Like countless others, I spent years questioning why Lauryn Hill simply refused to make a follow-up to this classic album. She’s made sporadic guest appearances. She’s said that she’s content. And I’m happy for her for that.

For me, it took a few listens to realize something simpler – these tracks are prayers. She said what she needed to say to her Father. This made me love this album even more!
Case in point, “Tell Him” (perhaps my favorite track). On the surface, this seems like a typical heart-broken female track. But there’s much, much more. Fist, open your Bible to 1 Corinthians 13. Then hit play…..

Everything moves fast in the Information Age, including trends. From the first chat rooms, to emojis, to instant messaging, to vlogging – it seems that trends themselves move as fast as the high speed connections they’re spread with. And the latest trend, affectionately being referred to as “Meme Speak” is no different. That name means exactly what it implies. Just as I’m sure you or someone you know has communicated almost exclusively with emojis at some time or another, Meme Speak is communication almost exclusively with memes.

Of course, memes themselves aren’t new, although finding what could be proclaimed as the first one is quite frankly an impossible task. But Oldest.org did a great job compiling a list of some the internet’s earliest standouts here.

Like most trends, the thought of this can seem humorous and even quirky. Host Stacey Higginbotham of Stacy On IoT has jokingly shared how her young daughter and her friends carry on entire conversations using this form of communication. Sometimes, Stacey admits, she has to ask her daughter for clarification on some of the conversations.

Although I love nearly all forms of creativity, and welcome new forms of self expression, memes by their nature have unfortunate dark sides. Specifically, the majority of memes that are shared on the internet are just that – shared. Meaning they are created by someone else, thus they are someone else’s thoughts. I caution those who make it a habit of sharing such memes in abundance. Even if it’s not the case, it gives the appearance that you lack the ability to form your own thoughts and opinions. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with sharing quotes or interesting things via meme, but when it becomes your overwhelming form of communication it can possibly make others question your ability to articulate your own thoughts and opinions.

Perhaps one of the worst dark sides of memes in my opinion is the spread of political [mis]information. Over the years, this darkness has grown worse and worse – especially in today’s political climate where so many seem willing to separate along party lines. Far too often, memes are shared that contain quotes meant only to promote “us” while casting shame and ridicule on “them”. I try to remind my friends all of the time that the fact of the matter is memes are created , usually in about 2 minutes, on someone’s phone using any number of free apps. Thus, the validity of the statements in the memes shouldn’t be so readily accepted as fact. Moreover, I encourage them to consider the source and consider the intended audience – these are the easiest tell-tell signs as to whether or not a meme contains any actual facts.

Simply put, I think speaking in meme can be funny. There’s plenty of silly out there to go around. Not to mention the challenge of searching for and using memes that fit the conversation at hand, or creating them on the fly. My only caution is to not let it replace one’s own ability to actually communicate using one’s own thoughts and opinions, and being able to articulate them effectively.

But hey – trends come and they go.

Taking Ownership Of Your Online Content

Over the past few months, I have been listening to more and more podcasts about the importance of owning your online “self”. Not out of some sort of paranoia. Not out of privacy concerns. But rather for the simple fact that, in this social media age that we more than likely will never fully abandon, I have decided that I agree with many in that it is important to own as much about me online as I can.

What really got me thinking about this is the recent demise of Google Plus. I loved Google Plus as many others have. But what’s important to remember is one critical fact that Google points out in their email to users – once it’s gone, it’s gone. All of your posts. All of your photos and videos. All of your shared thoughts and ideas. Gone. And unless you took steps to download all of your content, it’s gone forever. All because you don’t “own” yourself online.

What if Facebook suddenly shut down forever? All of the years of posts, photos, videos, etc. — once again, GONE.

So I’ve decided to do as many others have – register my own domain in my name, and actually “own” me! My photos, my videos, my posts – all mine, on my own site, in my own name. No one has control over me but me.

And I’m not doing this to criticize the likes of Facebook, Twitter, or what have you. This has nothing to do with the occasional scary stories that crop up from time to time about sometimes unethical behaviors on their part. Sure, I could easily make that argument. But the fact is, I knew and fully understood what I was getting when I signed up for those free services. But as I’ve said, this is more about me owning my own online content from here on out. As such, I hope to post and share here more than anywhere else. I’ll share with my family in friends in that I’ll provide links to here so that we can stay in touch the way I think social media was first intended. Please feel free to comment, or to contact me.

I simply want to Own my Online Self!

 

Got a new Pixel 3 / Pixel 3XL?

I found a cool feature that you may want to check out!

https://youtu.be/OYP8yBNyrME