Social media and the affects it has on the way we look at our bodies and at ourselves in general is such a discussed topic, but one that although some progress is being made towards self-love and authenticity, it is a topic with possibly no correct solution or answer. I joined both Instagram and Twitter as a teenage girl. Twitter I joined to connect with celebrities that usually were out of reach, so this was exciting. Instagram on the other hand was to share photos of what was going on in my life and to be able to see what was going on in others. I believe that when I began using Instagram, I was naïve to the effects it was going to have on not only my mental health but also on my friends. I didn’t think there was much wrong with being flooded with photos of women with perfect bodies, endorsing weight loss products. Photos of women with airbrushed skin and perfect hair advertising skin care and vitamins. Reflecting back on my time now I can see just how damaging these sort of posts were for a teenager to take in. Growing into my adult years I was finding my voice, searching for who I was online and trying to feel comfortable in my own skin. Years of scrolling through feeds of Instagram each day with photoshopped perfection had creeped into the back of my mind and planted itself there. A statement that resonates with this feeling is “Users find online environments potent sites for constructing and trying out versions of self” (Smith & Watson 2014, p.75). I always thought of myself as a very authentic person, I always tried to find courage to speak my mind and be honest about how I felt. I found this difficult to convey on Instagram. I felt pressured for my photos to be perfect. I wanted to share things I loved but I felt judged. I wanted to be beautiful and interesting like the posts that I seen every day. I knew there was an issue with this. I could feel that the fact I would spend time not being in a moment because I was worried about how a photo being taken would look. Or I would be running late because I was taking a selfie to post onto Instagram because that would make me feel attractive. I would discuss these sort of things with my friends. Query if they ever felt that all the photoshop and advertising was detrimental on our mental health. My friends would tell me how they would feel ugly going on Instagram, that they felt their bodies needed plastic surgery to look like the women they seen online. They would tell me how sometimes it causes them to have anxiety for days. We all knew Instagram was causing these feelings, but we would continue to use it. Continue to follow the people that made us feel less of ourselves. It was an addiction. One of many studies that have been completed showed that exposure to celebrity and peer images increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction (Brown, Tiggemann 2016, p 37-43). Recently I had decided that I had enough, I hated how I felt going onto Instagram. I hated feeling lost online and not being sure of who I am, and I deleted my account. I took a break for weeks to reset the way my mind thought about social media. I began using my Twitter account again. I made a conscious effort to tweet about things I enjoyed and wanted to share. I tweeted my opinion on matters happening in the world rather than worrying about liking someone’s photo. I started to reconnect with people in a more human way. I find that tweeting about such simple moments such as the ones below can connect you with others in such an authentic way.
I have overripe bananas that I’m saving for @chrissyteigen’s banana bread because all I see is that it’s amazing but of course I’m out of other ingredients and trying to limit going to the supermarket so pray for me the bananas survive until the next trip coz I need this bread
Why would you be wearing anything but loungewear while we’re in isolation? Please tell me who is wearing jeans to sit inside and why??? Who hurt you???
I did return to Instagram recently after my short break. Going back onto this social media site I thought deeply about the way it had affected me and how I knew it affected others. I ensure that I make an effort to be, as I have in bio, fearlessly authentic.
Screenshot from my personal Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zoetscott/
Screenshot from my personal Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zoetscott/
I now ensure I unfollow any accounts that may have any effect on my mental health or that I believe are conveying a message that can be harmful to others as well. I try to consciously share real moments and images that make me happy and disregard the need to have likes to validate these images or myself. I feel better within myself doing this and I hope that I, along with others that believe in this message, social media can become more authentic, supportive and enjoyable for all people young and old to enjoy without feeling less of themselves. Lets use social media to build each other up!
References List Smith, S & Watson, J 2014, ‘Virtually Me: A Toolbox about Online Self Presentation,’ in Poletti, A and Rak, J (eds.) Identity Technologies: Constructing the Self Online, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp.75.
