The point of the audience series

Of course all this talk about audiences and profiles is really about me wondering if I should get back on social media.

I’m still “on” it in that I have profiles and accounts, and nothing is deactivated and I could log in and then I would be on and using it. But I’m “off” it in the sense that I am not visiting those sites, or posting on them regularly, except for the comments that I sometimes leave on my YouTube fitness trainer’s videos (e.g. my butt, it is dead)

There have been times in my life when I loved social media—I found it a really fun way to stay in touch with my friends and a fun way to share what I was doing. I had a blog that I was active in writing AND promoting (unlike this blog, for which I only do the former), and that was also fun for me. But I did find it constraining as well, to know that there would be people who would read the blog. And the better I knew the people, the more annoying it was for them to read my blog and talk to me about it and be like, “oh here’s something you should blog about.” I got the sense that my dad would read it for hidden messages about my personal life, which to be fair, was probably a reasonable thing to do.

And then I did less social media and virtual performing for a while and did more on-stage performing when I was more active in the improv world, and that was also fun, but also had its pitfalls. Improv isn’t that funny when it’s for an audience of 1. It just really isn’t.

And now here we are, in quarantine, seeing some light at the end of the tunnel (looking at possibly May for getting a vaccine) and the world of social media has broadened and shattered into smaller pieces and I’m wondering if there’s something for me in all of that. Would I like to be a part of it, again? Somehow? To be a micro influencer? And if so, how can I make sure I don’t forget to have fun!

The worst thing of all is for performers to chase approval. It’s no fun as a performer. And eventually, it’s no fun as an audience, because the content turns stale.

So, could I do it? Could I engage in that world and find it enriching, as opposed to a tax on my life? Could it be a place that spawns creativity and new ideas? Or would it, inevitably, drain me. I don’t know. I think, at the very least, I’ll stick here for a while and see how this private public blogging goes.