---

I figured I’d start this post with a quote because Cass likes quotes and it’s important to bring a sort of “thank you” gift to the blogger who hosts you on their blog. Apologies to the other bloggers I didn’t bring gifts to in the past – your Duncan Hines cake mix is in the mail. Frosting not included. It weighs too much.

Here’s the quote:

“You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.”

Let that float around in your alphabet soup for a minute.

I feel like it’s really easy for people to get caught up in trends, or patterns, or templates for Twitter jokes that last for months and months. Give it up, already.

Remember when jokes used to be original?

Social media has become oversaturated with the same content, just on a different day. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even need to read the comments on tweets or photos because I already know exactly what they’re going to say.

It’s so tiresome.

I’m pretty sure we’re not all robots disguised as parrots, who just repeat the things we’ve heard, over and over and over and over again.

Hi, I’m Paulie and I want a cracker.

I know we’re all classified as “followers” online, but that doesn’t mean we have to act like one. I’m desperate for individual voices, or ideas, or jokes.

I have no clue what anyone on the internet sounds like. That’s where your words come in to play. That’s where you’re able to put words in an order that only you would put them in.

That’s called originality. That’s called taking your own thoughts and relaying them to others.

We should all be able to hear someone else’s distinct voice in our head when we read their work.

Maybe that’s scary for some people. Maybe that reveals too much identity. Maybe they just want to follow the crowd and say the things that have proven to get “likes”.

Social media constantly tells us how we should act. Be like this. Act like this. Don’t do that. Be nicer. Be yourself. Buy this product. It goes on and on and on.

This post, by extension, is me telling you to act a certain way. As if I have any authority to do such a thing. The gall.

Have I mentioned the internet is the most hypocritical place you’ll ever be?

In reality, you don’t have to listen to me. You don’t have to listen to anyone on Instagram who posts an inspirational speech as a caption every three days, telling you to ignore the haters, be YOU, and “get it”.

I guess it’s cool, though, that so many people want to help. So many people want to give out free, unsolicited, generic life advice.

And then there are the ones who disguise their message in a sales pitch, just so you buy the product they’re endorsing.

I remember going to the computer lab at school in the late 90s and the teacher instructing us on how to use the internet as a resource for gathering information. It was all so well-intentioned, so innocent.

Now look at what we’ve done.

We’ve created a world where people wonder why their attention span is so short, when they spend hours scrolling passed words and images. We’re a curious species. We always want to see what’s next in our feed.

Here’s another quote:

“You are what you do.”

I’m not sure who said it; I might’ve just made it up on the spot.

If we’re constantly looking at what other people are doing, that is going to seep into our subconscious like a leaky lunch bag in a backpack. It’s going to shape us.

Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence that we all started sharing food photos at the exact same time. Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence that every time Facebook is down, millions of people rush to Twitter to say: “I like that we all come to Twitter to see if Facebook is down for everyone else.”

Our culture is being shaped every second of the day. It takes a piece of each of us and redistributes it to everyone else.

That’s why it’s important to maintain our voice and maintain our originality in a world that constantly wants to take it from us.

I’ll end with a quote of my own:

“Be a tree, not a forest.”

Stand tall, my friends.

Again, thank you so much Paul for gracing us with this magic!