#musings ( social media )

[aeolianblues]

I love that we have a generation of young bands who, right from the offset are so vocal about their political causes, through speaking up, fundraisers, working with charity organisations and all. And now these bands are getting big. Fontaines D.C. can’t ’lose fans’ because of their constant and vocal support for Palestine, you’d get laughed out of the venue. Who was surprised when Carlos called everyone else out at the Rolling Stone UK Awards and expressed his strong support for Palestinian independence? They’d have said you’re out of the loop.

Lambrini Girls made it a point early doors: Phoebe has talked about how they were playing a venue in Germany and said if you’re a zionist, leave, and it was half the crowd back then. They’re now one of the most anticipated releases of 2025. They’ve stuck to this principle throughout their rise: their songs are anti-misogynistic, anti-transphobia, anti discrimination. By the time Phoebe scaled the top of a Glastonbury tent to plant a Palestinian flag, there were only cheers.

Bands like Kneecap. They opened their show at Glastonbury, a televised slot shown on national television on the BBC, with a message about imperialism by Britain in Ireland and Palestine. They have gone around with their projectors and projected this fact on public buildings. They’ve talked on stage about how more people were killed in Gaza in 6 months than the entirety of the Troubles. And now, their film is going to the Oscars. They swept the British Independent Film Awards, they’ve been nominated for a BAFTA too. And at that late stage if you complain that Kneecap are being political? Hahaha mate, you’re having a laugh.

Fans of all these bands tend to also follow their beliefs. It’s what draws you into their music, right? When you hear the lyrics to Lambrini Girls’ TERFs Out, or God’s Country, or Bob Vylan’s He’s A Man or We Live Here. Kneecap’s CEARTA, Enola Gay’s PTS.DUP or Through Men’s Eyes. Amyl and the Sniffers’ Knifey or Comfort To Me. Unless you’re actively stuffing a finger in your ears going ‘la la la I can’t hear you’, you must know.

And so I love that I see Fontaines fan accounts, ones with pretty large followings and engagement with a description that basically says ‘Fontaines D.C. fan account. Free Palestine.’ (And it’s not just performative, they too have used their platform to organise fundraisers and work with charity organisations to make sure their action is as direct as can be.) Fandoms can sometimes be places where it’s almost taboo to break the veneer of pretending your time spent loving a band somehow doesn’t exist in the real world, and I see this a lot with older fandoms/older bands’ fandoms. ‘Just stick to the music’, ‘we’re all just here to love this band, let’s leave the politics out of it’ okay grandma. Your band themselves have spoken out but just because they do it less frequently doesn’t warrant the ‘no politics’ rule of your fanclub.

So I’m glad to see how actively involved our new bands are, they were vocal before they had a platform and a big chunk of their listeners are now either people that came up with them, supporting this, or those who even learned something along the way. And as we’ve seen from Taylor Swift fans, mobilised fandoms can do a LOT, that’s really where the power of music to make difference lies, so I’m glad to see how fandom in music by these young bands is not resistant to it!

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

kinda happy that i'm not as chronically online as i used to be. i've been focusing on my studies, hobbies, etc and it makes me feel so much better. ofc i still have a long way to go but a phrase that is constantly running in my mind is one day or day one... like if i wanna be a certain kind of person and become better i should actually DO stuff that makes me better instead of thinking about that one day where i will magically get everything i want. that doesn't happen, i have to work for it. believing in myself is the first half which i have accomplished, the other half is working hard (with balance ofc). i doomscroll much less, and if i do i gain awareness of it very quickly and it doesn't surpass an hour. i don't turn on my laptop first thing after waking, i only turn it on when i i actually have some work or i want to listen to music. sometimes i relapse. but the point is that i've never tried more harder than i am rn and i am proud of myself for it. i am feeling seeing my progress. i intend to constantly heal and succeed and make mistakes and learn from them and never ever stop trying.

if i can do it you can too <3

[caturnmoon]

Viewing myself through the lens of ✨anime eyes✨

[zenlackszen]

🎨 UNEXPECTED MUSES MASTERLIST 🎨

✰✰

Kim Hongjoong X Gn!Reader X Park Seonghwa

Fashion student reader is overwhelmed with prep for their final year fashion show, and it's made worse when one of their models cancel last minute. In their search for a replacement, they come across Park Seonghwa and perhaps catch feelings along the way. Too bad Seonghwa is already enamored with his friend and (obvious) crush, Kim Hongjoong, who suggested he model in the first place.

These three now have to deal with the fact they've met inspiration in human form but cannot have them.. or can they?

