#Yes posting stuff online and sharing about it is important but it absolutely CANNOT be the only thing you’re doing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gay-jesus-probably · 2 years ago

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I see some people going "well if they didn't even do anything, what's the big deal? how can posting opinions online be election interference?"

And on the one hand, yeah, they didn't get much done here, so it's really not that big of a deal. But at the same time, yes, it absolutely was election interference, and they absolutely had to be shut down, because it kind of is a big deal.

People can talk about their political opinions as much as they want, and they can try to sway other people to their point of view. Nothing wrong with that! But if you're specifically being given money to promote a political stance, you cannot keep pretending to be just some guy. It's the same deal with pushing products. Like, I've got a popular post warning people they need to wear sunscreen to protect from skin cancer, and that's fine. That's just me being pro-sunscreen. And if I was telling people to only use one brand of sunscreen because it's The Best, then again, whatever. But if it turned out that one brand was secretly paying me to promote their sunscreen, then suddenly I'm not doing a friendly PSA, I've been advertising something without anyone knowing, and now we're doing something illegal. You know why influencers always tell you when someone's paying them to promote their shit? Because it's illegal not to say you're doing a paid advertisement. If people don't know you're being paid to talk up a product, they can't make an informed decision about whether the things you're saying are trustworthy or not.

So let's say it's 2016, and you start following a blog that seems very leftist. They post about BLM stuff, they discuss homophobia and gender equality, they're pro-Bernie Sanders, they seem great. You trust their political opinions. And then that blog starts going on about how Hillary Clinton is the literal worst, with some very legitimate criticisms, and also Trump sucks too, so the only moral decision is to refuse to vote as a form of protest. They're insisting anyone who does vote is betraying their principles and upholding a fundamentally corrupt system. They're making good points, and you trust them. There was no way in hell you were ever going to vote Trump, but actually y'know what, fuck Hillary too, you're going to abstain. So you don't vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Now if that blog that convinced you is actually just someone sharing their political opinion, that's still fine. But if the blog that convinced you turns out to have been getting funded by the Trump campaign... suddenly all of that feels a lot more dirty. And again, it's illegal to advertise something without disclosing that fact. A blogger can dedicate themself to trying to convince leftists not to vote, but it's pretty fucking important for people to know if they actually believe that, or if right wing politicians are paying them to shut down their opponents voter base.

"But those blogs that were taken down couldn't be pro-Trump, they were posting about Black Lives Matter!"

Yes, they were. That's because they wanted to convince people that they were a trustworthy source of leftist political opinions. And if you were following one of the blogs that was taken down in the sweep... congratulations. They lied to you, and you fell for it.

I mean for fucks sake, Tumblr's taken down major blogs for this nonsense before; remember tumblr user Pizza? Her and like a dozen other extremely famous blogs got banned at the height of this sites popularity because they all started talking about how great some diet pills are, and they turned out to be getting paid to do it. It's basic fucking ethics. You need to disclose when people are paying you to say things.

Were there Russian Chaos Agents on tumblr in 2016?

First things first:

Things I got wrong in earlier posts on this:

@ms-disinformation didn't identify these accounts ahead of time, this blog started posting in 2019 and is focused on accounts that are likely to be bot-run

Relatedly, the accounts accused of being Russian state actors were accused of being trolls, not bots - they were almost undoubtedly human-run

Tumblr didn't announce the mass ban of these accounts until several months after they did it - they banned the accounts in fall of 2017 and announced them in March 2018.

What actually happened?

The Internet Research Agency is a Russian company accused of creating fake social media accounts to attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. On March 23, 2018, tumblr posted a list of accounts they claimed were linked to the IRA that they had terminated the previous fall. On November 16, 2018, they posted a second list of accounts given to them by law enforcement of other IRA-related accounts (unrelated to any election interference) that were also terminated.

How did tumblr identify these accounts?

tumblr has been extremely vague about the methodology used to find these accounts, but we do have another source: the Buzzfeed News journalist who wrote about the termination of these accounts back on February 6, 2018 (over a month before tumblr's post) identified them by cross-referencing tumblr accounts with twitter's list of IRA-affiliated accounts, finding similar or identical usernames and profile pictures.

Unfortunately, this only kicks the can further down the road - how did twitter identify these accounts? These sites don't want to reveal their methods, but this study offers some insights into the behavior of these accounts and possible tools used to identify them.

Why should we believe tumblr's narrative?

There are a lot of reasons I'm convinced that tumblr is being honest with us about this, the simplest of which is that they don't have a good reason to lie about this. tumblr nukes accounts all the time without disclosing its reasons - if they wanted to get rid of an arbitrary list of accounts they dislike, they could do that and none of us would know. They deleted these accounts months before posting any explanation at all, and the only backlash they received was in articles like the Buzzfeed News article above slamming them for not talking about the Russian troll problem, instead of accusing them of terminating activists.

It's also not like this is some tactic that tumblr has employed frequently - the list of IRA-affiliated accounts has been untouched since 2018. This was a once-off, not part of any organized strategy to suppress certain types of posters.

Moreover, tumblr users with similar post content were left untouched, including many that reblogged heavily from the IRA accounts - the Buzzfeed News article identifies one such blog (alwaysbewoke) who posted more or less the same type of antiracist, pro-Sanders activism (albeit without the eventual support for Trump) who wasn't deactivated.

It's also worth noting that the IRA is a real company and not a US boogeyman (even if some subsection of liberals use the phrase "Russian bot" as such) - recently, the leader of the Wagner group came forward and confirmed that he founded it and still finances and runs it, and he's relatively direct about the fact that it was used to interfere in US elections:

“Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said in November, one day before the US midterm elections.

Finally, and most convincingly in my opinion, no one behind any of the over a hundred accounts on the tumblr IRA list or the thousands on the twitter one have come forward in the past six years to claim that they were wrongfully associated with the IRA and banned as a result.

Isn't that fascinating? Can you imagine what a story it would be, if social media sites were not only terminating activists but lying about why they were doing it? Do you think that not a single one of these hundreds of alleged activists thought of calling a sympathetic journalist, showing them their US driver's license, and asking them to a run a story? What about messaging their old mutuals, or making a new account, or finding a federated platform that won't delete them on sight? I can't find a shred of evidence that any of this ever happened, and that's pretty telling.

The funny part is, there's no real evidence that these accounts ever achieved anything, and indeed, reasons to doubt that they did. They operated in preexisting echo chambers and circulated mostly true stories with a specific slant to them, with the occasional dash of outright lies. Certainly, it's hard to argue that they were less reliable or more biased than your average Fox News article. But arguing that they weren't Russian propaganda seems pretty difficult.

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petitommo · 3 years ago

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re: (not so) small rant about Theo, Liam and season six of Teen Wolf

(original post by @livingbythewords, you can find it linked here. i originally wanted to reply to the post, but replies are turned off. i’d reblog it, but it’s pretty long, so i wanted people to get to choose whether or not they wanted to read it...)

i saw this post in the liam tag when i woke up yesterday, and i kept sporadically thinking about it and discussing it with people (and in my own head), and i definitely have some thoughts about it, not gonna lie... still, as i said, absolutely feel free to ignore this if this ain’t your cup of tea at all, but if you wanna hear my thoughts about 1. livingforthewords’ post and 2. theo, liam and season six of teen wolf, feel free to look under the line break :)

(i’ll be posting some of the lines from the original post for context to what i’m saying, but if you do wanna read my answer, i recommend reading the original post as well! let me also preface this by saying this is in no way meant as hate towards the creator, sceo as a ship, or scott mccall as a character. i found some parts of this post had traces of what i’d consider to be a harmful way of thinking about fandom and shipping, and i wanted to adress it.)

the post mentions early one that liam brings theo back to use him, and that as soon as he finds out theo no longer has josh and tracy’s abilites, he wants to send him back. that the only reason he doesn’t is because theo remembers stiles. with this, you say that you see thiam shippers claim that liam does it from the goodness of his heart.

personally, i’ve never seen claims that that was the reason liam did it. i have, however, seen (and personally think this myself) that theo coming back from the hell he’s been put in by the hands of liam, might make theo quick to develop a bond or feeling of gratitude towards liam. there’s no doubt in my mind that theo understands why liam did it — but even then, it still got him out of there. in canon, no other pack member but liam even entertained the idea of getting theo back — i think theo is very aware of this, as well — which in itself automatically makes liam the safest pack member for theo to latch onto, from the get go.

Liam distrusts and despises Theo – and it never changes throughout the course of the show.

again, with the basis of liam and theo’s developing aquaintance in season six (heavily conveyed through non verbal communication - both in the form of touches/glances/body language and the things written between the lines; the things not specifically worded, but definitely said through their dialogue), there’s a lot that can be up for interpretation.

when i watched the show, i saw two characters who, yes, clearly had a shared hatred towards each other, learn how to work together and develop a tentative trust (that only grew throughout the season). i saw two characters that shouldn’t work together, work together insanely well, to the point where no verbal communication was strictly necessary.

my point is, thiam as a ship is heavily influenced by interpretation of what you see in their dynamic, and i find it troublesome that you look at other people’s interpretation and publicly say;

However, shipping someone and having fun with it is not the same as twisting into knots to try to prove that canon supports something, when it doesn’t.

especially when you follow this up by saying;

Yes, there is a person who acknowledges that Theo has changed. Who trusts and supports him even when they have no reason to. Who is always there for him and tries to treat him fairly even after being incredibly hurt and betrayed.

But that person isn’t Liam.

because you and i watched the same show, and we clearly have majorly different interpretations of season six; of theo’s relationship with people post-hell; of liam dunbar as a character.

however, i am not gonna claim that you’re wrong, and i’m right. your interpretation is entirely different from mine — and yes, based on what i saw, i do personally think you’re wrong, but here’s the thing; i understand that interpretation of this is just that; interpretation. theo isn’t canonically linked with anyone, therefore i cannot say that thiam is right and sceo is wrong — even as that’s my personal view of it.

back to the theo and liam and thiam shippers adressed in this post;

i want to preface my response to this with the fact that i myself have been/are in healthy BDSM dynamics. i have also jokingly said that theo ‘probably enjoyed it’. i have online friends who have joked about theo enjoying it. and here’s the thing; none of the people i know seriously think theo, in that exact setting, enjoyed it.

a great thing about fandom and shipping is the exploration and discovery of one’s own sexuality. we often talk about it openly; we discuss it with people, we’re ‘horny on main’, we learn from fellow shippers, we read fanfiction. we joke around with stuff.

there’s no doubt in my mind that people do not think theo raeken got pulled back from hell, chained up and forced to follow liam and hayden around, and actually enjoyed it at that moment. however, can i personally see theo as a character that would enjoy being chained up in other situations? yes. a lot of us do. and so we joke about it.

joking about certain aspects of a BDSM relationship when you’re looking at/reblogging things from canon does not undermine how important a proper and healthy BDSM dynamic is.

the post also touches on theo being a traumatized kid with unhealthy coping mechanisms. this is, without a doubt, the core of theo as a character. however, by putting it in the context of why it’s wrong to joke about him being a sub/rope bunny, feels so misplaced to me. a lot of kinks develop from the trauma we have (talking from experience). a lot of kinks develop at — seemingly — random (talking from experience). being traumatized doesn’t automatically mean we develop kinks, sure, but it also doesn’t mean we do not develop kinks.

without a doubt - chaining him up and dragging him behind them was not a kind thing to do; i don’t think anyone disagrees with that. but at the end of the day, these are characters. theo is a character we’ve barely gotten to know, especially post-hell theo, so he develops in our mind, we have headcanons, we think of personality traits that weren’t shown in canon. some of those pertain to his sexuality, and that’s okay.

this also pertains to your gripe with people looking at canonical depictions of thiam and seeing it as love. again, even in the thiam shipping part of fandom, we have majorly different interpretations of certain scenes, and that’s okay. i’ve touched upon the importance of acknowledging that thiam as a canonically hinted at couple is all up for personal interpretation of their canonical depiction; this also means that people will see things very differently.

the original post was mainly aimed at theo and liam as a ship, so i won’t get into the comments about liam as a character that much, but i will say this;

even you yourself mention that liam absolutely has reason to resent theo. but, you go on to claim that liam doesn’t have as much reason for resentment as other characters.

liam might not have been personally wronged by theo in season five as much as other characters, i will agree with that. but, he did watch theo’s actions and influence in the things done to mason, to hayden, to scott. all people he loved. this, in itself, is reason enough to build resentment towards a person.

it’s also important to remember that theo lessened liam in his mind to the beta with anger issues, stripped away every complex part of liam and simplified him into this one trait that liam himself has struggled with and tried to distance himself away from.

liam struggling with being depicted as a monster — pre supernatural; because of IED, supernatural; as a werewolf — has been canonically shown so many times. it’s gotten us the line of «you’re not a monster. you’re a werewolf, like me.». we’ve been showed, time and time again, that liam has a complexity within him that is constantly undermined — by brett, by stiles, and yes; by season 5 theo.

sadly, i also see liam simplified and put into the box of beta with anger issues by the fandom. this also, from what i’ve read on your blog and from statements about liam in this post, includes you.

how does that change in season six? let’s get back to the claim at the start of this post; of thism shippers claiming liam is the only one who trusts and supports theo, and look at it this way; theo — previous homicidal maniac out to ruin the pack (put simply; we’re both theo apologists, we know there’s more to him than that) — is one of the first people to look at liam’s anger and not let it be his only character trait.

the post mentions glances in the truck scene; this is what the truck scene (in my mind) is really about. theo acknowledges — even if not explicitly stated — that the anuk-ite’s ability to raise fear in people, raises anger in liam. he sees that liam’s anger is a direct consequence of the anuk-ite; he sees that the fear instilled in liam translates into anger; because of IED. this lets liam be a character that has IED, instead of just liam - the angry character.

this, again, is my interpretation of this scene. you might not have seen it that way. once again proving that this is a ship based on interpretation.

claiming that interpreting scenes is twisting canon until it fits your idea of it, is such a harmful way of looking at shipping. i have never interpreted anything romantic between scott and theo in canon, and could, in turn, claim that you twist canon until it fits what you want. but i’m not going to, because your interpretation of things doesn’t have to fit mine.

you can’t write a rant about thiam as a ship, state that you don’t want to tell anyone who to ship and that certain ships are wrong, and then undermine every interpretation anyone has had about liam and theo as a ship.

we’ve all seen the same season of teen wolf, we’ve all seen the exact same scenes (there are no version of the show you watched); but we’re all very different people. we interpret things very differently.

