Why So Social
Posted By Kathleen David on February 3, 2020
The World Wide Web is both a blessing and a curse wrapped into a ball of chaos.
In some ways the Internet has allowed us to come together and in other ways it has torn us apart.
Some are discovering that what they say on the Internet, even if it was when they were an impulsive teenager, can come back and haunt them costing them their livelihood.
I talk frankly about mental health both mine and the social perceptions. I try to bring a human face to it and, in doing so, hope I can help others find ways to help themselves. Which is something that would show up if someone did a search of my Internet footprint. If that is what keeps me from getting a gig, then so be it. But this subject is important to me.
Most of the other subjects I talk about are pretty benign. Puppets, conventions, home life, cats, and Caroline. Caroline was the reason I started this web log. I want to be able to put stories and the like so that my family and friends could read about her and what we were up to. This was easier than trying to remember everything for a phone call or video chat.
I know that some people read this space for the puppet stuff. Others read for the convention adventures. Some read because they are fans of Peter’s and discovered my web log through his web page and they like the peek into the family like of Peter David the writer of stuff. A number read it because I participated in a contest on Live Journal named Live Journal Idol where we wrote essays based on a topic each week and they came to like my style.
I have spaces on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and my own website www.nostringstattchedpuppets.com . I have three places that my web logs are published on Dreamwidth (puppetmaker), Live Journal (puppetmaker40) and https://kathwp.malibulist.com which runs off of Peter’s web site www.peterdavid.com.
That’s a pretty large footprint over various platforms. I have been writing entries for over sixteen years now. Sometimes I think about putting together the conventional wisdom ones into a book of essays about conventions.
Here are a few things I do know about my digital footprint. There are no nudes of me on the Internet unless they are photo-manipulations and I don’t want to know they are there. There are no photos or records of me knowingly participating in illegal activity. There is nothing that I have said that I will not back up now. If my opinion has changed, I will admit to it. I can still be educated and enlightened on topics. Are there a few things out there I wish weren’t there? Yes, but I think most of us have a couple of those.
My political and religious views are out there but I do not focus on either as I consider those to be personal.
One does not have to put everything out on the Internet. In fact it is better to not do so.
There are a lot of things in my life I do not write about. I see no reason to put my frustrations and anger out there when it can be so fleeting. I try not to write these essays when I am mad or upset. I guess I do fall into the people who, if you read their web logs, seem to have a charmed life with everything going their way. Well everything doesn’t go my way, but I see no reason to cry about it on the Internet. I have people that I talk to who I know very well for that.
This is my public face for all to see.
I have people comment that, after meeting me, I act like I do on my web log.
I am grateful that I managed my digital footprint as well as I have.
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