Type what you're thinking about right now (11)

[Mellie]

I’m ok. Hope u r too.

[Amara 94]

Can social media stifle creativity?

I see lots of art on social media. Lots of it is nice and original however lots is also highly skilled but not that creative. For example, there are lots of people who draw portraits but not much else. It takes skill and can take creativity but sometimes I feel it's more about flexing the talent than just expressing artistic skill. But then tbh it feels good to flex ones skill. I can see myself doing that if I got skilled at something.

[Amara 94]

Does social media breed conformity?

[Pablo Huntsbach]

Originally Posted by imperfect_perfectionist

Can social media stifle creativity?

I see lots of art on social media. Lots of it is nice and original however lots is also highly skilled but not that creative. For example, there are lots of people who draw portraits but not much else. It takes skill and can take creativity but sometimes I feel it's more about flexing the talent than just expressing artistic skill. But then tbh it feels good to flex ones skill. I can see myself doing that if I got skilled at something.

I think what you’ve observed is less creativity being stifled, rather it’s a platform that discourages editing and filtering. Without social media to get a piece of art seen you have to plan it, draft it, perfect it, have connections to people who can get your work shown to a bigger audience, hope that they think it’s good enough to give it that exposure, plus a thousand other steps. With that system there were still countless janky pet portraits and fruit bowl paintings but nobody ever saw them.

Having said that I do think that when some people do something fairly standard, that anyone with a smidge of natural talent and a ‘how to draw’ book could do if they set aside the time, and get a lot of positive reinforcement for it via Facebook it goes to their head, they become convinced that they’re at the peak of their talent and can be an artist now, and they just keep doing the thing that people praised them for without ever making any effort to improve (I imagine Donald Trump has a similar origin story, except replace art with blatant financial exploitation). Rejection and failure is an important step on the path to creating real art!

[Amara 94]

^Good point. They can actually edit more with modern tech but because of the quickness of social media and independence there is less editing and refining in certain aspects.

I agree with the second paragraph a lot. As a teen I used to be able to draw portraits though I can’t now as I took a break from drawing.

Real art deserves independent thought which social media can disrupt if not aware. I notice a producer I follow doesn’t seem to post too much on social media or keeps quiet. Now I think it’s probably for his good. He shares fan posts and occasional previews but it also feels like he doesn’t post music to kind of keep fans interested like everyone else seems to.

[Amara 94]

To overcome anxiety do we have to accept it as a feeling? I don’t mean do nothing about it but just see it for what it is? Why is this so hard? For me I feel it’s hard because, in my experience, people judge you for anxiety or judge you on face value, rather than try to understand you. I can say the same for myself though.

[Amara 94]

Now I’m thinking it’s not bad to be perceived as boring. It usually means the person doesn’t understand you.

[choirgirl]

The didn't try hard enough years from 29 to 34. When it was turn your life around before it's too late time. The shame at my early failures and the bad CV gaps. (The advice was - don't have a CV gap. Very helpful.) The shame of being anxious. (I didn't know about SA until my early 30s, I just felt ashamed of being anxious for YEARS and couldn't talk about it to anyone. Just be more confident! Fake it till you make it! I'd rather know what I'm doing, but okay.) The shame of not being likeable enough or normal enough and the sense of a moral judgement hanging on this. The shame about this, the shame about that. Every shame building on the one that came before. The shame-based stagnation. The increasing unattainability of even the most basic life as housing got more and more expensive and I fell further and further behind. The hopelessness. The hope. The avoidance. The trying to turn things around. The avoidance. The trying to turn things around. The avoidance. The constant reading when I should have been working, earning £ and saving it, not for when I was unemployed, but like an actual adult. Working all the time and saving nearly everything. I could have got somewhere in a hard five years of that. The vague, subconscious hope that some help will come my way when my whole life I've been bad at even asking for help. It's all so stupid and irrational. An unstoppable, slow-motion carcrash. Yes, my midlife crisis is making me very dramatic.

[Amara 94]

"I hate it when people call themselves 'entrepreneurs' when what they're really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They're unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business. That's how you really make a contribution and add to the legacy of those who went before. You build a company that will still stand for something a generation or two from now. That's what Walt Disney did, and Hewlett and Packard, and the people who built Intel. They created a company to last, not just to make money. That's what I want Apple to be."

I love this. I guess a lot of people try to cash on what is in but that isn't the key to doing something genuine.

[Dougella]

^ Maybe you need some rest I hope you feel better soon.

[choirgirl]

I was quite ego-driven when I was young. Even things that I didn't experience that way at the time, were actually quite ego-driven. I was a quiet, unassuming egomaniac. I mean, I had genuine feelings and enthusiasms too, but still.

[Mellie]

given into drinking again, felt like a stressful day and was in tears earlier.

[Utopia]

^^ Don't do it if it makes your mental health worse please.

[Mellie]

I have to drink. life is pointless and I feel bullied everywhere I go. even in a chatroom that I go on here that I thought was supportive. but it's far from that. people! really can't be bothered with people anymore. all i do is try to be there for people.

[Mike.Kzov]

I'm thinking about how the world might, or might not change from all this. Does anyone else get the sinking feeling nothing whatsoever will change?

