Easy Sunday: Short form video
I tried something.
I made a one-minute video version of a blog post.
I uploaded it to Twitter and TikTok. I have reservations about that. I am told that TikTok somehow helps China, as if they spy on us in a way that everybody else doesn't, including my cars. I have long thought that Twitter -- now X -- was toxic, full of anger and misinformation. It is worse, now.
I attempt a tone of fair-minded reasonableness in my blog posts. Op-Ed-length written words lend themselves better to reasoned thought than to outrage. Outrage and indignation are communicated by tone of voice. My blog readership plateaued at about 3,000 impressions between Blogspot and Substack e-mails. I wondered if I would draw new readers with video. Apparently about 700 new people saw my video post on TikTok within 30 minutes. I liked that. Apparently people engaged with it. I quote one comment exactly: "Your an idiot."
Viewers might notice that I amped up a tone of anger and indignation in the video. They are what draw people in. Trump uses this, as does cable news. Biden doesn't. Nor does the NY Times and Washington Post. I have mixed feelings about this experiment. We have ample numbers of angry people sharing outrage using video. It may be what the public likes and watches, but it isn't what political discourse in America needs.
American democracy is going through a rough patch, and it might get even worse. I write so I can better understand it. I want people who see the world very differently from me to read my posts. They would be put off by indignant outrage. They might give me their attention if I sounded respectful.
I have this crazy idea that my blog posts should be a tiny force for good in the world.