AND THAT IS OKAY.

do not undermine people’s ship. if you hate thiam, just stay away from it. don’t expose yourself to it. ignore it for all it’s worth.

it’s that easy.

#feel free to ignore this ppl :)#just had to get it off my chest #thiam meta #of some sorts?

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wildlyminiaturesandwich · 5 years ago

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It’s time we talk about SimsDom again.

Most of you probably already know who and what Simsdom is but for those that don’t, Simsdom (or SimsDomination) claim to essentially be a CC finds website, which in essence I suppose they are... But don’t get your hopes up for a Lana replacement because they are SO much more than that. And not in a good way.

I know this is an old subject, and most people probably thought it was all over and done with, but Simsdom is still around and what’s worse is that I’ve noticed a growing trend among my fellow Game Changers who create content for Youtuber and Twitch/Mixer of promoting the site by using it to do CC shopping haul videos and streams, which is encouraging their viewers to use Simsdom. I’m not going to name names or point fingers but it made me realise that maybe some people don’t understand just how bad Simsdom is for the community in general, but especially for the amazingly dedicated CC creators of Simblr. And it’s just so disappointing to see people that some many in the community, including myself, look up to promoting this garbage site!

If you’re curious to know why this is a problem, I’ll explain under the cut. If not, keep scrolling... But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If you visit the Simsdom website (which I’ve purposely not provided a link to because you absolutely shouldn’t visit it) you’ll notice a whole bunch of custom content is available there, more than likely you’ll even find quite a bit from some of your faves like @peacemaker-ic, @nolan-sims, @storylegacysims, @crypticsim, @renorasims, @savvysweet and MANY more. My stuff is even on there as well and if you’re a creator, the chances are high your stuff is too; whether you want it to be or not.

But don’t be fooled, myself and most of the other creators whose content appears on their site did not give permission for our content to be shared on there. In fact, most of us have specifically asked Simsdom to remove our content from their site. I say “most” because there are some people who willing uploading their content there (god knows why). The easiest way to the tell the difference is to look at who posted the content. If you see this:

That content has been shared by a bot, without the creator’s permission and more than likely against their many requests that Simsdom NOT share their content. If it says the name of the actual creator instead of “Exchange”, that creator uploaded it themselves.

You might also ask why anyone would care if their content was shared on a CC finds blog, after all, it means more traffic to our blogs and content, right? First of all, whether it brings in more traffic or not, is beside point. These creators have specifically requested Simsdom not share their content and they have been ignored, disrespected, threatened, and harassed. Simsdom claims that their users make up 30-90% of Tumblr creators traffic, but I call bullshit. I check my Google analytics every single month for traffic coming in to both my Tumblr and Blogger from Simsdom and I can tell you that LESS THAN 1% of the COMBINED TOTAL traffic from BOTH BLOGS comes from there. And when you understand how they operate, you’ll understand why that is.

- UPDATE -

In reference to Simsdom’s response to this post, they linked 5 creators that they claim meet their crazy statement that their site provides creators with 30-90% of their traffic. So I just thought I’d point out some interesting facts I noticed while looking at those sites.

One of those sites is dead; literally, it doesn’t exist anymore, if it ever even did. Another, @simiracle, is a fellow Game Changer who reblogged this post, so I’m guessing they don’t have support there. And the other 3 are alpha CC creators, none of whom have ever uploaded any of their CC to Simdom, nor have they ever mentioned Simsdom on their sites in any way. However, all three earn money on their own content via either adfly, adsense, patreon, or some combination of the three; my guess would be they wouldn’t be too happy to find out Simsdom is making money off them too.

You see, Simsdom might sometimes link back to the original creators site, but often times they don’t. I’ve noticed quite a bit of the content of my own on their site directly links to the file on SimFileShare, completely bypassing both my Tumblr and my Blogger. This might not seem like a big problem, but what about if the creator has put specific instructions, requirements, or notes on the original download page that if the downloader doesn’t read could result in broken/unusable CC, or worse, a broken game?

- UPDATE -

In reference to Simsdom’s response to this post, they linked to SimFileShare’s page on SimilarWeb and claimed that I was lying about direct-linking to my files there because their site does not appear in the list of referring sites. What they failed to mention is that that list only shows the TOP 5 sites that link to SimFileShare regularly. There are still 385 other sites that aren’t shown and can’t be seen without having an account with SimilarWeb. Convenient, huh?

I also said they only direct-linked SOME content. With my content it was only about 4 or 5 things out of the 15 or so they have on their site and I didn’t check anyone else’s stuff but I have heard other creators say the same thing. So of course they’re not going to show up in the top 5 if it’s only SOME links.

But wait, there’s more.

Anyone downloading from their website without an adblocker is forced to wade through potentially harmful ads as well. Notice the blue button that says “download” at the top? That’s not a real download button and if you click it, it will instantly begin shoving pop ups in your face claiming you have a system error or that your local law enforcement agency has detected illegal activity from your IP. Yes, I clicked it. There is nothing of importance left on my HDD (it’s all stored safely on an external drive that isn’t connected to the PC at all) because this drive has been slowly dying for weeks and I’m destroying it tomorrow and replacing it with a brand new one, so I decided to take a chance.

These ads, which are on pretty much every page of Simsdom, are what’s called ��Ransomware”, and it’s whole purpose is to distract you with fake pop up “warnings” when you click on it so that you don’t realise it’s actually downloading a very harmful file to your computer in the background. It’s designed to be next to impossible to close the pop ups, so that even if you somehow became aware of the download happening, you couldn’t get past the pop ups to stop it before it’s had time to finish downloading and automatically begin running it’s payload when it’s done.

What payload? That’s the scariest part, you won’t know until it’s too late. It could be something as simple as a trojan that will force your PC to mine bitcoins, which is still harmful because these mining trojans are resource hogs and put a massive strain on your CPU. Or a trojan designed to target and encrypt specific files on your computer (usually sensitive ones) and demand you pay a literal ransom (usually either in bitcoin or pre-paid cash) and if you don’t, your files will either be complete erased or leaked.

Or worse still, it could be something even more sinister such as a key-logger; a piece of spyware that is designed to track and log EVERY. SINGLE. KEY. you touch on your keyboard. So every password you use, every online banking key code you enter, all the conversations you have via Discord, Twitter, Tumblr, or any other form of instant messaging, that fanfiction you’ve been working on that you are too scared to show anyone in case they think you’re a pervert, your credit card and bank account number you use to shop online, what porn you look for, even your Google search history (regardless of if you’re incognito); all of it will be no longer private and in the hands of someone who could use it to steal your identity, empty out your bank accounts, charge thousands of dollars worth of goods to your credit card, or expose every little strange thing you do on your computer that you thought no one would ever find out about, unless you pay their ransom.

Scary huh?

Also notice that those Get Famous recolours I made don’t say that they actually require Get Famous? Why is that a problem, you say? For most people it’s not, you see “Get Famous Recolours” and you automatically know you need Get Famous to use them, but what about people who are new to using CC and don’t know that for my recolours to work you need the pack they came from? Yeh, that’s a problem, because that particular download is one of those ones that leads straight to SimFileShare:

It leads directly to the merged file, which is NOT the only file available for download in that set, just the largest. But no one who finds my content on Simsdom will ever know that will they? Nor will they read the part of the download page that clearly states Get Famous is required to use the recolours.

I hear you saying “But adblockers are a thing”. Yes they are, but that doesn’t solve the issue of them linking straight to the file. And also, here’s what happens when you try to download something from Simsdom with an adblocker enabled:

You’re forced to wait 180 seconds before the download button appears. THREE WHOLE MINUTES in which you cannot move from that page or the counter will stop, and it will only restart when you go back to that page and stay there for the entire three minutes. Even Adfly isn’t that gross.

So, all of that isn’t enough to discourage you from using this vile site you say? Well, let me introduce you to the person/people who run the site. There are plenty of examples floating around Tumblr of how disrespectful, arrogant, immature, and disturbing the owner/s are (just search for “Simsdom” and you’ll see) but here’s just a few posts showing “receipts” of what happened to creators when they ask for their content to be removed from the site: Here, here, and here.

They have threatened to doxx several creators, tried to blackmail others, threatened to shut down some people’s sites, and even actually refused to remove people’s content unless they say “please”; as though these creators are six year old children who need to learn a lesson for not wanting THEIR content on someone else’s website!

All of this was said AFTER they made a post on their Tumblr saying they would respect creators wishes to not have their content on their site. I myself had a run-in with them as well but I don’t have the receipts because as soon as they finally agreed to remove my content (after almost 4 days of arguing with them and being threatened several times) they blocked me... and they continue to share my content to this day. That’s part of the reason why my motivation to create has been so low lately; I know its just going to end up over there, locked behind a paywall making money for these disgusting people and tricking simmers into thinking they have to pay to access my stuff.

But back to the story! Once they realised 99% of Tumblr creators — the people they get most of their content from — were going to ask to have their creations removed however, they changed their mind and instead started refusing to remove content. In fact, if you go to their website and use the contact form and choose the option “Remove my Content” they literally ask if you are Tumblr creator or not, and if you say you are, this is what you get:

And that “Our Rights here” link? That leads to this nonsense that literally contradicts itself with almost every single sentence:

“Creations can’t be uploaded without the creators permission... but we do not need permission to share your creations” “Feel free to contact us to ask to remove your content... but actually don’t bother contacting us asking to remove your content because we won’t” “SimsDomination is a free website... We don’t steal any content... *literally has other people’s free content locked behind a paywall and charges people membership fees to remove said paywall*”

And as for the EA terms part... I have news for you Simsdom, YOU are the only one breaking EA’s terms of use by putting content behind paywalls. I’m an EA Game Changer, I have actually read the terms of use AND spoken at length on the topics of earning revenue from CC, and why paywalls/memberships/exclusives are against EA’s terms of use with the Sim Gurus, have you? Didn’t think so.

If you had, you’d realise that we are allowed to earn revenue from our CC by having ads on our blogs/sites provided they aren’t deceptive — you know, like that ad with the big blue button you have that shows up on every single page of your site — and don’t lead to anything malicious, which yours do. I clicked several of the ads on your site and they all either lead to disgusting 18+ websites, started producing ransomware pop ups like I described earlier, or tried to download a mysterious file called setup.exe to my computer (which was most likely a trojan as well). We are also allowed to earn revenue via donations and Patreon early access systems provided the content is also made available for free to the general public within 14 days.

We are not, however, allowed to lock content behind Patreon exclusives, memberships and paywalls such as Adfly; which is exactly what you are doing. Like Adfly, you are not only potentially exposing underage children to 18+ content and risking the safety of people’s PCs, but you are also forcing them to wait to click a link and charging membership fees to avoid having to wait to download said content that isn’t even yours; content that you have been asked REPEATEDLY to remove. That is the very definition of a paywall. It is NOT the same as Pinterest or Facebook AT ALL, they might have ads but they aren’t malicious and they do not force people to wait to view content.

- UPDATE -

In reference to Simsdom’s response to this post, this is probably one of my most favourite Simsdom lies, because it never changes but it’s so easy to prove false! “Users don’t need to pay to download any content and don’t need to wait to download them” Oh really? Shall we take a look at your site on the old SimilarWeb that you love so much?

How strange. If you don’t make people wait, then why do you need adfly? And if no one has to pay, then why do you need premium memberships to get rid of the ads and wait time you don’t have? Odd.

Also, lets talk Adsense. I never said I had a problem with you having ads on your site; I said I had a problem with the TYPE of ads on your site. If you seriously don’t think your ads are in any way harmful, I’d suggest you take another look at your Adsense, because either it’s been hacked or you seriously don’t know what you’re doing. Oh, but that’s right, “Google will never display suspicious ADs“... Mmm hmm, you just go right on believe that. Yeh, it’s definitely not possible for Google to be hacked... Nope, definitely not.

Also, if you use your Adsense revenue to pay for your site.... what happens to the extra? Because based on your SimilarWeb page I can take a rough guess at how much you earn every month through Adsense alone and there’s no way your site costs that much to run. For that matter, where does all the extra revenue from Adfly, Short.st and this mysterious “other” go? And all the revenue you get from your premium subscriptions that you totally don’t charge people money for?...

Is that fish I smell?

You are not doing anyone any favours here, so stop pretending that you’re in this for anything other than money. Stop sharing content you’ve been asked REPEATEDLY to remove/not share and breaking EA’s and many creators TOUs!

If you’ve managed to make it this far, congrats lol I know this has been long and probably boring but thank you for taking the time to read the whole thing. All this post was meant to do was explain why people should not support Simsdom, and why I’m so disappointed in other Game Changers for promoting it, but it kind of got away from me a little.

Oh well, now you know what Simsdom is and why I will NEVER support them or willingly allow my content to be shared on their site. And if you do decide to still use their site, just... please be careful. My content will always be free and safe to download, just like the majority or CC creators here on Tumblr. Don’t pay for something you can get for free from the original source.

Also, if you’re looking for a Lana replacement (aka a good CC finds blogs that isn’t shady af like Simsdom) check out @maxismatchccworld!

- UPDATE -

This isn’t in relation to anything specific, just the situation as a whole. It seems Simsdom has just removed the search box from their website completely:

I’m sure it was totally legit reasons and not at all because they didn’t want anyone searching for their own content on the Simsdom website. Just like it wasn’t for that reason the last time too...

#VERY IMPORTANT #DownWithSimsdom #Boycott Simsdom

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fuckyeah-bears · 10 months ago

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!!!!!