Brown, Z & Tiggemann M, ‘Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women’s mood and body image’, Body Image, Vol.19, pp 37-43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.08.007
Excellent — I think we pretty much agree. 🙂 The way I see it, pretty much the entire online universe = “social media” (even the way you define it)… you see, when we use a browser (or similar app), we navigate to online destinations (URLs — like lavitazoe.wordpress.com 😉 ) and the site “recognizes” that we have asked for information (and normally the site also delivers it — many newspapers in the USA now actually deliver responses that say “sorry, we’re not going to show people in Europe anything because due to GDPR, we won’t show you the news [what they’re actually saying thru the flowers is: we can’t spy on you in order to deliver tailored ads / news / whatever] ). LOL, I guess you weren’t expecting to have such a discussion, right? Well, in any case: most of the examples you mention are brand names (twitter was originally a word, IDK if they were able to turn it into a protected trademark or not; facebook used to be a slang term [for student directory] on college campuses, but that is almost definitely trademarked now). I refer to such sites as “retard media”, becuse they’re based on outdated media / technology. You might be able to find my definition of it if you search for it in conjunction with define or definition — you might have even more luck if you visit remediary.com and search there! Or, I could add a link here, if you want 😉
Getting published is like a dream come true for almost every aspiring writer. It is one of the biggest achievements to put under your belt and the joy of getting the good news that your book is about to turn into a reality is simply overwhelming.
But as you may know that getting your book published or getting the title of being a published author isn’t exactly an easy task.
It requires one to constantly keep on knocking on the doors of various publishers in the hopes of one of them agreeing.
Maybe you’ve already done this or maybe you haven’t but one thing is for certain that you crave to know about what it takes to become a published author.
There are two ways to go at it:
Self-publish your own book
Contact publishers and convince one of them to give your manuscript a shot (traditional way)
In this article, we will go through the tips and recommended steps you can take to get published through the traditional way – getting published through a publisher.
Let’s begin…
Write a book worth publishing
The first step is the most obvious and the most important one – write a manuscript that is worth publishing.
It is easy for you to say that your story is the best and the most perfect story ever written. Say that there’s no better book than yours but you’d be surprised by seeing how many writers think the same way.
Still don’t believe us?
Try convincing a stranger to pay you a small amount for reading your manuscript. You can even play a bet where if he/she doesn’t like it, you return the money.
It is very important to think from the perspective of a publisher. By agreeing to publish your manuscript, they’ll not only be putting their money on the line but also their reputation.
Ask yourself: Would you take that risk if you were in their shoes?
If after answering with complete honesty your answer is positive then go ahead. If not, edit your story more rigorously and make sure that your story structure, plot, as well as characters, are on-point.
Its always better to go back and build a bigger, better boat than sailing into the ocean with a weak one!
Grow your personal brand
You might question the importance of building your own brand before you’ve gotten published. Won’t fame come to you after you are published?
Yes, there’s no doubt that fame does come to the authors that deserve it but as mentioned before, publishers gamble on you and your manuscript.
As a writer who is trying to get published, your job is to take away as much of their risk as possible. One of the best ways to do it is by building your own brand before you approach any publisher.
Already having an audience that will read anything you write will make the publishers become confident in you and accept your manuscript.
There are many writers that have an audience on Instagram which contributed towards them becoming bestsellers with their first book. Arch Hades is one of them and her book “High Tide: Poetry and Postcards” quickly became a bestseller
There are various ways to grow your personal brand but here are two of the most popular ones:
Opening an Instagram account and posting literary work like poetries, flash fiction, short stories, and more.
Starting a writing website and posting all your literary work their.
Hire a professional editor
There’s a saying amongst professional authors and editor,
“A writer can never be his/her own editor”
We don’t know to what degree this is true but we do know that hiring a professional editor can really help make your manuscript much stronger.
Simply put, they know what a publisher or an agent is looking for and they can see the mistakes which you can’t.
Your mind as a writer is too invested in your own story. As a result, many of the mistakes become justifiable to you due to the context which only you know.
An editor has an eye for details. They will not only help you eliminate unnecessary parts but also help your story bring out all the intended details.
You can overlook this step if you have the ability to edit rigorously and with an open mind but hiring a professional editor is indeed an advisable step.
You can use platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to find these professionals – these can also help you save a ton of money 😉
Find an agent
Before you jump your guns and come to the conclusion that you don’t want anyone to take a portion of your earnings, hear us out.
Agents aren’t exactly the same money-hungry corporate people that most people typically know them to be. They are an important stepping stone in every author’s journey.
Jk rowling had an agent that helped her publish The Harry Potter series, Chuck Verrill is Stephen King’s long time editor and agent.
If agents were these monstrous personalities than why do the top authors of the world still have them. Technically, they shouldn’t need them anymore.
The fact is that agents help authors, both upcoming and already established ones, in many ways like landing better publishing deals, paperwork, etc.
Finding a literary agent can really help you get published too. Not only will they help you create a better manuscript but also land better deals.
Moreover, many of the renowned publishing houses wouldn’t even give your manuscript a chance if it didn’t come through a literary agent.
So research some agents that are in your genre and just shoot them mails.
