Another September, another fresh start
My partner is getting better… I’ve been camping and to a festival. I’ve got a few more days off this later month to compensate for the week I had off when I had Covid, and for me to recharge after what has been a fairly mixed summer with both girls at home and a partner receiving brutal treatment for an illness. Plus, all the usual domestic dramas that have accumulated over the past several months (blocked sink, ruined bathroom tap, various things broken, garden desiring attention). And that’s not to mention the emotional support I would like to give to both daughters.?
This was going to be a really short update, but I realise I made the following notes last month so sharing them here, for what it’s worth.?
In other news?
I was struck by these paragraphs in a newsletter I subscribe to for digital communicators in the arts and heritage sectors, written by Alec Ward, Consultant - Lead for Digital Content and Skills for The Audience Agency:?
“I wanted to share an interesting thought I stumbled across the other day - 'commitment to consumption'. Firstly, I can't take credit for it - I can't remember who said it or where I heard it, but just know that it's not my thought. Despite that, I've not been able to stop thinking about it. I grew up in the 90s and 00s, before the internet was really a thing and media was mostly physical (VCRs, DVDs, Tapes, CDs). Before the internet era, if you wanted to watch a specific movie or listen to a specific song, you'd have to go to the shop, buy it, get it home, and pop it in your VCR or CD player before you could listen to it. There was a commitment to the consumption - a commitment of real time, significant energy and money.??
“But now, in the age of streaming, everything is at our fingertips. There is no commitment to consumption, instead it's rampant, often 'free' and fairly unlimited. If anything, media is designed to feed off that lack of commitment - take the TikTok algorithm as an example, endlessly scrolling with the flick of a finger. Anyway, I don't really have anywhere to go with this other than that I've been thinking about it a lot and the challenges it will pose for the social and mental development of future generations. So now I pass it on to you. Enjoy!”?
Alec, I really did enjoy and appreciate this. It says so much about our commitment to artistic work including pop music and about our attention spans. I don’t know about you, but it drives me crazy when a daughter or a friend skips a track on Spotify part way through. Maybe it’s because I’m such a radio listener, listening live where you don’t have the option to skip and am used to listening to the whole song. Maybe it’s because I love music and love the songs I’m listening to and want to hear and enjoy all of them. But it really bugs me. One friend says, ‘Oh, I know the song I’ve heard it millions of times.’ Yes. And now you have a chance to enjoy it again, maybe look at the lyrics in Spotify and work out exactly what is being sung and what the creator means by the lyrics. I dunno. Anyway, the point about uncommitted consumption really resonated with me.?
On the other hand, I did advise one daughter the other day to stop reading a book which she really isn’t enjoying. I used to be the sort of person who had to finish any book I started until I began the wretched Wild Swans which people were raving about at the time but which I found to be appallingly badly written – so much so that I couldn’t take in the fascinating Chinese history in the novel. So, I ditched it. I rarely give up on a book, but life is short and there is SO much to read. If something is no good, I will abandon it. Nick Hornby once said sometimes we’re just not in the right place or mindset to enjoy a particular book, don’t sweat it, and I agree with him.?
From the same Audience Agency newsletter, I was alerted to this alarming story about excessive spend on social media advertising by Essex County Council. As a social media manager, this is worrying. I would shudder to spend ￡15,000 on a Facebook page with 200 followers. Was no one questioning the value for money here? At Warm Welcome we spent around ￡50 on boosting a film which got 14,000 odd impressions and we thought that was questionable value for money, which we will review any time we want to boost a film or a post another time.?
That’s it for this month. See you later.?