Your activism shouldn't start and end at drawing your blorbos with a watermelon

#This this this #on bearotonin i post pictures of bears with watermelons and keffiyehs #but that is so so so fucking far from everything I’m doing I don’t even count it #I don’t even count this blog as “activism” either #Yes posting stuff online and sharing about it is important but it absolutely CANNOT be the only thing you’re doing #Make phone calls to elected officials. write letters. demand meetings with them. Birddog them in public. Demand accountability from them #push for ceasefire resolutions in your town. push your organizations to sign on to ceasefire statements/letters.#go to protests and rallies and demonstrations and disruptions #Boycott and BDS #Push your schools and institutions to divest from israel and weapons manufacturers #Volunteer for candidates running against AIPAC scumbags #host film screenings and discussions. join groups of organizers and activists in your community #Have real world hard conversations with people and try to bring them in and encourage them to take action too #There are a million ways you can work to end this genocide #And we all gotta be doing our damn best

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watchtheblog · 4 years ago

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petty cache

thank you for coming to read my diary which masquerades as a blog but is actually just a vessel for disseminating my birthday wishlists. it’s like an event you show up to where the host tries to sell you a timeshare 25 minutes after some requisite, mindless song and dance.

welcome! if you’d like purchase a timeshare, scroll to the bottom. for the song and dance, look no further:

the other day i zoned out on zoom therapy and when my therapist asked where i “went” i had to lie because i had gone to the part of my brain that holds all the things i need to think about forever for no reason (i call it the petty cache — this is an umbrella term for the space that also houses my attitude cabinet) and dusted off a memory of a comment i saw on a stranger’s facebook three weeks ago that said “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”.

i don’t know either person, and that’s what i was thinking about. i spend $[redacted] a month on therapy and instead of focusing on one of my numerous unsolved mysteries, i was thinking about the nuances of this comment - like why they wouldn’t just share the news or message the person directly? or what losing their password had to do with anything? or why they would comment on facebook instead of texting or calling the person. did they not have their number? imagine not knowing someone well enough to have their phone number, but still wanting to share your good news with them!

all i want (for my birthday) is to know what the news is that this stranger has to share, and i’ll never know so i have to put that comment in my minutiae repository with all the other things that will plague me until i die from texting and driving, smoke inhalation as a result of purposely leaving a candle lit in my home overnight almost every night, consuming half a dozen hot dogs a week, or a now unnamed disease that will posthumously be attributed to my chronic inability to mind my own business.

i’m constantly concerning myself with things that are none of my concern - no matter how insignificant - because my brain is a commune of sentient pepperoni running instagram polls among themselves to discern if something is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about. and guess what? it turns out absolutely everything that has ever offended, confused, bothered, intrigued, slightly inconvenienced, or merely happened to me is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about.

because i devote so much energy to nonsense, i can often be found persecuting strangers for insulting me on the internet (and for other miscellaneous bad behavior). the information superhighway is my home so i have to protect myself (and my friends) here, and if that means spending 45 minutes to 48 hours trying to find every misstep you’ve made in your life until i have enough ammunition to spray a dozen simulated retaliatory bullets at your virtual head because you called me a “stupid bitch” on instagram, well… so be it!

i am relentless in my pursuit of wasting time, so if that doesn’t work, i will find the cold stone creamery you frequent, seek employment there, be hired on the spot, learn the craft, be promoted to manager, poison you on your birthday, gain access to your funeral, and tarnish your reputation by reading your shitty DM in front of the few family and friends whom i haven’t already made aware of the abhorrent way you conducted yourself online!

there are so many different ways strangers will try to hurt your feelings — an interesting genre of which come from men who (like me) have definitely never had sex before, and mistakenly think i care about the ways in which my body does not make them horny.

“no tits” one will say. and i’m like, how do you want me to respond to that? my boobs are indeed small, yes. did you come here to shoot facts back and forth all day? ok: you’re going to start balding way sooner than you’re prepared for, i bet your childhood dog is dead, your time on the internet should be supervised, your closet is full of vests, and you wait on line at nightclubs… good day?!

while i will obviously engage with anyone if they want to fight, i prefer when the unsolicited criticism is personalized, and not just thoughtless, lazily devised tripe.

a year and a half ago, a man who looked like he exhales smog DMed me to let me know - among other things in a paragraph long rant - he’d “lost brain cells” watching my story. knowing he had likely never had an adequate amount to begin with, it seemed like an emergency, so i started a group DM with his wife. because his message had come just three days after a “fuckkk [heart eye emoji]” response to a photo of my ass, i included a screenshot as evidence of his devolving mental state.

being - presumably - gainfully employed, neither of them responded.

luckily, the consolation prize for insulting me is that you gain residency in my brain and stay in my thoughts and prayers for all eternity, so i checked in on them a few days ago. they’d unfollowed and wiped their feeds clean of each other!!

because i’ve never “moved on” in my entire life, i fired up our long dormant group chat, and sent my condolences: “aw. sorry your trip to positano - where you were going to attempt to repair your ramshackle marriage - got cancelled because of covid and so you just got divorced instead :(” i wrote before being blocked by both of them.

then i headed right over to my therapist’s facebook and commented “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”

i spent an entire therapy session detailing this monomania before my therapist thoughtfully suggested i “pick [my] battles”.

to which i thoughtfully responded: yeah, babe. i pick every single one.

***

timeshare time! it’s the same list as this post, with a few additions (at top) (and edits based on availability).

places to donate food education fund pretty brown girl the okra project

some furniture stuff a side table a pointless, laughably tiny little thing this website is calling a “drink table” a lamp one of these benches i do not want this but it’s important to me that at least 2 other people know it exists

this plant that obviously does not need to cost $165 but idk how to shop economically

air pods

gifts from the previous post - all still v much in play!

a pair of shoes (size 8 or 38) one pair, another pair, yet another, these are on sale, these are not, and a final pair

a specific clutch with three color choices they allege this color is called sand but it looks white to me, pink, green for those who do not know what malachite means (it couldn’t be me. i learned it 3 hours ago when i began compiling this cursed list)

something everyone with money to waste needs this

dresses i’ll never be able to wear until there’s a vaccine because unlike someone tacky who knows me, i won’t be having a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic (hi, you fool) white polka dot, not white polka dot, also not polka dot, a red dress, a skirt (aka half a dress), a black dress

this sweatsuit xs in this, small in this

is sephora cancelled? i want this hair dryer which i’m sure you can buy elsewhere if sephora is cancelled, which it v well may be

this item which you may think is cheap but actually it’s not soooo a hairpin

earrings one pair, another pair, and another

this dress which i’ll never wear anywhere even when there is a vaccine because… what?! but maybe. you never know. size 34. lol when i get this far into the list i’m always blown away by how insane it is that i do this every year to no audience. so i’m just laughing alone at that. :) i am v funny to myself. another dress i’ll never wear ;)

the nicest weighted blanket you know of i’m depressed!!!!! if you can’t tell!!!!!!!

every year i have asked for a weekend bag and every year i have not received one, so alas, we try again this is not a weekend bag actually but it will do. this is!

a peloton but just venmo me the cash (@merce212) because i have a hookup

an assortment of ridiculous things a $500 body scarf a $580 beach towel with an octopus on it for no reason besides “art” i cannot tell analog time but it’s never too late to start!! how mad would you be if someone bought you a roulette table for your wrist? be honest. (THIS WATCH IS FOUR YEARS RENT!!!!!!) they won’t say how much this costs :( i’m losing my mind and must be gifted a chanel watch or else i will perish. to put my salami on when i am eating salami in my bed “24k gold crocodile [?!!) teddy bear”. the website says there’s only one left, which begs the question “why did someone buy one of these rather than buying me a chanel watch?!!” *real ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist [unless they’re buying me a watch]’ energy* to put my new watch in this is ugly but it’s on sale :) idk wtf “secret box pendant” means but i wish this necklace was also a USB with every season and spinoff of 90 day fiancé on it hi yes i’m stupid but i draw the line at $1500 connect four…

#things i want #things I want for my birthday #lists of things #lists of things i want #my birthday #birthday lists #9/26; never forget #invidious consumption

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thegoodomensdumpster · 5 years ago

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I don’t have a tumblr, but I do read good omens fic on A03 and links to art and fic here. If you don’t mind posting this: is it okay to comment on old fic? What about popular fic? It’s not like I’m bringing anything new to the table they haven’t heard. Some great fic has 0. Why is everyone ignoring it? I’m worried there’s something I’m not getting, like it’s a homophobe or racist or something and we should be ignoring that person and I’ll be linked if I comment. Thank you - sandstone kitty A03

Yep, it is ok to comment on old fic or fics that have very few notes, or fics that have a lot of notes. There’s a good chance the author will be thrilled. I’ve read blog articles about people who got motivated on finishing an old fic after receiving a comment several years after they had stopped writing it. Popular authors can’t always reply to all their comments, but I’m pretty sure most of them read every single one of the comments they get and absolutely cherish them. You never know how your comments will get received, but as far as I know fic authors basically live off their comments and positive feedback, so you shouldn’t hesitate. And if, by any chance, your comment annoys the author instead of making them happy... welp. You aren’t really to blame, you tried to share that their work made you happy in return for the happiness it brought you, and sometimes people are grouch. Now for the second part, worrying that you might not know if there is an underlying reason for there not being any comment or for the work being abandonned...

Frankly, you can’t live in fear of giving positive feedback to someone awful if their work made you genuinely happy at some point before learning they were awful. Because you’re never gonna give any feedback or consume anything with sheer joy if you live with these kinds of restraints.

With the amount of media we consume everyday, and in case of fics, the amount we can be led to read, statistically, yes, we WILL enjoy things made by horrible people. That’s just it. Now, is that a good enough reason not to comment? Certainly not.

Encouraging fic authors and artists is very important for them, and therefore for creation in general, and it’s not because there are a few bad seeds in the pack that you should think about them specifically before giving praise. You cannot know who is the person at the other end of the compliment. You’re not omniscient, you don’t bear any responsibility to who they are and how they act.My advice would be: don’t idolize anyone, EVER. Remember that we’re all humans, that we all make mistakes and are all problematic to some extent, and also that we can change and improve as persons. And if, after giving praise to someone, you discover that they did something you find unethical... Well. That’s on them. Not on you. You were genuinely happy thanks to their work, you let them know about it, then you learned you don’t actually want to support them, so just... stop supporting them at that point. It’s already complicated to find nice things to enjoy freely, so don’t give yourself yet another barrier. Deal with this sort of things as they happen.At the very least that’s what I do.You could conduct an investigation on every fic author before consumming their content, but let’s be real: nobody has that kind of time or energy and that would very much kill the fun of fic reading. I didn’t understand the part about you being “linked”, I’m guessing based on the context that you’re worried you’ll end up in fandom bad books for liking someone who might be ostracized for a good reason ? Uh, well, I guess my internet experience is too distant and healthy for me to have this kind of considerations. I know my blog is big as of now in the GO fandom, but I’ve never been involved into fandoms that much before, and even here I’m still mostly just... reblogging things that I like, and very occasionnally producing content myself, and sometimes talking to other peeps in the fandom. But I’m not, like. Keeping tracks of the dramas and stuff like that, or helping them spread. I actually very deliberately chose to use this Tumblr and GO as my escapism, so I’m staying as far away from anything remotely negative over here. I don’t really know what to tell you. Because as I said, in the time of the internet where we all get to have parts of ourselves and our interests on public display, people will see when we make mistakes. Once again, not IF we make mistakes, but WHEN we make them. So I just live by those premisses, and when time comes for me to explain myself or to be told I was wrong about something, I won’t be surprised and I will react accordingly. And if I get cancelled for some reason, it won’t affect me irl, so... eh, I’ll just lose this blog and some of my online work, I guess. It’ll suck, but I’ll live. And that’s pretty much it.If you’re afraid of being harassed or things like that, then again, it’s a fear you shouldn’t go inflicting on yourself. It will spoil things you enjoy, and if it ever happens, even if it is the result of a bad thing or a mistake you made, the blame will be on the harassers for harassing you. And though it is a terrible thing that happens from time to time, it makes me feel a bit like it shouldn’t be something - especially for a person who isn’t mediatised or popular in any way - to worry about unless it happens. Cause if you start carrying this kind of fears of terrible things happening and it prevents you from enjoying your time on Earth, you’re just... never gonna have a good time. So, just, be careful about how you phrase the things you write online, show on your social platforms what kind of person you are and what ethics you care about, or make yourself an alias not linked to you in any way to comment on fics if you’re really that scared, be ready to apologize if needed, and show the same kind of empathy / sympathy you’d like to receive. Help make the internet a better, more benevolent place.

#long post #yiha blogs #fandom #not good omens #guess i had a lot to say in the end uh #Anonymous #ask

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thequietuptown · 6 years ago

Note

You mentioned in a previous post that you would be happy to provide specific suggestions about how to spice things up for a couple who might be a little timid. Would you care to share?

Hi friend,

I’m happy to provide more specific examples; however, like I said in that post, the ultimate answer to having a better sex life lies in having more open communication. Part of that comes down to knowing what you and your partner(s) want. I would suggest first taking a moment to complete one of the following sexual readiness checklists with your partner(s). These are “Yes/No/Maybe Lists” that are popular within BDSM communities as a way to navigate hard and soft limits, as well as a quick check on compatibility, but they are really effective for any relationship. The first can be found here: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/advice/yes_no_maybe_so_a_sexual_inventory_stocklist. This is a good list to start with especially if you and your partner(s) may both be a little timid.The other one can be found here: https://www.autostraddle.com/you-need-help-here-is-a-worksheet-to-help-you-talk-to-partners-about-sex-237385/. It’s a little bit nicer to look at, and has a downloadable .pdf version available so you can print it off and go through it with your partner(s). Again, these are great for sexual absolutes, but understand that just because one or more of you put something down on paper doesn’t mean that consent cannot be revoked at any time. Consent is always mandatory and should only be accepted when given with an excited and emphatic yes. I know this might sound a little tedious, but think of it as sexy homework. It’s important to know the fundamentals before really trying anything new, and it might open your partner(s) up to a little discussion.