Start contacting publishers and expect to wait
The final way of getting published is a no-brainer. Contact publishing houses but also be ready to wait anywhere from 6 months to a year for their reply.
However, there are a few aspects that you need to pay attention to before contacting any publishers. These will improve your chances of getting your manuscript accepted and landing a good deal for it.
Understand the types of genres a particular publishing house plays under. Most of them stick to two to three genres at a time. As a result, it allows them to create better marketing plans and strategies. Knowing these genres will help you avoid wasting time on publishers that don’t publish your genre.
Read the publishing guidelines and follow them closely. Many writers don’t do this and as a result, they waste a lot of their time and effort. For example, if a publishing house doesn’t accept first-time authors than the chances of your convincing them are very thin.
Contact their editors and try to establish a relationship with them first. You can find them through LinkedIn or through personal contacts. Once you do, you can directly ask them to give your manuscript a read. Convincing an individual is much easier than convincing an entire team.
Write a really good cover letter and attach it along with your manuscript or the synopsis of your manuscript. Having a good cover letter can truly improve your chances of getting published.
Read the books published by the publishing house. This will help you understand the type of language the publishing house prefers. Some publishing houses even give a sample story on their website. Go through it and see whether they’re a good fit for your manuscript.
Install WordPress 2. Write a bunch of stuff 3. Press publish
New Media Works
6:57 pm on May 4, 2020 Tags: college, connect ( 5 ), fun ( 2 ), miss ( 2 ), missing, quarantine, school, sports, team, team mate, team mates, teammate, teammates, university
Quarantine has been, well y’know, quarantine. The days feel slow and I have trouble remembering which day it is, but somehow the weeks are going by quickly…? My daily schedule is a little odd because I have class from 1:30-5:15 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and 1:30-2:30 on Fridays, but that’s it. So, my sleep schedule is a little janky right now, but I’m trying to get back to normal.
Last week was my most productive week in quarantine thus far and that’s all thanks to my dad! He let me go into his office to get work done (don’t worry, no one else was there), and we have been doing all the volleyball workouts together (see pictures below). Although it’s been pretty hard for me to motivate, my dad has certainly been keeping me accountable, which I am so thankful for.
I tried my hand at cooking this week and made chicken bruschetta! It actually turned out pretty well, but I still mainly stick to baking my famous chocolate chip cookies. Although they’re slightly less healthy, they are totally worth it. See pictures of my mad cooking skills below! OH! and our neighbor made us homemade face masks for all our outings, so check out our stylish fabrics in the pic below too!
Staying connected with friends and teammates has been interesting during this time. I have been on 27 FaceTime calls just this week LOL. That sounds ridiculous, but I am really missing all my peeps from W&L. We’ve gotten to have Zoom calls with the team and a bunch of calls with a lot of recruits—it’s been super fun!!
This time apart has made me realize how lucky I am to get to go to a school that I so deeply and genuinely care about. The people are what make W&L what it is, so I am seriously missing them: our team, my other friends, and even my professors. One of my professors actually lives in Charlottesville, so paid him a socially distant visit (see picture below). It was seriously so fun to just talk to him for a short time and see someone, even from a distance. At W&L, we get to form special relationships with our professors because our class sizes are small, and I think that is something that I take for granted, but it is for sure one of my favorite parts of the academic side of W&L.
Though this time is hard, it’s pretty cool to see the ways people are continuing to connect and the ways people are stepping up to help those around them who are less fortunate. Amidst the darkness, there is light and hope and that is something to smile about! Best wishes to everyone out there—stay happy and healthy to the best of your abilities ◡̈
It seems like this is a group blog (?) — maybe the Washington & Lee volleyball team??
I liked reading your post, and / but for a random surfer that more-or-less randomly find an individual post like this, putting 1 or 2 sentences onto the “about” page would be a big help (IMHO context is actually more important than content 😉 ).
If you guys (gals?) want any more tips, don’t hesitate to reply and / or drop me an email!
New Media Works
7:11 pm on April 30, 2020 Tags: answer, broken, call, called, calling, hollow, miss ( 2 ), no answer, nothing, nothingness, poem, poetry, shallow, things
In asking that question, I am trying to get to the bottom of why I have been able to make a meaningful lifestyle change that has enabled me to reach my health and fitness goals this time around when all the other times I previously attempted it, I failed quickly and spectacularly? Why am I so motivated to stick with it this time? Why have I been able to commit to and complete 5 different but equally challenging workout programs over the last two years? Why am I able to continue to pick that steamed vegetable side over the side of fries (most of the time 😊) that I used to order or to choose to take the stairs over the elevator every time that is possible? And most of all, why am I enjoying the process so, so much these days that I can’t even imagine ever going back to the way I was living?
