Social Issues

Since I started on social media I have tried, for the most part, to be positive, share interesting, thoughtful and fun things, as well as avoiding religion and politics (as there seems to be more than enough of those subjects available).

I have, on occasion, posted about things such as family violence, down syndrome and other issues affecting primarily children and youths. These particular areas are of great importance to me and are the main reason for me continuing my membership and volunteering with my Kiwanis club.

Recently I have started following more people on various platforms and while doing so figured that perhaps I need to provide some of my thoughts on other areas, at times a bit separated from my regular fare.

However, this may bring with it an obstacle which I must be willing to overcome.

Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly difficult to discuss, it seems, pretty much anything, and expect it to remain a civil discourse.

Civil discourse is taken to mean a respectful conversation aimed at fostering understanding and constructive communication between individuals in a group having different perspectives. (A good Wikipedia article can be found here.)

It seems that too often what starts out as a discussion soon becomes clogged with misinformation and vitriol. One only needs to read comments of some articles or posts to see how the discussion can degenerate.

So, if I start offering my opinions on subjects or issues which may be, shall we say, more controversial or contentious, I must accept the fact that on occasion they may result in in uncivil discourse. And so I shall, as the alternative would be to remain silent.

So how did my regular fare, my Wee Internet Empire come about. Well, it just sort of evolved.

Although I had been online since the early 1990’s, I became really involved in social media about 2007 with Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. I started my Flickr page about the same time and began blogging in 2009. My YouTube began in 2016 and about mid 2021 I came up with my podcast.

While doing a podcast I made an offhand remark about about my wee internet empire. After, I thought why not, so that’s when I officially named it.

I have deliberately kept the subject matter and schedule of all platforms unstructured so as to post what I felt like, when I felt like. Because there is no set pattern, I created a newsletter so that my followers would know when there was something new and they wouldn’t have to keep checking in. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to the newsletter here.

So, the point of this blog post is to let folks know that in the future I may talk about some areas where most likely there will be some religious and political aspects involved. Discussion in the form of civil discourse is welcome and encouraged. Most comments will be left for all to see, however threats or similar comments will be deleted and the person blocked.

As always, I really appreciate the support and feedback from my followers, or those who just drop in (whom it would be great to have as followers – unabashed plug). Your comments, thoughts and ideas are always appreciated.

Take care all. Catch you later with my next blog post/podcast or whatever.