Now to the more fun stuff. Anything that you can try in this situation is really going to fall under one of the following categories: novelty, reframing, fantasy, and role play. Novelty is going to include anything that you’re doing simply because it’s new. It could be buying a specific marital aid or even a new piece of furniture for the more sexually committed to even just trying a new position. Regarding toys: do you currently use toys during play? Do you know what you like in a toy? Does your partner/do your partners enjoy using sex toys? On you? On himself/herself/themselves? These are some things to think about, but don’t worry if you can’t answer these questions off the top of your head. Even if you can, my first task would be to take your partner(s) to a sex toy boutique. If at all possible, try to find a higher end one. I know it might be intimidating, and a lot of people may have to push through their own shame to even walk into one of these places, but trust me: it’s worth it. Most legitimate businesses have rules about photography, and most people understand there is a natural tendency for discretion when it comes to sexuality. How do you know if you’ve found a good store to explore? Try to find online reviews, the sex positive members of your community will not steer you wrong. Check out their website, most will have photos of the inside of the shop and are probably going to be more colorful and brightly lit than you would expect. Many adult boutiques will even have more than one section with the more public front selling things like costumes, lingerie, clubwear, etc. Once you and your partner(s) arrive, the staff is there to assist you. They will most likely be very friendly and knowledgeable and will know that you are uncomfortable and let you know that that’s okay. If this is your first time, ask for their opinion. They may use some language you are not familiar with, but ask for clarification. They are there to make sure you’re getting the most out of your purchase. If you find something you do like, ask if they have a demo product available to see if you can test whatever settings it may have. They may put the toy in your palms, but I would suggest trying it out on your wrist and the back of your hand, too. Even if you don’t buy anything on this trip, try to at least learn something new about yourself and your partner(s). If you do buy something, enjoy!

Reframing is trying something that you may have already done in a different way or with a different approach. This can be anything from going out on a romantic date, wearing lingerie that your partner/partners maybe hasn’t/haven’t seen, or even just agreeing to make-out for a certain amount of time before your next physical encounter. A lot of times when people feel like they’ve lost that spark, it’s because they’re no longer doing things they did in the early stages of a relationship. Reframing is great for someone who may feel a little timid and is unsure about how to approach sexual stagnation. Another great tool for reframing is the sexual game. Most sexual games on the market aren’t going to lead you to anything mind-blowingly original, but they can help set up new experiences with your partner(s). The best game that I have seen for this purpose is Monogamy: A Hot Affair, which can be found here:https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Conceptions-Monogamy-Affair-Partner/dp/B0070E745I. It’s super heteronormative, but if you ignore the genders on the cards or allow your partner(s) to choose which of the two options they want, you can get around that. There are only two game pieces for the poly-inclined, but again there are workarounds. There is a Spanish language version available, as well, as I just learned trying to find that link. This game works for a couple of reasons. First it focuses on communication. The first couple of times around the board are going to be all about asking your partner(s) questions and finding intimacy that way. The action-based cards are suggestive at first, and get pretty explicit in the final passes of the board. The winner gets to choose one of two fantasy cards that they’ve picked up along the way, and then you both act on that fantasy (again, if you both consent!). If you don’t want to pick up a copy of that game, my other suggestion would be for Desire (available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play store). Desire is essentially just truth or dare, but again, it’s a fun way to spice things up with your partner(s). The best dares are going to be the ones written by the community. It also has an encrypted chat line for you and your partner. And it’s free! Which is great. Especially since its novelty will run thin after a few weeks. It does limit you to one partner, so that’s a drawback for the poly-inclined. There are lots of other games, and if you find any that you like please let me know! I’m always curious!

Third, we have fantasy. When I use fantasy, I’m talking about things that we may be curious about, but we really are okay with never really experiencing or may be impossible to experience in real life. Maybe you are a little more flexible in your sexual orientation than your partner(s). Maybe you want to see your partner(s) with another person. Maybe you’re really into the idea of having the undivided attention of several lovers at once. The most common way to incorporate fantasy into your relationship with your partner(s) is to watch/read something together. Your task here with fantasy is to really think about what your biggest fantasy really is and try to fill in as many details as you want, but sometimes a little ambiguity can really add to the fantasy. Have your partner(s) do the same. You don’t even have to divulge this information to each other, if you feel ashamed or embarrassed, but once you have an idea that you really like, break it down. Try to figure out what it is about your scenario that really turns you on. If you’re both comfortable sharing, go for it. If not, I would encourage you to use that fantasy to fuel a session of physical self-exploration, doing your best to make that fantasy a reality in your mind. You can have your partner(s) do that same, and if you’re up for it, invite your partner(s) to watch you as you do.

Finally, we have role play. Role play is essentially bringing fantasy to life and creating a specific scenario or a character to enjoy. My suggestion here is going to be more homework. I want you to create two full character sketches and a scene description. For each character, I want you to come up with as many details as you possibly can: physically, emotionally, mentally. Your first character is going to be someone you want a partner to play. This is probably going to be the more obvious character to you. The second may be a little trickier, and may be something that often gets overlooked when talking about role play. I want you to create a character who you want to play, someone who may not align with who you are in this moment. Now put the same amount of effort into describing your scenario and setting. Give this assignment to your partner(s) as well. Then, come together and discuss what you both came up with. Would you play the part for your partner? Do you see any combinations of characters that work really well together? Thrift stores are a great place to find costuming ideas should you choose to take on the part (just… wash whatever you buy first).

So I hope that was a little bit more in the way of the specifics you were looking for. If you have any further questions or need anything else, I am here for you friend! Enjoy!

#airoutyourish #advice #self-help #ask me anything #anonymous #anon #no judgment #helpful #listening

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grumpygayming · 6 years ago

Note

So obviously you should do those questions for matt and wren bc you wnt to so once you get time you should do it

You & I are on the same page lmao, I was gonna answer these whether asked or not tbh. SO thank you for sending this & giving me an excuse to post them 😂🤗Are they physically affectionate? Matt: Very much so, he loves little contact like hand holding or brushing their arms together while they’re out. And when his boyfriend drives he always puts his hand on his thigh, just because.Wren: The clingiest lil shit alive. He’s always hugging his partner from behind while they’re doing stuff and he whines about not getting enough attention if they’re in his general vicinity & not hugging him or anything (if they’re not busy of course).

🎶Do they have a type? Matt: Tall, long hair, some visible facial hair, & brown skin... Clearly he dates outside of that but in his ideal world if their personality aligned with his... that is who he’d be with.Wren: Anyone he deems cute and able to cuddle him, that’s his type.

😡What are their deal breakers? Matt: Dislikes kids, has no ambition, can’t communicate properly. It’s why he dates so little, he’s found at least everyone has one of these qualities and he has to work with them on it or just walk away.Wren: Non commitment (refusing to label things or admit to feelings), not being upfront. He’s had enough of it and if there’s even the slightest hint at either of those things he’s out.

↕️Are they sub, dom or switch? Matt: Definitely a switch.Wren: The subbiest sub to ever sub.

⏰How long do their relationships tend to last? Matt: A year+, his shortest relationship was 3 mos and that only ended because of extenuating circumstances, otherwise they probably would have went for the long haul and gotten married.Wren: Not long at all, Wren is a fan of flings and living in the moment so short term relationships are his game while he’s young.

💍Would they ever get married? Matt: Yes, he wants that so badly not only for himself but for his son too. He wants his conventional family, with a picket fence, and a dog more than anything. It represents stability to him which he hasn’t had much of his entire adult life and he needs for his son to see what a stable, healthy family structure looks like.Wren: He can’t see it right now but he would love to get married before thirty if the opportunity arose. Otherwise he’s perfectly happy dating for the time being.

🏷️Do they give their partners cute nicknames? Matt: Yes!!! Silas has many, Matty’s favorites for him are Snugglebutt & Flapjack. In secret he calls him Dummy though, affectionately about 90% of the time.Wren: He’s pretty basic and sticks to babe/baby. He doesn’t stick around long enough for personalized nicknames most of the time.

💋Are they more sensual or sexual? Matt: More sensual, for sure. Wren: Sexual, completely.

📖What is their favorite outside of the bedroom activity to do with their partner?Matt: When the weather permits or they’re visiting his home town in Hawaii, walks on the beach. He’s also a fan of dates to coffee shops they haven’t been to before and ordering drinks specific to the shop. Wren: He’s super simple and loves watching reality TV with his partners, especially if they’re into it too. And after each episode He likes to critique everyone over wine and takeout.

🛏What is their favorite bedroom activity to do with their partner? Matt: He really loves getting lingerie and showing it off, what follows after is fine and dandy but he really enjoys the process of getting dressed up and then seeing his boyfriend’s reaction.Wren: [Redacted bc Wren is gross]

💚Are they prone to jealousy? Matt: Not really, if he feels the emotion he’ll acknowledge it, try to figure out what the root of it is and move on. Wren: Yes, very much so. He’ll try to push it aside but he hates feeling like he’s coming in 2nd to his partner(s). [He will eventually grow out of this but he’s currently learning how to deal with it.]

😘Does their demeanor change when in a relationship? Matt:Outwardly he seems a lot grumpier... which isn’t entirely wrong. When he’s still getting used to a new partner it throws him a bit off of his usual balance and it irritates him. He also hates sharing personal details... like the fact that he is even dating someone so when the time comes to be public he seems irritated and angry for quite awhile. Wren: He is giddy as hell and everything is a ray of sunshine when he has a partner. He loves romantic love and wants everyone else to have it and love it too. This lasts for basically as long as he’s with his partner too.

👫Do they display affection in public? What about in private? Matt: Hand holding but he gets flustered about anything more than that or maybe kisses on the cheek in public. Whereas in private he’ll gladly sit on his boyfriends lap and give him all the kisses he could want.Wren: He loves pda, so much. All of the kisses in public and hand holding, all of it, he wants everyone to know he’s taken and in love. In private.... he’s even more intense about this.

💕Are they open to threesomes or a polyamorous relationship? Matt: He’s not really open to causal threesomes, however, if the circumstances for a polyamorous relationship arose and he approved of the third party he would be willing to give it an honest shot.Wren: He loves the thought of threesomes and poly relationships. He’s not sure how he’d actually fare with multiple partners who were also involved with each other but the idea of having different types of love with different people and caring for them in his own way is so appealing to him.

💔Do they have a certain type of person they will not enter into a relationship with? Matt: 85% of the human population. He’s really particular and needs to get to know a person before even considering them as a potential partner. If he couldn’t befriend them, he wouldn’t date them. So, anyone who is guilt trippy, cannot be held accountable for their actions, dodges adult conversations, etc. could not be someone he would date. Wren: Not really, he’s fairly open, so long as they like animals and can deal with him yelling at the TV during movies they’ve got a chance.

💝How long until they feel secure and comfortable in a relationship? Matt: This is bad but...... Never? He’ll always have this slight sense of uncertainty and be prepared to have to detach and leave. It’s a side effect of the relationship that he got his son out of. He may be comfortable with his partner but security isn’t something he’s been accustomed to and it’ll take a long time for that to be the case.Wren: He doesn’t stay long enough for security but comfort comes easy for him. So long as they don’t seem violent he can be comfortable int he span of a couple weeks.

🤐Would they ever confess their feelings first? Matt: He’s usually the one to do so. Once he’s sure he wants to act on them he’ll let the other person know how he feels and let them know exactly why.Wren: He will but he much prefers the other person making him feel wanted and confessing their feelings first.

❌Would they ever cheat on their partner?Matt: Never, ever, ever. He would sooner break things off than cheat and ruin their sense of trust in any relationships after theirs.Wren: He would say no but if he were stuck in what felt like a loveless relationship he would be the first to step outside of it for some from of happiness/a simulation of true love & affection.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Do they want children? Matt: He’s already got a son but he wants more later on. Kids are a rough topic for him at the moment since he miscarried in September and he’s still recovering from it. Wren: He needs at least one daughter so that he can honor Maxine Shaw and name his child after her. So, yes, he wants kids.

🐶Are they a cuddler?Matt: Very much so, not necessarily for the sake of cuddling but because he’s cold all the time, he leeches body heat off of his partner.Wren: Yes! He loves the contact and being held brings him such comfort.

🔮Do they believe in soul mates? Matt: Not necessarily. He thinks people can be compatible for each other and work well together but the concept of one singular soul mate or “the one” is absolutely ridiculous to him.Wren: Yes, however, he believes you can have multiple soul mates depending on the time and space you’re in. Your soul mate may change, hence why he’s not in any rush to settle down.

⚔️ Are they protective of their partner? Matt: Super protective. He’s ready to fight over anyone disrespecting his boyfriend or hurting his feelings. He’s not afraid to actually stand up for him and get involved either. (Though, online stuff is different. If on the twittersphere someone is being a dick his go to response is: “Baby, they aren’t important. Ignore them.”)Wren: Extremely. If someone even looks at his partner wrong he’s ready to take his earrings off and beat their ass.

🚀 How far are they willing to go for the person they love? Matt: All they way to Canada. Any further and they can fuck right off. Jokes aside, so long as it won’t negatively impact his son or his own mental health he will move mountains for his partner.Wren: It truly depends on how long they’ve been together and how committed they are.

❤️ Do they fall in love easily? Matt: Not even close, he’s so guarded that he’ll even second guess his feelings when they start getting more intense.Wren: Yes, too easily for his own good.

📺 Do they share information about their relationships freely with friends and family? Matt: Not even. His parents and childhood best friend get details & information but with newer friends (even of years) he will give them the bare minimum. Even then it’s a stretch, he waited a whole month to even tell his friends his ex-boyfriend’s name.Wren: Yep, as said before... he loves love. He feels like sharing all the cute little details of his relationships may inspire his friends/family to get out there themselves.

♦️Are they concerned with the social status of their partner? Matt: Nope, so long as they are doing things with their life and self improving he doesn’t care about their social status at all. Wren: Ashamedly so, if they don’t have some kind of impressive title or a reputation in their field chances are he’s not going to get very far into a relationship with them. Though, they could become a regular on his hook-up list.

💭 Do they tend to sleep better when in bed with their partner?Matt: No, he’s gotten so used to sleeping alone that now sharing a bed with his boyfriend is a major adjustment. He does enjoy cuddling but he finds it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep now.Wren: Yep, he loves the contact and having someone else there makes it much easier for him to relax and fall asleep.

#I'll add pictures later maybe.#char stuff #A read more too. it's 3am so.... this is how its stayin rn #simshodo

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How Much Effectiveness is Social Media for SEO?

