“One would have to live in a cave to not sense that we are in a very unusual period of civilization as it relates to news, information, and media.” – Kevy Michaels
The obvious stigma that lurks is that of so-called ‘faked news’. Whether a valid concern or not, it has taken a toll on our appetite and trust in media and news sources.
We are in an age where facts don’t seem as important as they once were, simply because we don’t have a reliable way to discern what is fact and what is fiction. Additionally, the delivery of information by TV, Streaming, Smartphones, Alexa, and other devices have become more aggressive leaving us very few routes of escape from it.
Many are becoming sick of news and the media monsters and just shut it down. I am now to the point that I only watch the news occasionally. I like being informed but found that the news was depressing my day, especially during the elections.
Though I am a bit frustrated with the pace, inaccuracy, propaganda, and aggressiveness that media and information are shoved in my face, I am no fool, I am not resistant to it. The latest trends in media and news are larger than I am. I could never fight this monster and win. So, I must embrace it, and I will. You should too.
I find that folks are resistant to many things over which they have no control.
They waste tremendous amounts of energy and cause undue stress, fighting giants over an issue for which they will never be victorious. This happened with the introduction of calculators, rap music, realityTV, and now news and social media. Anyone who engaged in those fights has long since surrendered. They will surrender on this front too.
I don’t suggest that we necessarily surrender to ‘fake’ aggressive news. I suggest that we are receptive to it, simply because we don’t really have any other choice but to be. In being receptive to it, we may find ourselves accessible to new opportunities for disseminating and absorbing counter-mainstream information in the future. Perhaps inspiring messages and creativity will have an opportunity to board the aggressiveness and social media train.
I have had friends and acquaintances tell me point-blank, “I don’t do social media”. Others were reluctant to do much of anything on their $ 1000 smartphones, other than text, receive and make calls. Some are totally resistant to executing business transactions via apps, smartphones or the internet, and prefer to do things ‘the old fashion way’. To them, I say, ‘see ya’. You will be left behind.
Our new way of doing business and communicating will proceed with or without you, surely it won’t stop for you. Trends are that social media will become more integrated with business, and therefore our every day lives. We may get to the point whereby we will beable to pay bills, file complaints, search for jobs, and become educated throughFacebook. This is already in place, but it may become the more common way in the future.
Our social media footprint influences career opportunities today. …incarceration too! In the future, we may actually apply for jobs via social media and apps as a common practice. Learning has already been dramatically changed due to social media, aswell. Personally, my learning has been strengthened by social media, Google, and YouTube. On issues I used log support incident tickets, I now solve myself. Besides, human customer support is already nearly nonexistent. Instead of hiring a carpenter, electrician, or plumber, I do it myself, after watching YouTube DIV videos.
So, I say, get with the program or you will be left behind. There is too much money driving these changes, more money than we could ever fight. But what is more important is that there are certainly opportunities abound in this new paradigm, and we should seek to take advantage of them. Hidden opportunities always exist when there is change. We, however, waste time fighting the change and miss sight of new opportunities.
This is actually the case with personal trials and struggles. We fight and fight and fight until we realize that the trials made us stronger, wiser, and more equipped to strategically work with or around them. This is the mode that we need to be in with regard to the future of communications. But we need to become better equipped strategically, without having to put up much of a fight.
Here is an example of how I am benefiting from the tentacles of social media. I am approaching 4000 Friends on Facebook, and 900 on WordPress. As a result, I am connecting with Friends from around the world, from different cultures, and who speak different languages. Google translate allows me to communicate with them in over sixty different languages. It allows me to share content, poems, and songs with them, translated.
elephant in the room\’ I am virtually able to travel the world and get ground-level information from others, not ‘big-news that are supported by video, pictures, and personal accounts. Just 10 years ago, I could never imagine having this reach as an ordinary world citizen. This is a blessing for connecting with like-minded people worldwide. As a result, I am becoming very enriched intellectually in a 3-dimensional way, not 1-dimensionally.
Content creators will be and are being dramatically impacted by this shifting paradigm. For one, the information pipeline moves much more rapidly than before. Therefore, it seems that content will have to be shorter for easy and quick absorption. Ohshit! Houston, we have a problem! Brevity is not one of my strengths. I realize that I will have to present posts in a much shorter form. I’ve always realized that.
My blog was initially intended to be a draft for future books. From the over 150 articles that I’ve posted, I will extract the content, by subject matter, and use it to draft books. In the future, however, my posts may have to be shortened by at least 50%.
Or maybe blog content should not be shorter. There are predictions that blog post will become longer because they will replace novels presenting a relatively short story on a webpage or smartphone. There are also predictions that followers will read the post twice, once quickly on their smart device, then later at home on their desktop or notepad.
Additionally, bloggers will have to offer audio versions of content. That is because of Alexa. She’s going to be asked to read content to followers, instead of them reading it for themselves. Fortunately, Google already has text to voice technology that can translate any web page into audio. I don’t know much about it, but I do know that it exists. See the video below on adding Alexa to your blog.
The same applies with regard to vlogs. Bloggers will have to place greater emphasis on video blogging. This area of media is growing substantially each year, outpacing other forms.
I am studying video, film, and media currently, but don’t know if I can keep up with the rapid progression of this form of communication. I cannot magically accelerate years of video and film creative experience. That takes time. But I will try so that I am not left behind. I suggest that fellow bloggers embrace doing the same. The opportunity here, though, is for writers and videographers to collaborate. Writers are challenged by vlogging and videographers are challenged by blogging.
Because of the rapid pace of the news cycle and attention spans, bloggers will be challenged to produce content faster. This is a huge challenge for me because I write from my soul and only write when my soul tells me to. I can write otherwise, but it becomes quite laborious and stressful.
This challenge, though, is an opportunity in disguise. As a result, we may see a trend of bloggers collaborating more as well, sharing content with like-minded bloggers. …working on posts together. I love the thought of it! I believe that there is an opportunity to create consortiums of like-minded bloggers and conquer greater goals. Though
I noticed a bunch of policemen in the park and I wondered, what are they doing? They were handing out something. I didn’t know what they were handing out. Later found out they offering Denver Police Department stickers. I guess they were doing like a little PR or something in light of their reputation.
Deepak Chopra’s book, 
First, I want to say
My family, as most black families did back then, had two very elegant phonograph consoles, build with craftmanship into very nice solid wood cabinets that looked like an elegant piece of furniture. It served as the foundation of our modest entertainment endeavors. When the top was closed, and my mother placed a lace dolly and a vase of plastic flowers on top, and polish it with that weird-smelling furniture oil. One would never know that it was a record player until it was opened, and guest would say, ‘Oh I didn’t realize that was a record player.’ For a moment, we would feel white-privileged. It was a big bulky piece of furniture that only housed two speakers, a turntable, and storage area for 45s and LPs, but it was nearly the center of our lives back then.
In addition, either I or my sisters would get a portable record player for Christmas. …Sort of the Easy Bake Over of record players, allowing us to listen to music in our rooms upstairs. It did not have a big sound because the speakers were transistor-radio-sized, but we enjoyed listening to the latest music just the same. Upstairs we would sing, dance and listen in private, well almost.
What I love most about my poetry, outside of the fact that words come to me sporadically, almost magically. I see the fluidity of my poetry as God sending messages to me. 
While listening, also reflect on the year that is nearly at its end, and visualize the future that you desire in 2019 and beyond. What will not make the cut in 2019? What will you ignite in 2019? This music provided animated music for listening reflection and celebration dancing.
