Maybe…

Because You Asked: Threads Is, Among Other Things, A Conundrum

/ Ally Bean / 224 Comments

• • •

Boom! Yep, that’s my number.

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WHY ARE YOU ON THREADS, THEY ASK

A few people irl and online have asked me about my experiences on Threads so I’ll answer here. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Threads is Facebook/Meta’s version of Twitter/X.

I was there on Day One clocking in at 20,708,590 out of over 100 million people who joined worldwide on that day, July 6, 2023. Find me on Threads by clicking HERE.

And yes I know many friends and gentle readers think I’m loony, question my sanity, to have even joined in a new social media… but hear me out. I have my reasons.

I’m a curious person, a social scientist at heart, who saw an opportunity to be part of a social media from the beginning. Even though I’ve been on many social media over the decades* I’ve never had this option before so I jumped in.

Also, not to put too fine a point on it, I’m on Threads so you don’t have to be. Yes, I’m living the experience for all of us here in this little corner of blogland. You may thank me in the comments below!

• • •

Social media active users indicating the most popular places to be †

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WHO IS THERE WITH YOU ON THREADS, THEY WONDER

This, of course, is a good question that I’ll field by first saying the following brief summary: a bunch of nice enough people**.

Then I’ll break down some specifics because that is what I believe people want to know. For me, after 7 months of checking in every few days and posting something when I am there as well as leaving wordy comments for others, I have a whopping 281 followers.

✅ One follower I know in real life.

✅ Six followers are current bloggers who like me are attempting to utilize Threads by showing up every so often and joining in. Click on the name to go to their Threads account, on their blog name to visit their blog:

✅ Some of my followers are current bloggers who are there in name only. OR, in a total surprise, a few former bloggers I knew a decade ago showed up, one even saying: “so you’re still here.” I do not know how to take that.

✅ Many, maybe most, of my followers are people who I’ve connected with on Instagram.

✅ I also have followers who are new-to-me and THAT makes me happy, giving me some hope for Threads.

• • •

Information is my love language, but I my not be the norm †

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What Is The Purpose of Threads As You See It, They Inquire

Yes, again a good question that I will succinctly answer with my take and then add a famous quote that summarizes lyrically how I think about Threads.

My Take – Threads serves no discernible purpose beyond being a pleasant pretty distraction.

A Famous Quote – From John Lennon’s song Nobody Told Me: “There’s always something cooking and nothing in the pot.” 

• • •

On Twitter by creating my own personal lists as seen here I was able to keep track of people, something I cannot do on Threads.

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And Finally Why Is Threads A Conundrum, Please Explain

I have three reasons why I believe Threads is a conundrum, a word that can mean a riddle, or a puzzle, or a poser even.

1) The thing about Threads is there is no center to it to draw people to a communal “What’s Happening” section or a Writing Prompt or a Weekly Topical Challenge. It’s all random all the time.

Hence, a riddle.

2) When you show up and look at your “Following” tab the algorithm shows you who it wants you to see and because, unlike Twitter, Threads doesn’t allow you create lists of who you follow, you cannot efficiently follow anyone. Thus the algorithm impedes connections.

Hence, a puzzle.

3) Threads is the only social media wherein I’ve seen so many people, so often, not reply even with a LIKE, to wordy comments left for them. Is Threads not notifying them that someone paid attention to them? That’s the only kind explanation*** I can think of which makes me question if Threads is really meant to be a viable social media at all.

Hence, a poser. 

~ THE END ~

* Since the late 1990s I’ve been involved in Geocities, Myspace, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Twitter, 43 Things, Tumblr, Mastodon, and now Threads. I’ve seen things, kids… oh yes I have. 😣

** The only sort of rude behavior I’ve encountered was a man who tried to start a fight with me because I said something to the effect of, and try not to be offended, that adults should behave like grown-ups when interacting with other adults rather than behaving like they were in a child/adult relationship. He took umbrage with that idea… perhaps forever wanting to be a child? 🤷‍♀️

*** A less kind explanation would be that I’m not wanted so I’ve been intentionally ignored in the hope that I’ll go away. Which could happen. 🤔

† Source: “As Facebook turns 20, politics is out; impersonal video feeds are in” via The Economist [probably not behind a paywall, but I can’t tell for sure]

Plan B: In Which I Beguile With A Potpourri Of Pretty Pictures & Pithiness

/ Ally Bean / 252 Comments

This is what I think of as a flapdoodle & twaddle post.

I’ve nothing specific to talk about today, Tuesday, the day I try to be here every week. This happens occasionally because when you write a personal blog you can only write about things that happen to you and if nothing much is happening because it’s a dull January, then you have to go to Plan B.

Which in this case is: I look through my files, I find images + links, I write something here, thereby adding value to the blogosphere whilst giving you, my little kumquats of curiosity, something to talk about. That’s Plan B.

I await your snarky insightful comments below.

+ • + • +

1 – Here’s a visual representation [via The Washington Post] of book genres and the percentage of people by age who read the genres. Are you in step with your age group OR marching off in your own direction?

2 – This is an excellent observation that is worthy of contemplation, akin to the medieval scholarly question: how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?  [Answer: it depends on the music.] 😇

3 – I’m not a dog but this feelings wheel calls to me. I have my ZOOMIE moments and my GROWLY moments. Who among us doesn’t?

4 – After taking a year off from One Word 365, I’ve picked *LIGHT* as my personal inspirational focus word for 2024. Let’s see how this goes, shall we?