(1) How Much Effectiveness is Social Media for SEO? (2) Does Social Media affect SEO? Search Engine Optimization? (3) Do Social Signals Work for SEO? (4) How Important Are Social Signals to Rank? (5) Some Value of Displaying Social Share Numbers in SEO (6) Social Shares Help You Rank Higher in Google Is a Myth! (7) Can You Rank a Blog Post Purely on Social Signals With No Backlinks? (8) Do You Do Buying Social Links From Any Influencer Else? (9) A Social Media Content Strategy for a Niche of Maternity (10) Is Instagram Good for Backlinking? (1) How Much Effectiveness is Social Media for SEO? Christine I’m looking for information on link building using social media and how I can effectively use social media to grow our Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is for a legit online business and I’m focused primarily on a North American and European audience. Anyone willing to point me to some useful reading? Anything from beginning to expert. 2 👍🏽 2 [filtered from 12 💬🗨]📰👈

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Peter Try “The Art of Social Media” by Guy Kawasaki. It’s not written from an SEO perspective, of course. It’s really about optimizing your social media channels and getting the most out of them, but it’s got useful tips on engagement on social. If you can be engaging on social, you can influence your rankings indirectly through all the traffic you send to your site from social posts.

Christine ✍️ Great! Thank you!

Jay You can't link build with social media, but you can have strategies for awareness and brand mentions which does help Search Engine Optimization (SEO) somewhat but only for your brand. If you don't have a brand and just have a generic web site… social media is not going to get you long lasting results.

Christine ✍️ Thanks for the reply and info. We are hoping to use social media to better establish and grow our brand. We have a number of things that we’d like to roll out over the next couple of months, so I’m trying to learn as much as possible so I don’t waste any opportunities. Do mentions have any direct effect or does that solely help awareness and traffic? Jay It's not direct, but I believe Google keeps an awareness of brand mention across the major social platforms. There's no way to know absolutely how their algorithm takes it into account, but from what I understand it does help. The problem with social media is that there's no link permanence and individual account values can't be corroborated easily by Google. However, it is a good way to both jump-start awareness as well as garnering opportunities for attracting web links that do matter in the long term. If you focus on social, your primary efforts will be: Page creation & maintenance on Facebook. Don't focus on post volume at first, focus on post quality and engagement. Make sure your posts are both attractive and interesting and trigger engagement from anyone seeing the post. This will fuel Facebook to show your page posts to more people more often. Facebook's algorithms are based primarily on engagement. If your brand/business has a visual angle to it take advantage of Instagram. Again, quality over quantity. Make people stop scrolling to want to look at your photos & like them. Pinterest is OK but doesn't usually drive social value. Twitter is good if you have truly interesting and unique things to say. All of these social platforms require regular attention, especially early on as you build up a following. Create a blog and add 2-3 posts to it weekly. Interesting topics, nothing bland. If you Google the topic you want to talk about and 8,000 other sites already have the same article with basically the same information you plan to post - write about something else. Or, if you have a truly distinct spin on a topic then go ahead, but you really need links to it to out-rank those who already have a foothold on the search terms related to the topic. As you build your main web site, also make sure to always focus on best practices. You don't need an SEO company to tell you what those best practices are, just Google for advice and you will find a million articles. SEO companies are good for helping you determine why you may not be ranking for specific terms, or how to lift your Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) a little higher, or to review your site to see if you are doing something wrong, or to look at technical stuff that you may not have familiarity with - like sitemap files, micro tagging, link building (the legit kind, don't fall for the mass backlink scams), HTML mark-up, etc. Christine ✍️ Thank you for such a thorough response. This is helpful info!

Chris Social media signals (e.g shares, comments likes on posts that mention your brand/on your page) directly help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but it's not a HUGE ranking factor. There's nothing amazing or special that you can genuinely read about. Getting specific ideas to help would be optimal, your business has a lot of viral potential, think voice over (VO) competitions, posting VO work/parodies , I remember the EA sports guy going viral a while back, stuff like that will help you get a lot of mentions and grow your brand. It's all about the content you produce and how normal people will interact with it. There's a lot of reading you can do out there, but ultimately doing actual SEO would probably help you a lot more, especially if you are targeting business owners.

Christine ✍️ Thanks for the response and info. We’ve been tossing around some viral video ideas, but you sparked a few new thoughts from my partner.

Doug Social media, at the moment, helps with traffic and branding if you have a large enough audience and/or wallet. Besides improving dwell rate, it does nothing to “help” with rankings on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Christine ✍️ So it sounds like rolling out a well planned social strategy going for brand awareness and traffic is what we should focus on. Thank you!

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(2) Does Social Media affect SEO? Search Engine Optimization? Horia created a poll. Cheers, everyone! Here's an interesting thought experiment: Does social media affect Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? More specifically, do your social media efforts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram et. al.) have any impact on organic rankings? Would love to get everyone's verdict in the poll and your opinions in the comments. Thank you! 66 votes 15 votes 10 votes

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Marty Marion🎓 » Horia From my viewpoint, if one objective is to generate more searches for keywords or phrases that are important to you, then social media can have a massive impact on stimulating searches… and searches result in clicks… which definitely impact Search Engine Optimization (SEO)… so I would think social media CAN affect SEO, not that it DOES all the time… I always like to look at social media strategies as PART of a comprehensive SEO plan. 💟👍🏽4

Horia That's a great argument, Marty! So I take it you see the benefits of social media from a "social engineering" point of view, where you create momentum for phrases, which in turn stimulate queries. 💟👍🏽2 Marty Marion🎓 » Horia Yes, stimulate intrigue, questions, etc that make people search for the specific subjects (phrases) that are most important to you and make sure your pages are super optimized… 👍🏽2 Lees » Marty Marion Can you give us an example from the past in which you used this technique? Or is this just a theory? 👍🏽1 Marty Marion🎓 » Lees Sure. Have used it often. For a big ecommerce lingerie company we did social posts asking men to post their favorite "sexy celebrities" from the 1950s through 1980s. Searches for "sexy + lingerie type" etc went up and so did sales through organic. For a jeans company we asked "how skinny are skinny jeans for men?". Same results. Questions seem to provoke searches. 👍🏽3

Petter I do believe that some signals are included, but not to the extent that SEO users in general should have a great understanding on how to engage the public etc. there. I believe that SEO users should work with SoMe consultants, but Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a large enough field in itself, so for my part I'm happy to let SoMe consultants take the lead there, and just see how SEO can benefit from it in the ways Marty described above (open to any venue where my clients make more money). As I see it, there are two main issues with some of the "myths" going around on how social signals has an effect on Search Engine Optimization (SEO): 1: Engagement metrics is not a direct ranking impact. If it was, then the webpages that exists to spin shareable content would win in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), but they don't. 2: Monitoring social media is possible, but it requires a lot of resources - and Google is already tasked with monitoring everything that can be monitored - so dedicating the amount of resources needed to be on top of this makes very little sense when there are so many other signals that aren't as "fleeting" and temporary. BUT: Google does tie in Facebook business profiles to businesses, so this might in some way somewhere feed into the algorithm, but from the little research I have done - I have yet to see any correlation between rankings and active, inactive or no business profiles on ie. FB - so if there is a signal there, then as of now it cannot be a strong one. The link from your business profile on FB is nofollow - so after march 1 2020, social media profile link might start to add value. However - visible links (written URL's that goes via redirects with nofollow) may count towards a mention when/if Google picks it up. Hashtag trends is fairly available, which could make sense for Google to tie into on queries that are fresh (I believe that at least their machine learning algorithm focusing on obtaining meaning to queries ties into this in some form or way - ie. "planking" made no sense before, but then suddenly became a trend - and I believe Google wants to be relevant on such queries and the only way to be that is to stay on top of what queries might mean). And again, like Marty stated above, Social Media has the ability to provide impact on amount of brand queries as well as other queries. So it is a valuable channel for the client to pursue. But again, I believe that our clients are better off if they have someone who solely focuses on these channels helping there, leaving us SEO users to cooperate with them but at the same time keep our focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 📰👈

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(3) Do Social Signals Work for SEO? John Do Social Signals Work For SEO, Whats Your Opinion? 📰👈

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Kumar Yes...do work...do it on proper way.. After publishing new page or post...share it on social media..and do social signals on it.. Also after doing any guest post...do the same...👍3

John ✍️ Great Advice. Kobi » Kumar what do you mean by social signals? Kumar » Kobi most powerful social media's... Twitter - Retweets. Facebook - Shares. Pinterest.. - Repins. Share on all these platforms and do social signals...

Blair Yes they do work but for me best be Twitter signals overall if they come from popular accounts. John ✍️ Really? Do you think Twitter is better, why?

Kumar » John most powerful social media's... Twitter - Retweets. Facebook - Shares. Pinterest.. - Repins. Share on all and do social signals... You will see the positive response..👍2

Mike They only work in making your link building look less fake. No direct impact on rankings and I say this after buying 10’s of thousands of signals for numerous web pages.👍3

John ✍️ I Agree and Disagree......I seen someresults but nothing major.👍1 Tiwari » Mike It is all about quality and not the quantity. These 5 dollars bot-generated Fiverr social signal gigs are just worthless. Mike I’ve compared urls that I built links to with, and without social signals, never saw 1 case where a kw rank improved due to signals. Even on less competitive branded terms. If you know a vendor who can provide a better experience I’m all ears! Mike Nah, Ive used providers “recommended” by notable people in this group and others, never Fiverr...but I might as well have used Fiverr for the results.👍1 John ✍️ » Tiwari 👍.

Hays I've seen it work in for time-sensitive queries like events. I had a site ranking in the top 3 positions for a few top keywords after an event/raffle we had got shared a few hundred times and we had over 10,000 post engagements, that brought 7,000 visitors to the page in 3 days from Facebook. So within 24 hours from the post we were ranking for these keywords. 3 years later, after the event we still rank number 1 for our focus keyword which was the item we raffled. This last year's event ranks number 2 for same keyword and similar item.👍1📰👈

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(4) How Important Are Social Signals to Rank? ArtRos How important are social signals to rank? 3 👍🏽 3 [filtered from 25 💬🗨]📰👈

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Roland They can help in some areas but not a requirement for success. One very useful return from posting on social media is quicker indexing of the site promoted. Keith Webpages with a significant amounts of social engagement are likely quality pieces of content that have generated a number of other Google related signals that convinces Google to rank them higher. Doubting the causation to social signals impacting ranking that much as they are so easy to manipulate. Maggie it's part of trust and authority within your niche - but Google can tell fake social signals from true engagement. It won't affect your rank negatively if you don't have them, but they help to some extent. Peter You can indirectly influence your rankings through traffic to your site from social, so I’d say put out great content on social (or post links to good website content from social) that gets people wanting to visit your site. Steve Hi, it depends on what you mean by social signals, but as long as you mean getting likes/shares/etc for your content then I think it's definitely a positive factor. Here's a screenshot of a page of mine in the fitness niche: As you can see it has gathered over 2000 Fb shares and engagements over the years (I think 10k or more but Buzzsome has a 1 year limit to show, anyway… ) and this page ranks rather well in Google for its target keyword. Granted, I also managed to build a lot of white hat backlinks to it with outreach strategies and the Skyscraper Technique, but 1, even before I started link building to it I saw a nice little upward movement for it in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) after I started getting so many FB shares for it, so I think all those shares definitely sent a positive message to Google. 2, the social shares helped in one more way with Search Engine Optimization (SEO): I displayed a big Social Share Counter box on this page so that when I asked other people to link to it (you know with the outreach Skyscraper link building technique I mentioned earlier) it helped me get a "yes" from more people because they saw how popular the page was already. So I'd say bottom line: yes, social signals do help a lot with SEO both directly and indirectly. Steve P.s.: Unfortunately I got all those thousands of shares back when my site was http and not https, and since I switched to https the social signal counter doesn't really work, that's why I had to rely on Buzzsumo data as proof that you can see for yourself.📰👈

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(5) Some Value of Displaying Social Share Numbers in SEO Neil Is there 'value' in displaying social share numbers - yes or no? (and why) 3 👍🏽 3 [filtered from 30 💬🗨]📰👈

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Fleming No not for SEO purposes. It's more to show users that your website gets engagement and has value its more to create user engagement.. Imagine walking past 2 shops one has customers queuing even outside, while the other has no customers whatsoever, which one are you likely to want to go in? Now some people will go to the empty one to avoid the queue however most will want to know what that shop has the other doesn't. Hope that makes sense Neil it did in my head as I wrote it lol Its also worth noting that a lot of those plugins you can change the number of likes retweets so it doesn't even reflect the real shares etc half the time. 💟👍🏽5 Neil ✍️ On my own website I do display the shares which may look great on some urls that get shared a lot 1000+ shares etc BUT - some urls don't get shared and then potentially have the oppositive effect - 'this url has little value' (maybe it has). Also, I do wonder whether displaying what is your website's popular pages - is this giving valuable data to competitors… all this, without the effect of slowing down the load time (albeit hopefully minimally). Fleming I just see it as a vanity metric who cares if it was shared 1200 times if only 5 read the whole thing and got anything from it? Its kind of like when people go yeah my video was view 10k times but only 4 got past the 30 seconds. Daine » Christopher is right, it is a vanity metric to a degree. But, here’s the thing. It has value because: 1. Social Proof: It encourages other people to share it, thus expanding your reach, audience, and traffic. 2. It builds authority and credibility. It shows that the piece is popular. 3. It has a hidden SEO benefit, because when conducting link outreach, posts that have been shared a lot convey popularity, and value, in turn helping to increase the chances of gaining a link. People are more inclined to link to popular content. 4. It encourages people to read it more, due to social proof. Social proof is very powerful, psychologically. 5. Social signals MAY play a small part in ranking. 💟👍🏽12

Neil ✍️ THAT is my gut feeling - and why I have stuck with it… Hazi Social proof. Fleming Does it hold much value though? when social proof can be easily manipulated as most plugins you can add the share counts etc? Daine It’s more ‘perceived’ value, rather than real value. Fleming » Daine yeah more a trust signal kind of thing. Daine » Christopher , yeah, exactly. Lancaster Perception is reality and the only reality is the one your visitor chooses to believe when they are on your website.