[Mo34]

Well I get to view the property on Thursday seemingly. I know which one it is now too, no 42 which is - or looks like - a block of 3 flats on the edge of the cul de sac and does seem to look out to a bit of green space (as opposed to a lot of the properties which seem to look out on each other. So maybe not so bad. I'm wondering though if this is affordable housing rather than social..... we'll see I guess.
Def no garden and I'll be amazed if allowed a cat

[Amara 94]

Moving back home. But if I move back home I feel there needs to be some boundaries and stuff. I feel more confident to pay more rent. I might even move out again but just be more prepared. My mum has been calling everyday since I left the house. Although she is schizophrenic, I think she also needs help. I think she I feel it has brought some perspective on how I view some neighbours as well, my previous neighbours.

I feel more free and independent living alone. I feel more able in lots of regards.

I think moving out has made a few things look clearer. I definitely need help with depression, anxiety. I think I have been avoiding the help cause I know it's rooted a lot in the fact that I suspect that I have some neurological disorder. I use to say autism but in an FB autism group someone assumed that it sounded more like ADHD so Ii can say I don't really know what it is.

[Amara 94]

Culture.

I don't think I fit the box of the typical Nigerian or the typical British Black person. In some ways I feel more similar to fitting some stereotype of some 20 something hipster or something. I don't even fit too much into typical urban youth stereotypes but this is probably mostly due to social isolation and insecurity.

As a kid people use to say I am too quiet to be Nigerian. Some Nigerian girl that I worked around in a previous job, that moved to Britain said I wasn't Nigerian one day.

Now I am thinking is it really that bad to not fit certain cultural expectations? It feels wrong or bad, I think an LGBT person who has been around homophobics would understand me with that point. But it's not bad.

[Amara 94]

Yeah, so it is more rational that I fit in with someone from the UK.

I think London would be different to outside London though because if you are Black outside London it's more likely that you would see less Black people and more British people. However in London, it's so multiracial that you would see a lot of Black people or people from your country. Even go to African churches and so on.

An old classmate who talks a lot about race on Instagram told me how he went to a majority White School and felt like he had to act a certain way to be accepted. However, when he went to college, where I met him, he felt he fitted in. My college was majority Black, I didn't fit in. I think cultural differences between his mum and probably the typical White parents at his Primary School may have led to him having different values to the classmates.

My mum was raised in Nigeria and I felt some expectation to be Nigerian or even the typical Black British. I am not sure that exists but it is clear that some Black British mingle more with each other or see their selves as one group, especially with social media. Eg. gentrification, Black Twitter and so on... I even find certain video topics are more likely to be covered by a Black person on youtube.

I was called an oreo by my mum's ex-friend and kid growing up also. We can say fitting into stereotypes is bad, and it is bad. But in reality, some people do expect you to fit stereotypes. If they didn't no one would be picked on for being different.

[Amara 94]

Yeah it makes sense.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by Mo34

Well I get to view the property on Thursday seemingly. I know which one it is now too, no 42 which is - or looks like - a block of 3 flats on the edge of the cul de sac and does seem to look out to a bit of green space (as opposed to a lot of the properties which seem to look out on each other. So maybe not so bad. I'm wondering though if this is affordable housing rather than social..... we'll see I guess.
Def no garden and I'll be amazed if allowed a cat

does that mean you are moving away from the drug-dealing nutter who plays loud music?

[Messer]

How much I like Autumn.
Dark nights when the curtains are closed against the outside world are my favourite.

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by Mr. Nobody

does that mean you are moving away from the drug-dealing nutter who plays loud music?

Sorry, just seen this post!

Well with a bit of luck I might be!

[Mellie]

Deleted everyone from my phone. Best if I dontt talk to people.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by Mo34

Sorry, just seen this post!

Well with a bit of luck I might be!

oh,. really hope this goes through for you,. you SO need it.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by skittles88

Deleted everyone from my phone. Best if I dontt talk to people.

hope you're doing alright,..(and hope you saved all the numbers on a list somewhere)

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by Nanuq

I hadn't realised how much more isolated I had become.

Because I f*cked up the virtual physio appointment yesterday, they had offered a face to face one instead. I thought it would be months and months, that maybe they weren't even doing them yet, but they just phoned and gave me one for this afternoon I guess people aren't wanting to go to them.
The weird thing is how unbelievably panicky I feel about it, the appointment is in a health centre that is literally opposite my children's old primary school. I drove there almost every day for about 10 years and now it feels like she's asking me to visit the moon
I don't go out. I just stay here.

I thought I was bad before but this year I really am a shell of a person

it's to be expected though,. you have long-Covid,. and have spent a long time indoors and as a consequence a lot of time relatively immobile,

good news is,. you are now getting help,. and it's a place that is familiar to you and therefore easy to reach.

[Mr. Nobody]

I got a bit hopeful when I saw help was a treatment available for Tinnitus,..

then I looked further into it and saw that the help was,..... CBT

[Dougella]

^^ Just change your thought process about the ringing in your ears...

[Mellie]

why can't people just be nice. and please can I be banned. thanks.