While millions of people retreated in their homes hiding from COVID, and others took to the streets joining BLACK LIVES MATTER, sistah friends pulled my coattails and told me stop hiding from social media. Jump in, they said. Join the conversations. Who knows? I may find a new level to my creative voice.
From my teen years through young adulthood, I helped my parents with technology. I was the one who fixed TV glitches, figured out how to work every type of VCR that Daddy bought, encouraged them to purchase the call-waiting and voicemail features on the land line, and eased my parents into the early 21st Century with cell phones. Later, I taught Mama how to text and use the camera feature on her cell phone as a way to capture her grandchildren’s smiles. Then, as if a yield sign flickered through her mind, she’d remind me not to text and drive and pull over when she called. LOL!
Yet...*sigh*...social media and I hadn’t become well acquainted. I looked at social media as the AI replacement to the human voice. Instead of enjoying the camaraderie of a good conversation via phone or dare I say in person, text, tweets, and IG posts became the preferred mode of communication sans human touch. I’m not cut from that cloth. I’m a woman who grew up in the 20th Century to run the world of the 21st.
However, the world changed on me. The rules of communication engagement were rewritten, but I never received the update notice. I love communication. I enjoy tackling topics with others discovering new angles to old thoughts. Strong verbal repartee electrifies my gray matter. Humor smooths hard truths. But, it’s the voice that gives me entrée to those heart places. I’ve always felt that social media cuts out that bridge leaving me bobbing in a communication sea with no life raft in sight. Yeah...the thought of trying to connect with someone on a personal heart-to-heart level without the voice leaves me shivering.
Deep in my heart, I didn’t want to be left behind. I realize that technology doesn’t have to be a proverbial enemy. Instead, it could be a new bridge that allows me to connect with someone I may never meet who lives in another state or another country. Looking back at my younger years, I realize that Mom and Dad didn’t want to be left behind either. That’s why they had my siblings and me. We kept them up to date with the latest ... everything.
My nieces do that for me now. One recent Christmas, they gifted me with wireless headphones. They said they wanted to keep me up to date. Such a humbling experience. I laughed at myself because I was in the place where my parents had been. Now... social media glared at me.
I rolled up sleeves and worked to create a strong platform. Website? Check. FB pages? Check. Blog? Check. YouTube? Ugh! But, my radio show forced my hand. I needed a place to put the shows once they aired. It was my content that I had gathered during my entire writing career. Lessons learned from the trenches of film and theatre that I willingly shared with the world.
Again, my sistah friends pulled my coattails. Come on, girl! They said. Launch the channel. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. So easing my toes into the technology waters, I launched my YouTube channel this month. I’ve got plenty of content to keep it fresh for a while. And they were right, it’s fun. A lot of work, but a lot of fun.
Is that someone pulling my coattail again? What it is it this time?
“Come on, girl. Clubhouse is calling your name.” Jeez! Will this technology push never end?