Micha » Daine I’d go with on this one, with these additions: 6: each share is a potential batch of new readers, therefore, possible links 7: BuzzSumo recently did a study of over a million datapoints and discovered sharing on social media is half of what it used to be. Whether that’s an ongoing trend or not, FOMO, likeability, credibility and the “follow the herd” effects are all indisputable market persuaders.📰👈

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(6) Social Shares Help You Rank Higher in Google Is a Myth! Martin This guy disappointed me. Are social shares really unimportant in ranking? Myth #5 Social shares help you rank higher in Google [38 💬🗨]

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Janka You're disappointed by the truth? 👍🏽9

Shubham » Janka ✔️ Ronald » Janka lol, thats society in general though 👍🏽1

Fouad Why being disappointed? I think he explained it very well. 👍🏽1 Doug At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that social shares directly help improve the ranking of a website. To my understanding, it might help with User engagement if it’s compelling content... which would likely help with rankings. (Arguably if it’s compelling content it would likely rank well anyway outside of social shares). Also, it might help get a page indexed that is currently not. Social Likes and Shares are too easy to spam and manipulate. The only thing I could see Google doing in the future is assigning authority or credibility to individuals who share content based on their voice within a certain community/industry... that might be an interesting (albeit somewhat concerning) progression on this topic. 👍🏽6 Bhati I have site which get traffic from Google and only links it has are from facebook shares. 👍🏽3

Owais » Bhati What type content the website shares? Bhati » Owais viral articles, political, national news. I have multiple sites. 👍🏽1

Farhat yup, social share is very important, it helps your URL to indexed and make engagement with the audience, which helps Google bot to understand your content is useful to users. 💟1

Carl » Farhat agreed i have a 50k sku ecommerce store we get lots of social shares

Kevin To explain it simply : Bot shares won't help SEO, because it won't drive traffic. But real human share will benefit to SEO BECAUSE it will drive traffric in the end. But this is not the number of shares / likes that matters but rather the fact that it drives traffic or no. In others words, you would better have a 1K shared post that drive 50% traffic than a 20k shared post driving 2% traffic. 👍🏽4 Smith There's no evidence that there's SEO traffic because of the social shares. He is right. It's the other way. You get more social shares because of your SEO traffic. And that makes sense. 👍🏽4 Suraj Only believe on your experience, there are share only there review. Toth They're an indirect factor. Way too easily gamed to be a direct factor, for Google anyhow. 👍🏽4 Hazra It certainly doesn't have any impact for info post. Social shares helps to gain more visibility which indirectly increases the chance of getting natural back links. That's it.. 👍🏽2 Homer He's wrong. Social shares are social signals, and will affect both indexing and ranking. It won't get you to page one alone, but it will make a difference. 👍🏽1

Hamid but you can't say that they are impacting directly to your rankings. 👍🏽1 Homer » Hamid Yes, because I have had sites move up from page 10 to page 5. They are. 👍🏽1 Hamid » Homer Great, so how do you monitor that really due to socials this happened? Homer » Hamid On the sites that this happened on, I only had social signals going to them. The content was also old and had quite jumping around in the SERPS. The site also had no real traffic going to it. I always start link building with social signals only, meaning that there was no other factor.

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(7) Can You Rank a Blog Post Purely on Social Signals With No Backlinks? Lyon Can you rank a blog post purely on social signals with no backlinks? [filtered from 22 💬🗨] 📰👈

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Nabil It depends on how hard to rank for the keyword yet how powerful and specific your website, last but not the least how's your website's technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) status. Arif If you're not an instant-lover, or you're not in rush, well... yes you can. but if you are, well this method doesn't suit you. Roger You can rank an article with just dummy text and no backlist but, for that to happen, there are certain variables that need to occur and, one of the most important is keyword difficulty/competition. Oliver There is absolutely NO evidence that social signals are being used by Google as a direct ranking factor. 👍🏽1 Tanvir I think yes .. it depends on the content you have ... like if you have good content and people visit your site from the social site ... and then they create backlink ... then yes you can rank 😃 Joe Ive been doing this for 20 years and love the variety of opinions here. In various ways there is a tiny bit of truth to many of them, but Oliver states the truth. That being said other items on the page will affect the ranking. Social signals alone will do nothing for you. Social signals combined with other things like a great description in the social post or key technical aspects of the page will get additional people to click and visit so while you may think you did it with social signals, it is misleading. No one strategy is good all by itself. That is something Google frowns upon. you need multiple strategies and techniques. Above all you need kickass content which drives traffic and engagement. you might have zero backlinks and crappy technical but if your content rocks, you have people visiting, staying and engaging, Google will still rank you. their priority is the searcher and giving them the best results for their query 👍🏽1 Jim Ranked for this, no backlinks bro

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Oliver The website has 130 do-follow referring domains (according to Ahrefs), only ONE internal link (with a keyword-rich anchor text) from the homepage would be more than enough to rank #1 for that keyword, Google still uses PageRank internally. Your website looks awesome and from what I'm seeing you have a lot of useful content, reviews, case studies, and etc.. 👍🏽1 Jim » Oliver yeah but in terms of referring domains pointing directly to this page, there's none, so yeah.

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(8) Do You Do Buying Social Links From Any Influencer Else? Olga Hello! How often do you buy social links or blog posts for your projects? [filtered from 28 💬🗨] 📰👈

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Mike I never buy social links... at least not from an SEO perspective. I might approach someone with a significant following about advertising with them, but that is for the traffic, not any Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefit. Not sure what you mean by buying blog posts. If you mean posts for your own site, I regularly pay writers to create content. If you mean guest posts on other sites, I pay for those frequently, but never through anyone selling them as a service. 👍🏽8

Wren » Mike wow so interesting. How do you go about advertising with someone with a significant following, do you get them to share your product and do they have to declare that it's a paid promotion? Mike » Wren Depends on the situation and what we are promoting. Sometimes, I might have a client willing to sponsor a YouTube video in exchange for the content creator doing one of those typical 15-30 second pitches you see on a lot of videos. In those cases, a sample of the product or a few products will be sent to them to use in the video. Stuff like that. It's never a video 100% devoted just to the product or service. Instead we sponsor one of their videos they are already doing. Wren » Mike ok, so does that mean they don't to say they have been paid for it. Mike » Wren They will say something like, "this video is sponsored by...." Wren » Mike ok cool. Cheers for sharing this with me. 👍🏽1

Singh It is not a good idea to buy a social link....in a long run it can affect your website very badly 👍🏽3

Olga ✍️ » Singh how's that? Singh The purchased social links are likely bots or inactive accounts, so they won't engage with your posts. This means your posts won't show up on Explore Pages, or on your real audience's newsfeeds. It will also make it hard to measure metrics. 👍🏽1 Olga ✍️ mm I see. That's true. Thank you! 👍🏽1 Singh Thanks for sharing

Laura Never. I share my links to my website's own social accounts. If pay-per-lead (ppl) wanna link to my pages or projects they can go ahead, I don't do any "link building" and don't find it necessary. 📰👈

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(9) A Social Media Content Strategy for a Niche of Maternity Ammar Hey SEO Pro's.. I've got a brand with a niche of maternity products.. I'm. regularly posting content on its social media platforms but I don't know why I'm unable to achieve any engagements or likes.. Could any of you experts please let me know what I'm doing wrong if possible please? Facebook link: https:/facebook.com/mamanmeofficial Instagram: instagram.com/mamanmeofficial Any type of help is appreciated, thanks a lot! 1 👍🏽 1 [filtered from 17 💬🗨]📰👈

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Shetty You do have a decent number of followers. What about your insights? How many people are you reaching and how many are taking action? Website clicks?

Ammar ✍️ Its not very good atm even after paid marketing as well..

Dielan Could be due to the fact you are only targeting consumers in Qatar? It’s not a very large country

Ammar ✍️ Tried removing Qatar, same results no effects :S

Lowry Try to engage your followers. Ask questions, post to articles & ask peoples opinion about them. Post a small fb survey about what baby merch products they want to see on the market. Eva You’re posting too much about your brand and products. Try posting 20% brand/product posts and 80% other. Who is your target audience? What are their challenges and interests? Share posts that solve a problem for them, that they can relate to, that they find useful. Particularly on Facebook, it’s about being social, not selling.

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Ammar ✍️ Tried posting tips - quotes- and stuffs like that but still no effect :s Eva » Ammar yes, you’ve posted tips and quotes but in the caption you’re selling. It’s the first thing Mums read as they scroll through their feed and they won’t even read the quote or tip in the image. You don’t have to sell in every post. Also, because you have small numbers, try sharing viral posts from similar parenting pages Ammar ✍️ Noted, What are your thoughts on post styling? are they good or do i need to change anything? Eva » Ammar I think the styling of the image is good. Just a couple of things. 1. This post, for example, [product image] I recommend that instead of writing about the business, you explain what this product actually is and how it can help a mum. 2. On Facebook don't use hashtags. 3. Try to limit the posts you have with links to an external website. Facebook likes to keep people on Facebook, not clicking out somewhere else. This one, for example, [quote image] Instead of writing about the business, write something that resonates with a mother, 'Do you feel like you need to keep your eyes open with matchsticks at the moment? Don't worry, babies start to figure out night and day by 3 weeks so (hopefully) you can get a little more sleep. Remember too, you'll have a different audience on Facebook and Instagram so try to share different content on each. Try and find a parenting group and ask mums with newborns what their challenges are and craft content around that. For each product you promote, relate it to the mother. What problem can it fix? How can it help them get more sleep? How can it help their baby sleep more? How can it fix their sore back? How can it help with breastfeeding and helping them get more milk? But also, share humor, Facebook users love humor that relates to their situation. With Instagram hashtags, look at what your competitors or similar businesses are using. Click into the hashtags, have a look at the content that is being shared and what's getting the best engagement. Ammar ✍️ These info's are gem, thanks a lot!

🔗🏹 Gergo My opinion: There are different tactics to use for different platform. Niche website built for organic traffic-turns into product selling, or other monetization methods. IG is not a platform for niche site-building, it is for entertainment! My point is, try to look for user intent perspective. People generally not using IG for finding any product to buy… imo. Another key issue is IG is full of bots, my friend tested and built 6000 followers in 3 months on a personal account with a simple code… yes it got banned, but we just wanted to see how far it goes… I assume your follower base probably full of those bots, commenting, like-ing anything, but its not a real audience with intent to buy. Haven't looked for deeper atm, but there is a huge different building a site and getting 2k traffic and converting into sales, as having as IG account and 2k followers… Sebastian Very interested. One very quickly look at the account. What comes first is mind. Is have your content made up by mother's. Join some library mother and baby groups and survey them for what are interested. Than post those on Instagram.📰👈

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(10) Is Instagram Good for Backlinking? Mikkel Is Instagram a good or necessary Backlink? [filtered from 24 💬🗨] 📰👈

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Andrei No, social media links are nofollow and do not pass link juice. Useless for SEO. 👍1

Ethan » Andrei that's not entirely true.The main argument being that social media doesn't directly affect your SEO. However, it does have an impact on the factors that do affect rankings such as traffic, meaning it indirectly affects your rankings. So, it may not directly increase your seo or provide backlinks but it definitely please a role in your seo ranking and should be utilized for best practices. 👍5 Andrei » Ethan sure, but that kind of argument can be made for any type of marketing, including paid ads. You gotta draw the line somewhere and say this is an SEO job and that is something else. Back to the question at hand, having a genuine, well maintained social media profile is a must for most businesses and will marginally contribute to your search performance. Having a backlinked social media account sitting idle is not going to contribute to your seo. 👍1 Ethan » Andrei true and I see your point there. However, social media plays a massive role indirectly with your SEO. I mean social platforms have there own search engines after all so this plays as another way to provide your company with more traffic to increase SEO. We all know how important local seo is and you might as well forget about it unless you have a social media presence. Social profiles will also ranking on Google so if you want to draw a line, then technically your now creating seo for your social profile and ranking on Google with it. Don't forget about how much content is shared through social media as well 👍2 Andrei » Ethan all good points! Although I think social media is not exactly critical for local seo. Is it? There is GMB and schema and some local directories. Never seen social media on this list. 👍1 Andrei » Ethan I feel like we are arguing, so I wanted to stress that I'm not, this is how I express curiosity. It might come off arguing-ish since my first language is russian 🙂 👍1 Ethan » Andrei I am not arguing either but I am glad that your clarified. I hate how facebook is used so much for that 🙄. I am curious as well and want to always better my skill and knowledge with SEO. I enjoy general conversations about it. True, but most if not all of those that rank without social media have been around since the dawn of google. If you take a new company and try to start ranking, it would be much much harder without social media platforms. If you were to take the same company and start with social media from day one, they are much more likely to start ranking on google faster and higher. 👍1 Swanson » Andrei I treat social media as another directory to update for locations. Will I manage your profile and post for you? No. But I want to make sure that your locations are listed correctly, that the descriptions and contact info is consistent with the rest of your web presence. I tell clients it’s just another channel you can use to present content they are adding for their site. 👍1

Ryan Let's say you are a taxidermist in a city of 1,000 people. You have one competitor.. All else being the same, your competitor has a website of the same quality as yours. If you have optimized Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and let's say you posted 50 posts, my guess is you would be ranking ahead of your competitor. It's not like an Instagram account will rank you, but in most cases it's common sense to have one, probably worth the 5 mins it takes to set it up. You're establishing your brand online. Could you go without it, of course. 👍2 Russ I just don't get why Instagram is so popular lol… You cannot put links in posts, which just seems daft and pointless… So if someone posts something that looks interesting, no way to find out more, you have to Google it for more info. So no backlink SEO benefit either. you cannot even share/re-post other people's posts from the app, you have to get another 3rd party app to do that. 📰👈

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This may satisfy you: Do You Reveal Yourself on Social Media that You are a Site Owner/Founder? Any Risk About it from Competitors, Haters?