✰✰

📝GENRE: social media au, college au, mostly fluff

🏷️TAGLIST: (open)

@cherrychristie @domfikeluva @leesalts @boo-ven9eance

CHAPTERS:

0.5. Character Info

1.0. The Beginning

2.0. The Confirmation

[mainepdf]

i understand why so many artists consider the grammys as just another work event

[aydinkardes]

DEAN'S PERSONAL Instagram feed, featuring his husky Bear (who was originally his late girlfriend Scarlett's doggo), his cousin @levibecker, a shot of @enzoadeluca riding, and a sneak peak into combat medic life.

[bimuselee]

Five-year struggle of figuring out where to pepper in that he killed a child has finally been resolved by the new Middle Patroclus song 😅

[coollyinterferes]

The unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching begins to fill the air. Whoever is coming seems to have brought some company along…

They are getting closer… and closer… and closer…

…and closer…

……until..................

"Goooooood evenin'!!" Comes the loud greeting from a certain blond man. A big smile on his face and all.

"We beg your pardon for our prolonged absence. It was completely beyond our control..." Then adds the gentleman standing by his side, apologizing on behalf of both, offering a genuine smile along with the apology.

"...BUT! We're back!" And hopefully for good this time…

[wesparkcr]

WES'S PROFESSIONAL Instagram feed, featuring his stage name Wes Campbell, that is no longer active as per his request. The black and white photos signal the end of an era.

[gaslightgirlsummer]

what’s happened to him is horrible, but looking at charles’ story shows a very important sign of his status right now. walk with me for a second.

charles has always been two things: a man of the people and a pr darling. there is a reason why he’s the most beloved ferrari driver since michael, why he’s always compared to gilles villeneuve. his heart and soul belong to the tifosi, he always makes time for the fans, he’s always kind and patient with everyone even though he’s had awful experiences (literal sexual harrassment and robbery). and he and his team are brilliant at pr - you’ll never find him lacking in interviews, he does magazine covers, his social media image is carefully curated and thriving. moreover, you have the additional recognisability that comes with being a ferrari driver and last year’s success (and, partially, drive to survive).

this is the moment where you can clearly see charles has hit the celebrity status of f1 driver. he could have went one of two routes - more private, like seb or max, or more public, like lewis. he clearly picked the lewis route

he’s had insane instagram growth - just recently he gained 100k followers in only 6 day, hit over 2 million likes on a casual post of just himself with the pista. his jewellery ad hit a million likes (for comparison - max got 450k on his australia win). he’s the second most followed f1 driver, and he’s currently getting way better engagement than lewis, who has the biggest following (on their respective last posts: 10% vs 2%). he’s constantly stopped on the street wherever he goes and not just in italy or monaco - paris or london as well. in melbourne he had to go to the mall with a security guard. in monaco he took pics with someone in the middle of the night doing groceries. remember monza 2022 - he literally had problems with even leaving the hotel

my point here is - charles is what you could call “proper famous” now. he’s shaping up to be, after lewis, the new face of formula 1. shit like this will probably keep happening and it’ll call for changes. i can’t even imagine how he’s going to get through monza this year. in the near future we’ll probably see changes - less of him going out in the city casually, possibly an increase in security.

there’s no conclusion to this, just observations. we should respect his privacy and hope that a few bad apples won’t ruin his perception of his fans, who love him and support him. we can see how dramatically his popularity has increased over the last 12 months and how it signifies the things to come in the future - both the good and the bad

[quinloki]

Because I feel like I have more reach here than on Twit --

If you're not already aware, Twatter is changing it's block function so that people can still see your content even after you block them.

ALONG WITH THAT

They're also updating their ToS to REMOVE the opt-out feature for AI/Generative training.

Frankly, the second is even more concerning than the first, since you can get around the block function by going private (only public posts are still viewable).

If you're a creative type on Twit make sure you're fudging/masking/glazing your uploads at the very least.

If you're looking for alternatives, Bsky.app (blue sky) is seeing a massive influx of users because of this, so be patient if you make a new account.

[youarenotthewalrus]

Read Scott Pilgrim recently and like. Why did Bryan Lee O'Malley give Scott a social circle consisting almost entirely of women and gay men? Like, Scott is supposed to be a straight dude but he has literally two straight dude friends and one of them later turns out to be gay. It's not even like this is some accident of how the supporting cast happened to shake out either, Scott explicitly says that all his friends in high school were girls. This is a deliberate characterization choice and like... why?

[solar-halos]

i’m gonna see you alligators later

[taralen]

Announcement: SOCIAL MEDIA AND FANDOM HIATUS

I've been active on here and X/Twitter for a few months now, interacting with the Deltarune fandom, particularly the Spamton sub-fandom. This has brought me into a world I never dreamed of before, the sense of being part of a community.

