.
Next, as you can see, keeping up the "Daily" part is difficult.  Blogging takes a lot of time.  I really wish I could type as fast as I think.
And then, I failed at the "Consternation" part, since I have spent a hefty amount of time on praise and enthusiasm over joyous things rather than continual dismay and concern over the idiocies of humanity (which I still comment on on Facebook from time to time).
What we have instead is Webtivism.  This is another offshoot of my midlife crisis, which has been ongoing since turning 40.  Upon realizing that my life is finite, and that I'm now at the point where I notice the minutes ticking off the clock in The Final Countdown.  And I began to wonder at the worth of every minute spent.  I began to wonder if I could be, on any level, influential.  If I could do anything that would outlast my time on this Earth, if only for a month or maybe a year.

Well, I was spending a lot of time every night clicking around on the internet, cycling through the same sites repeatedly looking for gratification.  Like a mouse in a cage pressing some pedal that would distribute a treat every 20th push.  And at the end of the night, I'd learned nothing, done nothing, and was unsatisfied.  Since the internet came along, I've marveled at the fact that now, for free almost, I could communicate with the entire world in a manner formerly reserved to the very rich or famous.  And yet I was squandering it.  Numerous times I considered building a personal website, even before Facebook, but the technical challenges and expertise necessary for even something rudimentary were daunting.  Well, along came Weebly and made things like this site a piece of cake.
So I decided to turn my internet/computer noodling to useful purposes.  To spend the same amount of time I was wasting on equally digital things with purpose.  Hence, I applied my efforts to areas of historical preservation, promotion of the arts, furtherance of local business, ending the Drug War, and helping others find useful information about Maine.  And also to making people laugh.  These efforts are present on this site and the others listed on the "Other Site & Pages" link.  And that's what I call "Webtivism."  Internet activism.  Fighting middle-age with technology.
And I'm beginning to be encouraged by the results.  People from afar have begun contacting me with questions about Winslow History, or to contribute historic materials to the Town.  The hits on this site have risen to a steady flow, with occasional spikes of over 100 or even 200 visits in a day.  Some of the blog posts have garnered quite a few Facebook Likes, though I am blind to the identity of the Likers.  And I've seen myself quoted once or twice on other's blogs or Facebook pages.
So I suppose I'll continue for now, as I'm pressing on the pedal and being rewarded fairly frequently.  But I'm still waiting for a rich venture capitalist to call me and say, "Tom, I like your idea for this Gymnopedie thing...."

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    Tom lives on the east side of the Kennebec River and works on the west.  He relocated from Arizona to Maine, by pure choice,  in 2001 and loves music and history.  He may change any viewpoint expressed on this site at will and without warning.

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