#social media #social signals

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eminperu · 6 years ago

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Dreams Money Can Buy: The economics of a pay-as-you-go vagabond lifestyle

Since my last Facebook post about another jaunt across the world, several people have reached out to me asking the same question: how do I “fund my lifestyle” (copyright Emma). It dawned on me that A) lots of folks are looking to travel the world but B) are not sure how to do that realistically and responsibly. As an additional obstacle, people—even the vagabonds—often get weird and cagey when asked about their finances. Luckily, I’m 100% comfortable letting you know that I’m pretty poor and I’m still living what Cardi B and Chance might classify as close to—if not my best—life. I’m happy to share my strategies for the nomad life as someone who has never considered planning a strong suit and whose butt gets all itchy at the sound of the word “budget.” This is definitely not a how-to, but a how-I-do guide that hopefully can offer one perspective to those who, like me, dream of being homeless and financially insecure—I mean, wanderlusters. Naturally, each point is organized by subcategory titles borrowed from legendary and timeless songwriter Aubrey Graham. Started from the Bottom (now we’re still near the bottom)

Okay, not exactly the bottom, but not far off. I did have some savings before I started traveling, and I think that cushion was pretty important for my peace of mind/not dying famished in the streets. I set a (admittedly pretty arbitrary) bottom line that I would be comfortable—not thrilled, but not fully catatonic—to have when I returned to a more “traditional lifestyle.” I put that amount in a do-not-touch savings account. Luckily, I haven’t really had to dip into this kitty very many times. Though, again, I’m admittedly no financial wizard, I would estimate over the course of the last year I’ve netted about -$2,000. To me, this year, the amount of time I spent not working, and the amazing experiences I have had were worth significantly more than that figure.

God’s Plan/Controlla

You can plan your travels in advance to varying degrees, but it’s crucial to be honest with yourself about how much uncertainty you can stomach without anxiety sucking all the joy out of the cool stuff you’re doing. I’ve had people tell me, “Oh, it’s so crazy how you can just hop on a plane and not know where you’re going next. You’re flying by the seat of your pants!” Two things: 1) I hate pants. 2) More often than not, I do plan at least my immediate next move in advance. This isn’t so much a due my discomfort with uncertainty, but rather how frustrated I get when I’m forced to spend substantially more money on a ticket/room because I couldn’t commit in time. As a general rule, I plan international travel at least a month in advance and try to get things settled for big within-country trips a week before I leave. I make sure to search airline sites directly, especially for within country travel, and I don’t hesitate to call booking sites instead of reserving online to see if if they can cut me a deal—they’re out here looking for that commission. That being said, the best practice is to seek advice from people who have visited or, better yet, live in your destination. Not only can they steer you towards the right locations/companies/etc., they can also advise you when it might be more economical to book real time in-person as opposed to beforehand online (this happens quite a bit, especially in less-developed countries. Trip Advisor is not always your friend, yo.). Plan as much in advance as you need to in order to feel comfortable and excited, not overwhelmed and anxious, for your trip.

Hold On, We’re Going Home

Building off my last point, for me, having a space to unpack my borderline-hoarder amount of clothes and plug in my electric toothbrush is crucial to my mental health. Who doesn’t love a nest? Though a lot of people move intermittently between destinations, I was pretty settled in Lima. Before flying in, we booked a month in an Airbnb. I easily found a three month room to rent on Facebook/Craigslist, and used the same method to find two of my jobs (oh, sidebar—look for and join ALL online Expat groups as soon as you get to a country. Go to a language exchange and ignore the creepy older dudes who try to get you to “teach them English” and look for other expats who are probably new to the area, too). I also knew I was setting up base camp somewhere with an incredibly low cost of living, and that was intentional (Meygan’s intention, not mine, but still).

Mob Ties

This will be a small section, as it deviates from the financial focus of this piece, but I think it’s important: be proactive ASAP in making friends. It’s so, so easy in any city with a large expat population (again, join the Facebook groups). Expats are prone to be quite outgoing, likely share your interests, and probably have lower friend standards than you’re used to! Living abroad is like college, and all the other expats are your new floormates. There will definitely be some weridos, but you’ll sift through them and find the gems. Plus, traveling with friends makes things cheaper, so this section is totally relevant. (Nailed it.)

Hotline Bling

This one is straightforward: Make sure your phone is internationally unlocked and get a prepaid SIM card immediately in each country you go to. I’ve never needed to pay more than $20 a month for talk/text/data (you’ll only really need data) and it is PLENTY (how many of you are looking at your Verizon bill and fuming right now?). International plans don’t make sense in the long run and scrambling from Starbucks to random hostels for WiFi is not a good look.

Nice for What

One of the benefits of living abroad is that as soon as I moved, people started hitting me up to visit and/or meet them places. I’ve had the opportunity to visit magnificent destinations with magnificent friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years. If, like me, you’re overwhelming popular and well-liked, you have to be realistic and honest about where you can and cannot travel. Whilst on a budget and trying to function in day-to-day life, sometimes merging plans with friends looking to vacation is just not feasible. Compromising is great; it’s also valuable to let the homies know that this isn’t just a trip for you, it’s your lifestyle (did you just throw up a little bit as you read that? Me too. Sorry). I got super lucky and my friends who came and visited me in my more permanent location—Peru—didn’t force me to go to Machu Picchu 96 times! Every country has a bunch of cool stuff to do, and they were more than happy to meet in Colombia, hop on a jungle excursion, or otherwise with plan something that was in my budget/I hadn’t already done.

In addition to being realistic with my budget and with other people, I had to be realistic with myself, which involved some reprioritizing. I haven’t really bought clothes in the last year. I didn’t make my usual music festival rounds. I wasn’t planning to see my family for Christmas. My shoes, which have amassed an innumerable amount of miles, are essentially all falling apart. Time and time again, I chose experiences over things and I couldn’t be happier with that decision.

Nonstop

Having a job, regardless of the wage, always makes me feel better about spending money. You can make money in a variety of ways, but here’s a hot tip: TEACH ENGLISH ONLINE. I AM NOT KIDDING YOU I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT I DID THIS LAST YEAR WITHOUT IT. There are a myriad of companies (I’m with VIPKID—lemme talk to you about it and get some $$ for helping you apply) that allow you to set your own schedule and teach online from anywhere with a strong WiFi connection. I taught every weekday in Peru from 6:30 am to 9:00am (and an occasional weekend evening) and was done with my workday by 9:15 in the morning. I was also able to teach when I came back to Kansas, when I was home in California, and when I was traveling, Plus, I get money for referring you desperate plebs.

Let me tell you why VIPKID is infinitely better than getting an in-person job (even teaching English) abroad:

The hours and location are 100% flexible. I can open my schedule weeks in advance or the night before, and I can teach fifteen classes in a row or one single class.

There is no lesson planning. Prepping for teaching is an evil succubus that lures you in and steals your time and also several parts of your soul. The VIPKID platform offers ready-to-use lessons that have a universal structure. I don’t even glance at them before I start teaching. It’s the most low-maintenance, easiest form of instruction I’ve ever been involved with.

You don’t need to worry about getting a work visa. For all the work I did in Peru, I was paid cash under the table, as getting a carnet de extranjera (similar to a green card) is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult. I'm not 100% sure, but I feel like this is the case in most countries.

Yes, I make $20-$25 an hour, which can make you feel no ways (real Drake fans will catch that Easter egg), especially if you’ve been making a steady salary in a a place like New York or SF (let’s not get into it here, but all the more reason to advocate for not paying/treating our teachers like trash). However, it’s consistent money, I can do it anywhere, and $20 goes real far in most places outside the U.S.

The Catch Up

That being said, the side-hustle is EVERYTHING. Proofreading, translating, tutoring, working remotely, waitressing, bartending—anything that doesn’t require a lengthy application process and set hours is ideal. While I was back in the States, I very quickly and easily got a temp job working in my mom’s radiologic imaging office; I got to experience an entirely different line of work and gossip and eat donuts with the girls in the front. I absolutely loved it.

Apps like Grabr or housesitting apps are also excellent ways to make money doing stuff you’re already planning to do. Grabr allows travelers to sign up to bring things to people in their destination country that take too long or are too expensive to ship from their country of origin. This utilized two of my strongest skills—ordering items from Amazon and packing a checked bag weighing exactly fifty pounds. On my trip from the U.S. to Peru, I made over $300. Did I bring a kitchen scale and finely ground white electrolyte powders through South American customs? Yes! Did I assume I’d be going to Peruvian jail? Maybe! Honestly, I was more concerned about the giant car part leaking oil that I brought through TSA in Kansas City (thought about leaving a “This is not a bomb note”—decided against it). The point is: it might have taken a little time, some research, and a bit of aplomb to find opportunities like this, but luckily I had all those things in spades. Disclaimer: Use your judgment. Don’t do weird stuff.

Also, in all honesty, got a pretty cute tax refund this year, seeing as I made a significantly larger sum of money in the half of the year when I was full-time employee in California than when I was a part-time degenerate in Peru.

All Me

As resourceful and savvy as I’m feeling after writing this, I have to come clean. This might be a bit of a bummer for those fiercely independent amongst you: I did not even come close to doing this without a ton of help from my ridiculous circle of incredibly generous family and friends (HAHA GOTCHA, IT WAS NOT ALL ME. SEE? SEE WHAT I DID?) My list of people to thank would surely earn me the wrap-it-up music at the Oscars, but I’ll try anyway: My parents helped my broke ass get home so I wouldn’t be alone for Christmas. My friends from all across the world and all phases of life let me crash with them for weeks at a time (and gave me cute clothes that “looked a little weird on them,” made me banana flaxseed pancakes, and did my laundry). My brother and his smokeshow wife bought me flights and let me move into their giant British mansion to be their nanny (they don’t have kids). My saint of a mother literally gave up her bed and shared her tiny apartment with me, advocated for me to get a job that meant her doubling her workload, and let me eat all her food while standing at the refrigerator like a teenage boy. People have given me advice, contacts, hotel points, and miles. Gratitude will forever be the brush with which the memory of this year was painted.

All in all, I’ve had an overwhelmingly positive, life-changing experience with the joys far outweighing the stresses. It’s not hard to do, and I hope this very Emily-specific example can be of some help to you. Remember, you too can shirk all your responsibilities and run away to a foreign country! Even if you’re 25 sitting on 25… cents.

P.S. If you liked this post, please send me shoes.

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artcademia · 4 years ago

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Dear Wanda

I am responding to your post from the birthplace of Pantsula – iMzanzi. South Africa.

(Before I go there, I just wanted to quickly say that I hope to learn more about your life as a circus acrobat! Wow. Recently started talking about a collaboration with some lovely ladies - acrobats from Basel’s Station Circus. One of them is doing research into its history and place in society. Absolutely fascinating! Also, something that I know virtually nothing about AND I am a little ashamed to admit, I have not thought about much in the bigger context of “art” or even performative arts specifically)

(On another aside, I wanted to say that I, and I am quite sure countless others, share this very paradoxical reality of expanded space/ time suddenly available because so much of the usual stuff is NOT happening and, at the same time, a certain fatigue, lack of motivation and inspiration. I have decided to surrender to this deceleration, observe and see what gifts – one can only hope – or at least lessons might come from it.)

Ok to the point: BODIES. Physical, yes, but also emotional, historical, archival, collective… carrying knowledge and trauma; multi-layered tentacles that allow it to relate to the world and be shaped by it in return. (And even on a purely physical level, living bodies are undergoing constant death and birth (cells). The organisms that make up our microbiome outnumber the human cells (not mass) in the body.) Leaves you wondering what it is then, actually, that we refer to when we speak of bodies or the individuals that inhabit them.

This seems an important question in light of the very relevant and topical questions you ask about the future of Pantsula and the future of performative arts more broadly. The challenges faced by practitioners in the performing arts, all around, then and more so now, are manifold. What happens when form can longer be given and expressed fully? When we cannot get together (to rehearse, to perform)? When nobody is watching (in situ)? When we cannot touch? When the sensory tentacles of bodies are severed or even just shriveling from under-utilization? (I would add that what performers experience intensely, are issues that society at large is dealing with and having to figure out going forward)

I can honestly say that I have a pronounced cynical side. However, in this instance, I am quite optimistic that Pantsula and the performing arts in general will survive the pandemic. Here is why: As you pointed out, Pantsula has been around for decades, booming in the 70ies and 80ies but tracing its origins back to as early as the 1950ies. All these years, with a peak in the 80ies, were times of immense struggle, and restrictions, for black people in South Africa – and Pantsula was a response to that. A mode of resistance. Throughout this time too, Pantsula has evolved (You mentioned gender as one aspect). So, the interesting thing to keep an eye on will be the change, the evolution, of these forms. Whether new subcultures emerge, where people meet in secret defying social distancing regulations or in how far technology and online channels are going to play a different (even more prominent?) role in the future, as you say, remains to be seen.

Kadiatou

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juvoci · 4 years ago

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9 January 2021

This blog can be read in its entirety on JUVOCI.com.

9 January 2021.

11:03 AM.

Okay, so in the last blog post, for 8 January 2021, I left alot of cliff-hangers.

Firstly, I didn’t quite finish the Thought Leader idea.

Secondly, I didn’t quite finish the Philosophy is Dumb and What is Philosophy ideas.

But before we get into either of those, I’m going to go on another tangent (as I do), because I just commented on someone’s Reddit post, and it seems relevant, so I want to post my response here. I’ll post the screenshots below.

This was the Reddit post. It was posted in the CircleJerk sub-Reddit. Obviously, it’s a joke. A sarcastic joke. But I took this sarcastic joke as an opportunity to express a real solution to some of our problems. Here it is:

Stop taking EXTREME and ABSOLUTE positions on COMPLEX topics.

“All Cops Are Bastards”? Obviously, this is not true. There are many police officers out there who simply want to use their elevated power to protect their communities from agents of chaos who wish harm upon innocent people. These cops do indeed exist.

Not all cops are bastards. Some of them? Yes. Most of them? Maybe, I don’t know. All of them? Certainly not.

Taking extreme and absolute positions on complex topics is a recipe for disaster. It’s a childish and immature and lazy way to approach the world. We can do better than this.

And I just want to mention, because I can see the trolls licking their lips. Yes, the question was a sarcastic joke, and my answer was a serious statement. I am fully aware. 🤡

11:29 AM.

Okay, now, let’s get back to the Thought Leader stuff, because that’s important.

The importance of Thought Leaders, and what it takes to be one.

Let’s define Thought Leader again, but in a different way this time. A Thought Leader could be compared to an “Influencer”. When Serena Williams or LeBron James or Coryn Rivera or Steph Curry or Lindsey Vonn or Michael Phelps endorse a brand such as Nike or Adidas or Puma or whatever... these brands gain an elevated reputation. “LeBron James wears Nike sneakers? Damn! Nike must make good sneakers!” And so Nike sales increase.