Never in my entire life have I felt part of any community. During this time period, I've made more friends than I have in over a decade. I was so wary of meeting new people and letting them into my life, but now I don't feel as scared anymore. I even discovered what it feels like to fall in love with someone real.

That said, I am exhausted. I've emotionally and mentally exhausted myself trying to be there for so many people, to be the person I failed to be ten years ago when everyone I knew dropped me into a dumpster and insisted, "You don't know how to be human."

I've reached my limit. I can't do this anymore. People are assuming too much of me.

Before opening myself up to this fandom, I never wanted to closely associate with anyone who didn't have a single original piece of work tied to their name. I considered anything fandom-related a total waste of time, and I never saw any value in such communities... Until I finally let myself become part of one. My childhood friend recommended I start being more open by drawing my favorite character, Spamton.

I took his advice... Obviously. I felt like, for the first time, I was healing...

But these new connections brought new problems I'm still not used to handling. I had isolated myself for so long, consistently keeping in contact with only three people for almost a decade since all the people in my past friendship group betrayed me. I realized a fatal flaw in my character, and it's that I keep trying to be strong for so many people that I've become neglectful of myself...

I genuinely... Have no idea who I am anymore. I've lost touch with myself since I got so excited about being part of this community. I focused so much only on being there for my new friends that I had to stop and think, "Wait... Does anyone actually know me outside of all this...?"

Does anyone know who I am... Outside this fandom? Do they care?

I developed acute mono/autophobia, and it took me until recently to discover why: because this happiness is so overwhelmingly beautiful to me that the thought of losing it all is driving me to deeper madness. This thought, of course, is as irrational as any phobia is... And I had to ask myself, "Did I let myself become too open and vulnerable? Were the walls I had before preferable to this?"

And so... I am retreating to those walls for now. I am going on a hiatus. I want to focus on my personal projects that are entirely my ideas and settings, and I am uncomfortable sharing 99% of them except among trusted friends. I have an original novel I already finished about 25% of the first draft of, and I took a pause on it because of my involvement in this fandom. It's time I stop and allow myself to reconnect with myself... To the things that matter most to me.

I am not leaving—absolutely not—but I am broken. I realized that despite all the times I've been strong for other people, I can't count on anyone to be there for me at my absolute lowest. I've been overexerting myself to be strong for others so much that I'm doing it at my own expense, and I feel like I'm sinking into a tar pit of agony.

This little trash puppet needs to feel the comfort of er... my trash. I'm sorry. I will be gone for at least a week. I'm still available to friends on Discord, but that's the only place I'll be.

I'm overloaded and overused. I'm sorry... I have about half a dozen commissions to finish anyway.

My inbox is still open, so if anyone wants to have fun with that and shoot me an e-mail, then feel free to. Otherwise...

[kinjedl]

Random (literal) shower thought:

The reason Tumblr works as a social media site, and the reason the outside companies who purchased Tumblr don't get how the site works is that it functions as an actual Micro-blogging website.

Comparing Tumblr, Facebook, and Reddit, each site functions in a different way.

Facebook is the 'purest' social media site, in that its primary driver is social connections. You will see the posts of and interact with the people that you already know, through friends, family, neighbors, etc. The posts that will generate engagement are the ones that appeal to those you're surrounded by.

Reddit could be seen as the condensation of what was once a galaxy of standalone hobby sites. The posts you see and the people you interact with will be focused around a specific topic, and the most popular ones will be the ones that appeal to the largest selection of the fans of that topic. Most topics will have their own audience, and while there can be crossovers, that's largely because demographics tend to overlap.

Tumblr, meanwhile, is every individual 1998 Geocities personal website, 2003 Live Journal, and 2008 individual blog collapsed into a singularity. It's a collection of separate webpages joined only by a common part of the url. The guy who made a Star Trek fansite in the 90s is now posting Star Trek fanfics on her tumblr page. The posts that generate interaction and get reblogged are the posts that were crafted and created by the people posting them. They succeed because the people who have taken the time to go check out your blog enjoy them.

It's that last part that I think the capitalists who keep buying tumblr just don't get. It's really hard to drive engagement on Tumblr, because the people here aren't looking for random things to add to their interests. They're looking for that one Motorcycle Blog page dedicated to lovingly framed photographs of Motorcycles, and anything that isn't that is effectively a pop up ad in the era before automatic pop-up blockers. The best you can do at that point is get in a heckling match with your audience because you're holding some of their time hostage on the way to the motorcycles.

[theoxkent]

@imogen-rhitt @elliot-monroe @jxsminebailey