In order to answer those questions properly, we need to back it up. I mean wayyyy up. Like back to the beginning of my story when smart phones weren’t a thing, we had to look at paper maps to figure out how to get somewhere new, and the closest thing to Google we had was the card catalog at our local library. Man, those were the days. Also, yes I am that old. But anyway, having put some thought into this whole question of why this time has been different, I realized that back when I was growing up is really the last time up until now that I can remember genuinely enjoying being active and healthy. I played sports from day one pretty much. I learned to swim before I could walk and was in the pool on a swim team my entire childhood. On top of that, I played basketball, softball, ran cross country, and even played a bit of soccer all throughout elementary, middle and high school. And I loved every minute of it. I loved getting up at 4am to get in the pool for practice before school. I loved the 7am swim meets on Saturday’s even though a lot of the time the water was absolutely freezing. I loved practicing every day after school. I loved practicing on the weekends with my dad. I loved competing, not only as part of a team but against myself.
While I am no longer competing to win a blue ribbon at a swim meet, or practicing my little ass off to get that starting point guard post on the varsity team, I am competing against myself every single day to be better than I was the day before. That competitive spark is back in me and more than anything these days I don’t want to let myself down. Even back when I was growing up, it’s not that I liked to beat other people so much as I like to prove things to myself. I like to work as hard as I possibly can and see the fruits of my labor being realized. I like to push myself further than I thought I could go to prove to I am capable of doing hard things. But that competitive spark didn’t just randomly decide to reignite because let me tell you before this last time, I tried and failed many, many times to get and stay healthy and in shape.
After my teenage years when I went off to college and beyond there were suddenly no more teams to join. No more teammates relying on me to get up early and get my ass in the pool. No more medals to win or PR’s to break. This is when the struggle became real. This is when the fun stopped. My weight fluctuated. I tried starvation diets. I tried endless hours of cardio. Then I would get frustrated, swing the other way, and eat anything I wanted without setting foot inside a gym for months at a time. There were times I was so thin it was scary and there were times I was much heavier than I wanted to be, and let me tell you, neither one of those versions of myself were healthy. Two years ago, that all changed. I finally had enough of the yo-yoing. I wanted to lose ten pounds, get my mental health under control and make a real, lasting lifestyle change. I knew it would be different this time because I wasn’t giving myself the option of failing. I even remember exactly where I was when I made this commitment to myself. Crazy the things we remember in life, huh?
That day started about a 6-month long process of doing exactly what I had done in my previous attempts to lose weight which was pretty much not eating a lot and finding the closest treadmill and making it my best friend. Can anyone guess what happened next? If you said I almost threw in the towel because the process was tedious and not sustainable you would be 100% correct. But this time I had real motivation on my side so instead of giving up I doubled down. I knew I needed to shift the way I was eating and working out to find a long-term solution, not a short-term fix. So what did I do? Well, it was a combination of a few things that I want to share below just in case someone out there is reading this and is on the verge of giving up and/or debating if it’s even worth starting again. Just keep reading a few minutes longer and maybe some of the mindset shifts I made this time around will help you as well:
I found the fun again!
Like I talked about above, wayyy back in the day, exercising and being healthy was fun for me. I knew I needed to find that enjoyment again if I had any chance of achieving my goals for long term success. I found that fun in the at-home workout programs that have changed my life! I credit these programs with a large part of the success that I have had over the past two years because they are challenging in way that I can’t even describe but also so much fun to do! There is also a ton of variety….everything from yoga, to Pilates, weightlifting, HIIT, tai chi, cardio, boxing, Plyo, you name it and I would be willing to bet you can find it on this workout platform. I was the biggest skeptic going into this you guys. I thought no way am I going to be able to achieve my goals, let alone enjoy working out from my living room! I also knew, however, that what I had been doing wasn’t working and I was rapidly headed for yet another failed attempt so really, what did I have to lose? Not to mention several of my friends, family members and even two co-workers of mine swore by these programs, so I signed up, pressed play, and I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself! These programs are also keeping me sane right now in the midst of all the craziness going on around us! I have not missed a beat with my health and fitness goals because I am able to do these workouts at home. In case you are interested, I will link my top three favorite programs I have done so far as well as where you can you find the free trial of ten of the latest workouts below:
LIIFT4
21 Day Fix
21 Day Fix Extreme
Morning Meltdown 100
Click to access FREE_BOD_Workouts_Int_20200319.pdf
I realized it was a combination of eating right and exercising.
