While each day has brought an increase in my COVID-19 vocabulary skills, I am becoming more “with it” each day! Today I will share my new technology words, Instagram Moments, Zoom Meetings, and Cancel Culture. Of course, technology has been an integral component of my life since I purchased my first Apple IIE in 1983. I have steadily become a dual platformer and app savvy as the decades moved along. So while the names were not novel to me, their practical usage was.
Instagram Moments: Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app available on the phone on all platforms. Photos or videos are uploaded and shared with followers and friends. It is entirely visual. Instagram photos can also be posted directly to Facebook. Instagram followers are usually accumulated by regularly posting content and forming partnerships to post your content. Instagram does not track who views the content. If you can view someone’s post, they can view your post.
An Instagram Moment is the opportunity to create photos and Instagram them to friends and family. It is accomplished through the Stories Highlights feature. Usually, unless saved to your feed, photos and stories disappear after 24 hours.
Zoom Meetings: Not that I was unaware of Zoom, barely, but I had no inclination to learn to use it until the pandemic! None of my regularly scheduled events and meetings could occur, yet everyone seemed to insist on having the meetings once COVID-19 appeared to become a fact of life. So, while I have yet to schedule a session myself, I have attended health conferences for my cousin for whom I am a health guardian. I am “attending” a never-ending series of committee meetings, now more frequent than before, when we all had to drive to the location! I have had Zoom cocktail hours. I have attended religious events and coffee hours. I am having telehealth appointments, which I don’t like. I can attend the symphony for the price of a live-streaming ticket. And, surprisingly, I am doing consulting presentations through Zoom. Who knew life could adapt so quickly? Will we ever go back?
Cancel Culture: Cancel culture is the new public flogging post. It is the technique of withdrawing support for a person or company who has done something deemed offensive or objectionable to a particular group or society. Social media is the predominant form of shaming and seems to have originated in 2014 with the phrase, “You’re canceled.” In this country, the act of public contrition or apology has become overused and, therefore, does not redeem the offending individual or company. Reputations have are lost. Jobs forfeited. With the internet, conformism has suddenly become suspect. Facts have to be source-checked, and truths are not valid.
The significant side-effect seems to be the value of thinking before you speak or act. No crime goes unreported, and racist or religious slurs are the staples of talk show rebukes. Celebrity status and money are no protection. And Twitter is the recorder of drunken rants and brief nonsensical statements.
What a very strange world we live in!
Life Gets Better 