On RUSHMERE, Over Instagram, Into the Culture Translator
Fantastic Friday
If you’re new to Fantastic Friday, here’s the post that got it started. It’s my homage to my favorite hangouts in the high school choir room. It’s a celebration of hard work and a time to enjoy each other. There is always karaoke music, often snacks, sometimes stand up comedy, and never any real pressure to perform.
On RUSHMERE
This weekend’s music on repeat are the two Mumford & Sons songs they gave us to swoon over while we wait for their RUSHMERE album to release—their first since 2018! Six. More. Days.
Atwood Magazine calls their song “Rushmere” a “folk rock fever dream that feels as fresh as it does timeless.” Folk rock paying tribute to their hometown roots is all I want for spring. “Rushmere” bears the sound and heart of the early songs we all fell in love with and I adore the music video featuring friends and fans hearing the song for the first time:
My favorite of the two songs is “Malibu” and I hope the rest of the album is as honest as these lyrics about doubt and finding peace even in the valleys (here are their comments about the song). You can read the lyrics here and listen to what I was belting out in the car today:
What is YOUR music on repeat on this weekend?
Over Instagram
It’s been a while since I was consistently using Instagram. I’m not fully against social media (obviously, I’m here on Substack), but I was tired of being one of millions of products in that particular attention economy.
Everyone was selling me something.
Even when I curated my follows to mostly influence me with books and music, I still had to swipe through the other ads and the authors who have become ads and the extra distraction slop created to keep my attention there to watch even more ads.
I understand that these free social platforms have to make money to keep the lights on and the people fed and the investors happy and all that jazz. I understand that the normal-people-turned-influencers are trying to pay mortgages and childcare and all of that too. I’m not judging them for it. But with only so much time in the day for phones and screens, that just isn’t where I want my head right now.
So I deleted the phone app late last year and only checked in on my computer to post Substack pieces. I don’t miss it. But Instagram wants me to think that people are missing me and that I am missing out.
Now Instagram sends me emails where the sender name is the name of a friend and when I open it, it says that my friend is posting content that I’m missing out on. The emails make it seem like my friends miss me and want me to come back to Instagram. When it’s not creepy and desperate sounding, it’s a little funny because usually these are friends who I see weekly or even text daily. (No emails telling me to come back for the brands or influencers, though?)
So, just know that if you neglect Instagram, they’ll send emails to give you FOMO and then tell you that the way to cure the FOMO is to come back to Instagram.
When I logged back in a couple weeks ago to share Substack posts, I found that Instagram changed the grid layout from squares to rectangles. My posts all looked disjointed with the text being cut off on the edges. And why? To keep up with TikTok and the short-form video content that has taken over everyone’s attention spans?
It’s just not for me. So I deleted every post and kept the photo of the place that’s beautiful in any format: Appalachian Ohio.
Maybe I’ll be back if I get a book in the hands of an agent or publisher who insists that I have to invest in that space. But I hope that by then, someone can actually prove the worth of my time there with data showing a correlation between that platform and book sales. Otherwise, I’m happy keeping shop here on Substack. My mind can only traverse so many lands in one day.
How have you been using Instagram and social media lately? Have you been using it more or taking more breaks this year?
Into the Culture Translator
If you’re raising tweens, teens, and young adults or spend any time around them, I recommend signing up for the “Culture Translator” email from Axis. I haven’t listened to their podcasts yet, but always make time to browse the email and keep up.
What resources do you find useful for staying in touch with your young people’s interests?
I hope you had a Fantastic Friday, or at least had a few glimmers of good light even if it was a hard day. I’m grateful for your readership and will see you next week!
Alexis