You really can’t have one without the other when you are trying to get healthy. You can read a little more about this in a post I wrote a while back called, It Takes Two…, but the gist is nutrition and fitness go hand in hand. If you are looking to create a meaningful lifestyle change you have to be consistent with your workouts and on top of what you are eating. My genius idea in my previous attempts to get skinny was to eat as little as possible. Like I am talking a handful of crackers a day, which most days would be just enough to keep me from passing out. I literally cringe when I think how dumb, and not to mention, reckless I was back then. I realized this time around it wasn’t at all about getting skinny. It was about getting healthy. Now every meal I eat I try to do so with intention and the purpose of fueling body with the nutrients it needs not only to be healthy but to maximize the efforts I am putting in with my workouts. The more I move, the more I need to eat. I see food as an ally now. I use it to help me feel and look my best and most importantly I finally have a healthy relationship with food these days. I don’t weigh myself at all. I eat when I am hungry and I stop when I’m full. My energy levels are up, my sleep quality is a ton better, my anxiety is all but gone and as a bonus my pants fit well which goes a long way in assuring me that my fitness and nutrition are both on point!
I educated myself.
And still am! I put away the mentality that I knew everything I needed to know about how to get my butt in shape and I started researching. And I continue to do it to this day. There is so much information out there about living a healthy lifestyle I will probably never be able to absorb even a fraction of it but I try to learn something new every day. These days I am mostly working on learning about nutrition because that is my weaker point. The workout programs I follow take the guesswork out of how to get in shape, how to lift properly, how to maximize your efforts, etc. so my focus is now on learning how to fuel my body properly. Currently, I am trying to educate myself about macros because I don’t think I am eating enough protein to achieve the next goals on my list. The point is I humbled myself enough to ask questions and most importantly to challenge my assumptions. A perfect example of this is I swore by endless hours of cardio for weight loss until I discovered from listening to other people and doing my own research how amazing weightlifting is to shed those unwanted pounds and get leaner. Take your health into your own hands you guys and invest time into learning how to properly manage it. Read articles, study what other people who have been successful are doing, get to know your body and body type, have clear goals and make a plan about how to achieve them in a smart, safe and healthy manner.
I was patient.
I stuck with it long enough this time that I got over that hurdle of wanting to quit and started to see change happening. I quickly realized that a fatal flaw of mine in the last several go arounds was I was looking for a quick fix, not a long-term solution. This lesson was probably the hardest one on this for me to get through my thick skull as I am not a patient person by nature, but I knew from all my failure before that I had to become one. I finally recognized that meaningful change was not going to happen overnight, but it would happen if I showed up every day for myself and put the effort in. I continued to work on my goals even on the days and sometimes weeks that I didn’t see any progress being made because even though I couldn’t see the changes happening, I could feel them. I actually think I noticed the change in my mental and emotional health long before I saw any weight fall off or muscles start to form. Just feeling better, happier, and more calm gave me all the incentive I needed to keep going. Eventually the weight started to come off and I could see the outward changes as well. While it feels like I woke up one day and suddenly saw all my hard work starting to pay off, in reality it was happening from day one. You guys, this is a slow process, especially in the beginning but quitting won’t make it happen any faster! Stick with it, find enjoyment in the process and just know changes are happening each and every day.
All of that being said, I don’t what you to think that I wake up every single day feeling like I want to go run a marathon or lift weights until I can’t move anymore. And I sure as heck don’t wake up every morning being thankful that I am going to walk into my kitchen and find my superfood protein powder instead of donuts, but the majority of the time I really enjoy the process of living a healthy lifestyle these days. I have found the fun again and my competitive nature is back in full effect. I am motivated to keep going so as not to let myself down. And what’s more, is even on the days my motivation isn’t there, my dedication still is. I am dedicated to maintaining the results I have gotten thus far and building on them to achieve bigger and better goals. I have put in a lot of hard work to get where I have over the last several years and I have no plans on letting up. And my experiences in getting to this point are also why I am here today, and why I started this blog. I think so many other people out there have been where I have been. Where we start, stop, start, stop and start and stop workouts or diets or a combination of both over and over and over again until we are so frustrated we end up not even starting anymore. Break that cycle and stick with it you guys please!! Write out your goals, post them somewhere you have to look at them every day and make a conscious decision that nothing will get in your way of achieving them! And guys, make it fun because life is entirely too serious otherwise!
Hope you all are staying safe and healthy!!!
Xoxoxo,
Beth
“I don’t what you to think” => “I don’t want you to think” 😉
Jacks News 