Sunday, October 23, 2016

The Way Forward for Social Media Jamaica

So yow when we going to come to grips that Facebook Jamaica is not the real Jamaica, where proudjamaica and I am a Jamaican and Jamaicans.com is who we are in theory and who we want to be, what we aspire to be, even what some of us are... Jamaica isn't all small intimate communities, isn't all exotic locations, photo filtered and photogenic Rastas in rich textured backgrounds, isn't pretty beaches and sunset... Because between those pretty shots of multicolored fruits is sweat tears saltiness saltness bomboclaats and million hard and inconvenient truths. After the exquisite video shoot is a reality not captured and backdrop noise put on mute. And granted we live in the age of poverty porn and stark vivid 4k humanism, there are still things people will not want to behold... Still lives that politicians can't wipe off with their handy sanitizers andeyels. Things that don't let us sleep so well, thing that compel us to our self lies tell, like those who suffer or are poor are just lazy or crazy. And though the zinc fence and rust add grit and movie like finesse to our pics and social media antics and academics... I find it hard to believe we cannot channel our social media reality into a constant energy and vision and economics that transfers that reality that ethos that we are projecting online more tangible on the ground in Jamaica... Make communities safer more comfortable. Can we find away to make the diaspora realer, to twin communities abroad with yard to set up systems of empowerment, exchange and distribution... Why does twinning only occur on a municipal level with cities and towns, set people free... We use to have penpal from pen and paper days and people made links and connections and discovered ideas... So how has this not quickened with drastic impact with WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram... Why has nobody that left Norwood and in a foreign community joined a citizens association abroad and adopted their home community, pumped some resources into local community associations, sponsored education vigorously... Why no local community Church and foreign church linked up for robust community outreach, live stream shared sermons? Can we only post pretty pics and quasi roots, semi deep stuff to satisfy our egos that we are good parents, push away our insecurities with a 1000 likes... Jamaica can be Earth's first utopia, I am certain... But we have to be bolder, braver, stronger and do MORE! Communities supposed to be linking like new neural networks, social and sustainable action and activism supposed to fire off everyday like neurons, the spiritual people, the philosophers, the creative among us are our third eye, they vision the future for us, they are our visionaries, luminaries, let the technocrats link let the artists artisans and architects be about building the visions of the visionaries, lend strength and impetus to all and any positive action... Forget Trump forget Clinton, Jamaicans are and have always been the Earth's leaders and only we can show them how it is done... So make we turn all this social media into our real social lives... Because should Facebook ever have a feature live all the while or constant throughout our lives, when the seo metrics come in and show we spent our lives posting the Jamaican dream than being about letting it actually be...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am with you on that, brother. too late to expand. im typing with one finger. it's 20 degrees and im reading all your wonderful posts. goodnight and keep doing this.
tara

Yahnyk said...

Thanks for your support, every comment and response mean alot to me!