Jordan Peterson, for better or worse (I’m still undecided about him, though I do think that he’s genuinely a good guy and has a good heart, despite his viewpoints), is a Thought Leader. When Jordan Peterson says Marxism is on the rise, this is dangerous, we need to take this seriously and rebel against it... literally thousands of people will begin distributing his message online and IRL (in real life). Jordan Peterson quite literally has a microphone which broadcasts directly into thousands of people’s ears. (Well, not literally literally, but you get my point.) This is, in some sense, the definition of a Thought Leader.

In some sense, I’m already a Thought Leader. Many of the ideas I express are unusual, esoteric, not mainstream. But my reach isn’t very big, so I’m not leading many people.

11:45 AM.

So now that we’ve defined Thought Leader (again), let’s discuss why I want to be a Thought Leader (or at least grow as a Thought Leader), and what train of thought I actually want to lead.

In the last blog post, I mentioned Peace and Love. This is foundational. This is where it begins. If we don’t exercise Peace and Love, we cannot even really engage in conversation. The only reason I can honestly and freely engage in conversation with you is because we are at peace. If we were at war, this would not be possible.

Now, of course, just like everything else, Peace is a spectrum. At the high end of the Peace Spectrum, even arguments cease to exist. Individual beings simply express themselves and everyone who is listening simply listens. In such a circumstance, this being is expressing their truth, and everyone is listening with open minds, open hearts, without judgment. This is sort of... an idealistic scenario.

But this “idealistic scenario” isn’t necessarily what we need right now, because humanity does indeed have some complex problems which need solving, and simply opening our hearts to everyone’s subjective truth isn’t necessarily going to solve those problems. Instead, we must share our ideas, experiment with those ideas, find the best ideas, and act on them. In other words, we must share our ideas and then debate those ideas, in order to find the best idea.

Problems arise when ego interferes. People become attached to their ideas. They want credit. They want to be the savior of the world. People become so attached to their ideas that they ignore better ideas. This is why I like the Philosophy of Infinity and the practice of Infinite Openmindedness.

Recognize that your pet idea is just one idea in a sea of infinite ideas, and it isn’t necessarily the best idea. Recognize that you might be wrong. Recognize that other people have lived complex lives, likely (more or less) as complex as yours; and other people are capable of intelligence, just like you; and other people are smart, sometimes smarter than you. Recognize that a Competitive and Free Market of Ideas will create an environment where the best ideas rise to the top, breeding better ideas. If we can all enter the Chamber of Debate, and leave our egos at the door, we will discover the greatest truths by merging our individual minds into a smarter collective mind.

So, to summarize, Absolute Peace is the eventual goal, but Peaceful Debate is what’s needed now.

Peaceful Debate means that we respect each other’s life experiences, we respect each other’s viewpoints, we live and let live, we don’t violently attack or insult other groups simply because they disagree with us.

“If you disagree with me, that’s fine. You can live on your land, and I’ll live on mine. We will go on with our lives, in peace. I won’t blow you up or shoot you down, and you won’t do so to me either. Yes, we may disagree, but we won’t raid each other’s homes and destroy each other’s families... simply because we disagree.” This is a more evolved standpoint.

12:03 PM.

We need a collective purpose, a collective goal. Humanity is a train-wreck right now. America, and her ideals, has been a global leader for decades, and now America is a clusterfuck.

Too many things get lost in translation between countries. Too many people and corporations are “beating the competition” rather than “working together to find the best solutions”. Too many people are power-hungry and egoic and not seeing the bigger picture. Too many people are afraid and confused and fearful of death; and when people are afraid and confused, they sometimes act defensively and violently.

Too many people are overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of media and information, much of which is not only pointless but is also damaging to one’s peace of mind. Too few people have taken the time to meditate and contemplate deeply the true nature of the universe.

Too many people are without mentors, without guidance. Too many people have so many questions, but no one to answer them.

This is why I want to be a Thought Leader. The world needs guidance, direction, stability, understanding, structure, philosophy, wisdom. But there doesn’t seem to be enough people distributing these things.

Wisdom hasn’t gone mainstream yet.

And will it ever go mainstream? This question has literally been debated for thousands of years. Ancient philosophers have written, including those who authored The Kybalion, that “the Truth is reserved for the brave few” and “the masses will never know the Truth” (or something along those lines).

But I’m an idealist. I disagree. I say: “Why not?” Why can’t we have the world we desire?

“But, Juvoci, you said” (in the last blog post) “that some people desire war!”

Yes, I did. But the desire for war is, in my estimation, a more superficial desire than the desire for peace.

I believe that, deep down, EVERYONE simply desires PEACE and HAPPINESS.

And those who pursue war, only do so because, deep down, they believe it will lead to PEACE and HAPPINESS.

In other words, people who wage war believe that war is the only option, the last resort, our only chance, for a peaceful world.

Of course, this is not the case, and is in fact completely wrong, completely opposite of the truth. This is the definition of evil, of devilry.

War only leads to more war.

When you wage war against someone, a grudge is formed. When you destroy a culture, destroy a family, destroy a people, they don’t forget, they get angry, they get depressed, and they label you “the devil”, they slowly and quietly rebuild their power, and then they come back to bite you.

And then you may say: “But what if you eradicate them completely so that they cannot ever return?” Sure, but then your people will remember what you did to those people. “Remember what our empire did to those people we destroyed? That was kind of messed up.” And then there is a deep collective regret in the population which must eventually be repented and made-up-for, lest the society be eaten alive from within by its own shame and guilt of its own violent history. And the cycle continues...

Just like, in your own personal life, you cannot purify, you cannot cleanse your soul, until you’ve repented for the evil you’ve done. Until then, your soul, your spirit, is broken, shattered, split.

The neuroticisms of a culture, a society, a nation, seep into the hearts of its citizens, and destroy it from within.

The most powerful thing that a leader can grant... is peace. Not dominance, not power, not wealth... peace.

But then there are the questions: What of that evil which lurks in the shadows? How do we defend against it? If we focus only on peace, won’t we be blind-sided by a secretive malevolent faction? If we focus only on peace, we won’t fund our militaries, and then we will be vulnerable to evil forces, right?

And this is true. Although I wish this were not the case, I cannot deny it. If we don’t keep our guard up, to some extent, then evil could once again overcome us.

Just as the sage must constantly remind herself of the Truth, society must remind itself of Evil. History repeats itself, so remember history.

So what does this mean for military funding?

On a material level, it means two things.

Firstly, we must prioritize defense over offense. Don’t develop military technology for the sake of attacking and conquering. Develop military technology for the sake of protecting.

Secondly, we must redefine our enemy. America’s enemy is not Russia or China. China’s enemy is not America or Japan. Australia’s enemy is not Russia or North Korea. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

No, Humanity’s enemy is Chaos, Insanity. Humanity’s enemy is Ignorance, Violence, Immaturity, Ego. This is how we must redefine our enemy.

But let’s bring this, once again, to a spiritual level, a metaphysical level, to a level beyond materiality.

Ultimately, we are talking about FEAR. “What if Evil grows stronger while the rest of us are focusing on Peace? What if we detract from military funding and leave ourselves vulnerable and get destroyed by an evil faction? What if? What if? What if...?”

These are questions of fear.

FAITH over FEAR.

This is where my Thought Leadership re-enters.

We must all subscribe to a philosophy of Faith over Fear.

Now, this is easier said than done, obviously. And I’m not trying to claim that I’ve fully succeeded in this realm. I never claimed to be perfect. But it’s the direction I try to move in, and it’s the direction that I’m encouraging you to move in aswell.

What is Faith over Fear?

This is getting into some pretty deep spiritual and metaphysical areas, but I’ll do my best to explain, especially because many people who read this, who haven’t dived deeply into spirituality and metaphysics, might not exactly understand what I’m saying. But I’ll give it a shot.

Faith is a fundamental force of the universe. Now, I’m not talking about Christian Faith or Islamic Faith or Jewish Faith or Buddhist Faith or whatever. No. I’m talking about pure Faith. I’m talking about Faith as a fundamental, pure, force.

In fact, Faith is so fundamental to the Structure of Reality that, at a certain point, it becomes physical, it becomes material, it melds and merges into the physical world. Don’t believe me? Keep meditating.

Faith is the reason you wake up in the morning. Faith is the reason you’re able to walk on solid ground. Faith is what keeps the entire universe in motion. Faith is a fundamental force. We can call this concept FFF or F-Cubed. The fundamental force of faith. Maybe the FFF thing is dumb. I don’t know. Whatever, moving on. Lol. (If you’ve made it this far in the blog, take a moment to breathe and relax and recognize that nothing is like super serious necessarily.)

But, yeah, Faith is super important. Pure faith. You exist because you believe in your existence. Without that fundamental structure of belief (which is another way of saying Faith), your entire being would collapse and disintegrate into a vortex of chaos and structurelessness. Don’t believe me? Well, I wouldn’t recommend experimenting with this concept unless you’re truly a Master of the Mind... because this can be dangerous territory.

So why am I talking about Faith now? Because Faith over Fear. Faith is the antidote to Fear, and Faith is your savior.

Yes, Evil could be out there, plotting your demise. Yes, the Universe could implode suddenly and instantaneously, destroying everything and everyone you’ve ever known. Yes, an asteroid could land on New York City, killing millions. Yes, some rogue country *cough* could drop an atomic bomb and decimate Humanity. Yes, danger, danger, danger, fear, fear, fear, possibilities, possibilities, endless fearful possibilities.

But can’t you see? It goes on and on and on and on and on. The mind can think of infinite reasons to be afraid, to fear evil.

But here’s where Spirituality and Metaphysics swoop in and save the day...

FEAR CREATES EVIL.

Yes, literally, Fear creates Evil. No, even further... Fear is Evil.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt (allegedly) said (I wasn’t there): “We have nothing to fear but Fear itself.” This quote is actually quite wise. Well, it’s, like... almost wise. The only reason it isn’t completely wise is because it implies that we still have to fear something.

But the point is (or at least, the Truth that I see in the quote) that Fear is the enemy. And, from my experience with spirituality, Faith is the antidote to Fear. In other words, when your being is aligned in Faith, your “enemy” ceases to exist, because all is one and all is you and so all is in Faith.

These are pretty deep ideas; and if you don’t understand exactly what I’m saying, don’t worry. Just stick with me, and eventually you will understand.

1:06 PM.

Okay, so, I feel like I’ve kind of beaten that topic to death. Let’s give it a rest for a little while. Let’s get back to that point about Philosophy.

In my last blog post, I said that Philosophy is dumb. But, obviously, I need to elaborate on this, not only because this statement will probably offend some percentage of people, but also because it’s a pretty vague statement.

So, what exactly do I mean? And why exactly am I saying this?

Firstly, let’s define Philosophy. Yesterday, I posted in two sub-Reddits (the Philosophy and AskPhilosophy sub-Reddits) asking the simple question: What is Philosophy?

Both of my posts got banned from those sub-Reddits. This is strange, and doesn’t make any sense to me. If your sub-Reddit is about Philosophy, then one of the most important questions on that sub-Reddit should be... What is Philosophy?

Duh?

But, for some reason, the moderators of those sub-Reddits thought such a question should not be on their sub-Reddits and so they removed it. And now, in my mind, these two sub-Reddits have lost some respect and credibility.

But, whatever, maybe that’s a signal that “What is Philosophy?” is a dumb and unnecessary question.

Perhaps I can define Philosophy simply by explaining why I think parts of it (not all of it) are dumb.

To me, Philosophy becomes dumb when it becomes about using big words, and how many philosophical terms you know, and arguing about the nature of reality, and choosing one side or one philosophy and being an ardent advocate of that one philosophy or opinion or perspective.

These aspects of “the Philosophy world” are dumb to me because they miss the point. Reality is infinite. The universe is infinite. There are infinite perspectives. Everyone’s life is different, and everyone’s unique life experiences lead them to believe certain things about reality.

You might be a staunch Atheist, but if one day you went to sleep and woke up in a garden where Krishna explained to you the metaphysical workings of the universe, and you existed in this garden for thousands of years, exploring the world of spirituality, before finally, eventually, after those thousands of years, returning back into your human body, to this human life... you might have second thoughts about your staunch Atheistic beliefs.

So who are you to say that someone who identifies as Hindu and has had a similar spiritual experience with Krishna is wrong? And likewise, who are they to say that someone who identifies as Atheist and hasn’t had any spiritual experiences, like you (the staunch Atheist)... is wrong?

See? Nobody is wrong. Everyone just has different life experiences.

So, whatever your Philosophy is, it isn’t right or wrong. It’s just one perspective of infinite perspectives.

A lot of philosophy is just preaching. Just rattling off complex names and concepts and big words, just arguing pointlessly about abstractions.

Real Philosophy is about listening. This is, if I am to make a distinction here, the difference between Philosophy and Wisdom. Philosophy literally means love of wisdom. But perhaps Love of Wisdom isn’t always the same as Wisdom itself, in the same way that you may “love” your spouse, but not necessarily treat them well, or know them well.

Arguing with people on Reddit (or any other forum), for example, about why your Philosophy is right... is a pretty deformed version of Philosophy, in my opinion. If you want to grow as a philosopher, if you want to grow more wise, spend more time listening and asking questions, rather than preaching. Then, if someone asks you a question, you can expound your knowledge.

Philosophy has been dubbed “a science” by many individuals and institutions. But one of the problems with modern Science, in my opinion, is over-categorization.

Science creates categories upon categories upon categories, dividing and dividing and dividing. Now, don’t get me wrong, there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with categorization. In fact, there isn’t even anything necessarily wrong with over-categorization.

In some sense, excess categorization is the natural evolution of language and quantifiable knowledge. As our understanding of the world becomes more and more nuanced, we naturally will create more and more terms and thus categories for explaining and identifying it.

The problem arises when we begin identifying with our identifiers. When a scientist or philosopher says “I am a Materialist” or “I am an Existentialist” or “I am a Stoic”, they are missing the point of Philosophy and Science, in my opinion.

This is the problem with Identity. When you identify with one finite piece of an infinite reality, you inherently limit yourself. Better to have as small of an identity as possible, and simply observe reality. To me, this is what Philosophy and Science are truly about. Egoless observation of reality, in the name of Truth.

2:02 PM.

Okay, I’ve been writing on and off for awhile I’m gonna take a break and do something else. Be back later, maybe.

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