My recent de-platforming

 

In the spirit of AA, let me state from the onset, "I am a Social Media Recidivist."

I have been in Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin jail more times than I like to recall. I've even been thrown into digital re-education school for writing on one platform, about being jailed on another. 

My words are that toxic.

All of this is the price I pay for having strong opinions and articulating (though not very diplomatically) my strong and occasionally uninformed opinions. I have no doubt it will happen again. Though I will be more vigilant in my attempts at self-editing. It's made all the more difficult because sensitivities on both sides of the aisle are sky high.

Considering this, I will no longer call people of different political stripes any type of derogatory names:

A. Because it's weak, though deeply satisfying. Even I will admit that a cheap shot is a cheap shot. 

B. Because I've run out of good three syllable insults that trip off the tongue in such a pleasing rhythmic way. (Google: Shakespearean Insults) 

C. Because those names are flagged immediately by AI and result in longer and longer jail sentences, including the possibility of PERMANENT removal. Don't let anyone dissuade you of the notion of a Permanent Record.

Even when I try to do a work around and force my brain to be snarky without being snarky, I have landed in hot, malarial prison water.

When the good folks at Linkedin flagged me last week for quite the innocuous remark, I was in danger of forever losing my platform and a conduit to this blog, which now proudly boasts 9 faithful readers, including Ms. Muse.

I'm glad to have been reinstated on LI, but probably could've survived. 

I'm semi-retired now. And it's not like I can compete with today's young copywriters who are willing to work for $35/hour and the promise of foosball and free microwavable popcorn. 

Nor are clients or ad agencies, particularly those with automotive accounts clamoring to get me on their next car launch. And that includes Infiniti, whose work is so dreadful and cliched that even ChatGPT refused to work on their advertising and told them, "No thanks, you guys have Four I's and no vision." (If I may quote a former colleague who was equally uninspired by their marketing Insipidity)

To summarize, maybe I'll spring for one of those mobile mindfulness apps. And resist the urge to snap back at those with failing synapse connections. In the words of Ali G., "I need to check myself before I wreck myself."