I
am pleased to announce that I have an article in the current issue of West
Midlands Witchcraft magazine and that the March edition can be read on line for
free.
Just
follow the link.
Thursday 26 March 2020
West Midlands Witchcraft Issues 1, 2 & 3
To
help us all manage our time during this difficult time and I am obviously
referring to the Lockdown of 2020, those wonderful people at West Midlands
Witchcraft Magazine have made issues 1, 2 & 3 available for free.
Just
follow the link.
Tuesday 24 March 2020
The Toxic Internet & Intolerance
Those readers who have been
following my work of late, will be aware that I have now produced more than one
diatribe; upon the subject of the Internet and Social Networking. This is my
third and final piece in the Toxic Internet series. I am sure many of you will
be bored with my rants by now, so having dealt with misinformation and
jealously, I now turn my mind towards the internet and intolerance.
The very concept of
intolerance is a strange phenomena as it puts us in a quandary. We often wish
to promote tolerance at the same time as taking a stand against intolerance but
by doing so we risk becoming intolerant ourselves. From an ethical point of
view, we are faced with a dilemma. How does one preserve free speech, while condemning
opinions that are not necessarily worthy of a civilised society? At what point
can we as a society, declare that particular opinions should be considered as
hate speech or provocative in nature? It is not at all clear cut. Today anyone
looking at the media and the Internet, should be able to appreciate the
difficulties faced by those forced to review complaints of this nature.
Exploring the Internet and in
particular You-Tube, I have stumbled across Crazy Christians, Mad Muslims,
Angry Atheists and quite a few Potty Pagans. I can neither support nor identify
with any of these, what I hope to be fringe elements. Their opinions and
behaviour are condescending and frankly embarrassing. They are collectively a
disgrace and I hope in no way representative of the movements from which they
have emerged; whether it is Christianity, Islam, Humanism or Paganism. Indeed I
look on Fundamentalist Christianity, Militant Islam and Militant Atheism with
the same lens, they are all equally unsavoury and unnecessarily aggressive.
Watching You-Tube I am in
particular struck by what I understand to be called 'response videos.' Here an
online argument or attack, is passed back and forth between two or more
protagonists. These protagonists generally form sides, the Flat Earth Movement
will go head to head with those whose grasp of reality is greater. Crazy
Christians and Angry Atheists face each other across the web in the same
manner. Very often these engagements are characterised by a distinct lack of
respect for those opposite, an uncivil manner and a generally patronising
attitude. The behaviour witnessed online is as immature as that found in any
school playground.
Nor am I in any way impressed
by the language that I witness, particularly on You-Tube and Facebook. The use
of the 'F' and 'C' words distresses me greatly. By now I am no doubt coming
over in an overly genteel manner and perhaps I am socially prudish. This rant
or as I prefer, diatribe is something of a howl into the darkness and I admit;
I can swear as much as any other. However, in watching a debate and witnessing
one 'combatant' call another a 'f**king moron,' I can make this
observation. Such behaviour is no way to
win an argument, even if the person losing their composure is factually correct.
What is it about the
Internet, Social Networking and media channels, that causes people to switch
off their self control and blow their safety valves outright? Is it the distancing, the lack of
recognition that the person opposite is a person, because they are hidden
behind a screen? Does use of the Internet induce us all to become socially
inept, keyboard warriors that lack any concept of barriers?
As is often the case when
addressing the modern phenomenon of the Internet, I struggle to answer these
questions in any satisfactory manner. I suspect it is primarily due to the
social distancing of the Internet and the impersonal nature of the World Wide
Web. Whatever the reasons for these behaviours, they remain inexcusable and I
want no part of such an awful 'virtual' society.
The Toxic Internet & Misinformation #1
The Toxic Internet & Misinformation #2
The Toxic Internet & Tall Poppy Syndrome#1
The Toxic Internet & Tall Poppy Syndrome#2
FUTURE BLOGGING (2020)
I published my first set of
blogs on Google Blog-spot, on the 24th of March 2011. The very first post to be
published was called 'The Crooked Man' and it was published in dedication to a
friend whose writing style influenced me in my early development. In the nine
years since those first posts saw publication, I have successfully found my own
style of expression but importantly; the continued support of those who have encouraged
and inspired me remains worthy of acknowledgement. You know who you are and I
thank you.
I have only few followers but
I am averaging between 1,000 and 2,000 'hit's per month. A figure that I hope
is fairly respectable, although I have nothing to compare it to. Most of my
'traffic' comes via social media or as I sometimes refer to it, unsocial media.
Over the last year or so I have attempted to reduce my activities on this unsocial
media and this has without doubt, affected my reach. It is a disappointment to
have confirmed once again, how ridiculously dependent we as a society, have
become on those overly convenient platforms.
As of today nine years after
the launch of my Google blog-spot site, I have reached a grand total of 212,738
hits. An increase of 50,009 since 2018 or 25,000 per year. An average of 23,000
hits per year over those nine years does not suggest however, that such a
number of hits has been constant from the beginning. It should be obvious or
indeed common sense, that the number of hits in those first few years was much
smaller and has risen over time. My peak appears to have been reached in 2017
or 2018. Today I have plateaued at a steady 20,000 to 25,000 hits per annum.
The majority of my posts it
has to be admitted, do not have a huge reach and in consequence they do not
garner a high number of hits. The majority appear to be read by barely a
hundred or so people however, a steady number of exceptionally successful posts
boost the statistics considerably. My most popular post has passed the 4,000
hit mark while others have passed the 1,000 and 2,000 hit mark. A consolation
with regards those that do not fare so well.
In reviewing my approach to
the World Wide Web and those unsocial networks, due partly to an ever growing
distaste of the content and due to censorship difficulties, I have begun to
re-evaluate blogging. Although Google Blog-spot will remain my primary mode of
expression, I am now using Wordpress as a supplementary outlet for my material.
At present there remains some overlap but the intention to separate the two
sites remains. Google Blog-spot will remain primarily focused upon material of
an esoteric and spiritual nature, while the Wordpress site will be used
for more general and perhaps less niche
material.
I hope and indeed I have set
myself something of a target, to produce an original post regularly over the
next year; in the run up to the tenth anniversary of blogging. Although I do
not expect to see an increase in followers, I sincerely hope to maintain a
standard of quality and to preserve that average of 20,000 hits per annum. So,
here's to the next year!
MY WEBSITES
FACEBOOK LIKE PAGE
THE CHATTERING MAGPIE ON
GOOGLEBLOGSPOT
THE CHATTERING MAGPIE ON
WORDPRESS
THE CHATTERING MAGPIE ON
TUMBLR
THE CHATTERING MAGPIE ON
DEVIANT ART
THE CROOKED MAN (MY FIRST
BLOGPOST)
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