5 – I know World Penguin Day isn’t until April 25th, which also happens to be Light Jacket Day a la Miss Congeniality, BUT I can’t resist a good flow chart. Can you?

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A Party, A Conversation, A Confused Me: What Does *Mainstream* Mean To You?

/ Ally Bean / 210 Comments

I WAS AT A PARTY where I ended up in a weird conversation that confused me. Generally speaking, being empathetic, I’m good at intuiting what is really being said, reading between the lines, but this time… I dunno.

Here’s what happened:

I was standing in the kitchen [no surprise, right?] talking with three pleasant women, one of whom I’d just met. The other two I’ve seen maybe 2 times in the last 10 years, so not friends– more like casual almost acquaintances that pass in the night.

What I know for sure about these woman is that they each:

  1. are married to the father of their children;
  2. have kids in college, hither and yon across the US;
  3. work outside the home, in different industries;  and
  4. attend Christian churches of different denominations.

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{ source }

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ONE WOMAN WAS TALKING ABOUT how her youngest child would be out of college by the end of the year. This meant that she was to the point of thinking about leaving her full-time job. This woman wasn’t sure what she was going to do next, but it was NOT going to be what she’d been doing.

To me this seemed like a standard conversation, at least until the woman I just met said: “Well, just make sure that whatever you do it next isn’t mainstream.”

And with that the three started laughing, loudly, glancing at each other as if this was the funniest thing anyone ever said.

I was lost.

The conversation continued with them talking about how they could never be mainstream– except that they were rolling their eyes like this was an inside joke and they knew they were mainstream.

I was still lost.

As a free-spirited woman who has never been called mainstream I was clueless about what was being implied by the word mainstream, yet I knew something was up.

At this point I’d have asked clarifying questions, but we were interrupted by someone who walked into the kitchen with a story to tell– and I never got the chance. Considering these are casual acquaintances [at best], I’m not going to call one and ask what was really going on.

• • •

{ source }

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NATURALLY I’VE BEEN WONDERING about the conversation:

🔹 Was it about how they considered themselves to be the very definition of mainstream, embracing the word as a kind of mantra, taking it to be complimentary?

OR

🔹 Was it about how they never would define themselves as mainstream, so there’s no way that one of them could ever do anything mainstream, taking it to be derogatory?

OR

🔹 Were they talking about something else in reference to mainstream, like a pop culture or political or small town allusion that I’m not familiar with, something like that maybe?

Obviously I don’t know, but this conversation has stayed on my mind,  stumped by what was really going on. Thus I’m asking you, my little moonbeams of conversational clarity, for your take on this.

Help me understand, please.

~ 🔹 ~

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Have you ever felt like I did that you were adjacent to an inside joke?

When the word mainstream is used around you, assuming it is, how do you define it?

In your worldview does it have a positive or negative connotation? Or neutral?

Also, been to any good parties lately? Do tell

~ ~ 🥳 ~ ~

A Glimpse Into My Heart: Books I’ve Reread + Reader Comments About Randomness

/ Ally Bean / 231 Comments

The quote above is attributed to Francois Mauriac, French author and winner of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. I didn’t know a thing about this man until I researched him, btw.

If we are to believe in Mauriac’s idea, one that I have never thought about before, then it follows that by sharing which novels I’ve reread I’m letting you know who I am.

Heart-wise, that is.

However before I tell you which books I’ve reread I’m going to insert 3 provisos, lest I be misunderstood:

✅ I know that some people never reread anything, but I do reread novels. Never non-fiction though, except that I reread cookbooks which are technically non-fiction so maybe I don’t know what I’m saying here.

✅ I know that some people who read novels then see a movie based on the novel consider that like reading a book for a second time. I am not one of those people: books are books, movies are movies. They are different animals.

✅ I know that technically rereading children’s stories to a child is rereading, but I believe that doing that is not in the spirit of this exercise so I haven’t included any of those books here.

Thus, without further ado, presented in alphabetical order, here are 9 books I’ve reread as an adult:

Alice in Wonderland* by Lewis Carroll

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

I Capture the Castle* by Dodie Smith

Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Brontë

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Screwtape Letters* by C.S. Lewis

Winnie-the-Pooh* by A.A. Milne

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance* by Robert M. Pirsig

* Books on my list with an asterisk are ones included in Books Really Worth Re-Reading, a Goodreads list of 753 books.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Do you ever reread books? Why or why not?

Now that I’ve revealed which books I’ve read more than once, do you feel like you’ve gotten a glimpse into my heart? OR do you think Mauriac’s idea is dubious at best?

What say you about “lame one-liner reviews” currently popular on the back covers of novels?

What book are you currently reading? Is this the first time you read it OR are you rereading it?

AND FINALLY FOUR READER COMMENTS…

About something RANDOM in your daily life:

“… there is plenty of ‘random’ in my life…. looking for things because no one ever puts anything back where it goes. (How can so many pairs of scissors possibly disappear?!?)… I’ll spend next Tuesday morning hanging small bars of soap in young peach trees to serves as deer repellent.”

~ Linda Lou

“I stopped for iced coffee from Bad Ass Coffee today. They use coffee to make their ice cubes, which tastes good, of course, but makes me happy beyond practical reasoning!”

~ Christie Hawkes

“Currently, I am on peony watch – looking out the back window all day. The older peony has already flowered and dropped all it’s petals. The newer peony (which is my favorite; don’t tell the other one) is so close to blooming that I can’t stand it.”

~ Gigi Rambles

“As for random thoughts, I was thinking of how clean my kitchen will be once my kids move out. LOL!”

~ joyroses13