Happy New Year! Who has set New Year’s resolutions? I have, including being more present here. Before I share more MEL (Media, Entertainment, and Lifestyle) updates, I would like to highlight my recent activities on other social media platforms.
LinkedIn.com, owned by Microsoft, is a professional networking and career development platform with over 1 billion users worldwide. On January 22, I launched an 8-week knowledge-sharing event, ‘Master Your Brand,’ on LinkedIn for a specific reason. LinkedIn’s commitment to fact-checking practices ensures a safe environment for community growth. As they stated two years ago, administrators will continue to…
“…work to identify and remove misinformation and inauthentic behavior from our platform.” (2023)(4)
The political climate in the United States is so fluid that I must monitor any LinkedIn policy changes. Especially before I plunk down $99 a month for a premium subscription. For the most part, however, LinkedIn content creators practice civility. At least those who have appeared in my news feed. I share this story because I had not been active on LinkedIn before this year. I’d been an avid user of LinkedIn’s closest competitor, which, according to the website “business model analyst” (1), is:
- Facebook groups
- Indeed
- Slack
- Glassdoor
- Zip Recruiter
- Jobcase
- Career Builder
- Meetup
As seen, Facebook leads this list. Meta, which owns Facebook, is now off-limits for me. After Meta ended its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program (3), CEO Mark Zuckerberg (2) announced a change in fact-checking on January 7, 2025.
In short, they are ending their relationship with third-party fact-checkers. It is hard enough to build community when many are already vying for attention. I decided I didn’t want to deal with the added distraction of disinformation and misinformation. I’m also closing my account on Threads and Instagram, too.
Medium.com 2025 I posted one of my earliest articles, “Superhero Me,” on June 1, 2013, nearly ten months after the online publishing platform was founded on August 14, 2012. I’ve seen this platform grow through all its iterations. I didn’t abandon my Medium page, but the WordPress community felt more like home. I returned in 2022 when they started the Book Author verification program. In 2024, the Medium corporation had to close nearly 2 million accounts due to suspicious activity. Bots flooded the platform, ruining the writing community experience. Administrators say the plan is to intensify enforcement even further in 2025. They also want to continue building a safe space to foster communities.
Last month, I wrote an opinion piece, “The New Commodity Digital Exploitation,” illustrating the parallels between 21st-century data breaches that result in Identity theft and 17th-century chattel slavery. One thing I’ve noticed about posting infrequently on Medium or any other website is that it takes time for your stories to be included in the database.
My goal is to improve my article ranking by increasing the number of posts I publish this year. If I were to make a New Year’s resolution, I would write more and share more of my experiences with you.
They say social media user get a hit of dopamine every time they get a “like” on their posts. Between the end of last year and the start of 2025, I will need all the hits of happiness I can get.
Write On!
Happy Black History Month! Let’s celebrate by sharing stories, insights, and support with this community. Start commenting or connecting today!
- https://businessmodelanalyst. com/linkedin-competitors/?srsltid=AfmBOoolaWrLQR-GEJ0ZCEUI_thyeDDUT7rRHimMq0vov4uHiWh1QIdF
- https: //about.fb.com /news /2025/01 /meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes/
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meta-dei-programs-mcdonalds-walmart-ford-diversity/
- https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1425416
~Mel
Art ∩ Mel 
7 responses to “Making the Social Media Rounds”
It sounds like you’re on your way to a Healthy Balance & Inner Peace in your evolving Life Flow…🧘🏾♀️ I’ve learned to be patient as my programmed mental inclinations have had to give way to other more organic ways of knowing. You may catch some of that as you read thru “BaNtu Waltz.” I so appreciate that you made the purchase and am honored that you’re willing to submit a review @ BookBaby as well as on your website, Sis! I’ll have to check my emails from the BB flight crew to see if I just missed the contact info. There’s been a lot to focus on with my book launch…
“Technology” vs “Tkhn-ology”… Yes, the latter refers to what the “Tkhn” [obelisk] represents in humanity’s mythic & organic mind based on Africa-centered origins in the ancient Nile Valley theater, and where the originals have been hijacked to by Euro-patriarchs [Rome, Paris, London, New York, etc.] in constructing their synthetic matrix meridians & systems which run on false elitist ideologies justifying world domination & alienating systems of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, etc. upon which that parasitic world was built during the receding Age of Pisces♓. The Washington monument is a white marble replica, which probably reassures #47 that he’s the legit “2nd Coming” – literally & otherwise! Meanwhile “Tkhn,” in its original/authentic Africa-centered sense is intimately tied to African oral-traditions [drumming/musicianship…] & the Ausar-Auset mythology that I believe is still in play and gets us to the New Age of UbuNtu/Ma’at [aka “Aquarius”♒]… recurring themes in my writing.
Lovely touching base again 🤗 Have a Blessed Week, Sis🙏🏾🕊️💓M
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Hey Sis 🫂 How’re you doing? I love that you multipurposed your name! If MEL is an acronym for Media, Entertainment, and Lifestyle, what is the “ART” part of your brand? My social media savvy is not what it should be, so thanks for this breakdown 🫶🏾 M
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Hey, Sis! I even updated the acronym to include “T” for Technology. I’m always in search of the display of artistry in Technology. But MELT wasn’t hitting right, so I left off the “T” because… NO, just “No,” 😆 lol.
ARTistry Intersection Media Entertainment Life (cultural) Technology is a quest. I’m looking for the highest display of learning in each of these areas. I realized this has been my journey all along. My quest mirrors yours, but you’ve taken it to the doctoral level and music to the spiritual/consciousness level. This is one of the reasons why I’m so attracted to your writings —they bring clarity.
If you’ve written something about mourning/grieving, please tag me. I feel that Western civilization doesn’t do death right. I feel like I’m now getting the opportunity to celebrate my daughter’s journey here on this plane. I’m finally hearing her spirit – although I don’t call for her. I’m sure our transitioned loved ones have better things to do than tend to our “loss” on this side.
So, in answer to your question about “how I’m doing.” I’m searching for the cultural traditions that are lost to me. My mtDNA (Haplogroup L3) is screaming we used to do it this way – while my recent memories are a colonized version. How are you? 💓 💗💓
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LOL! 🤣 “Technology” has always been a troublesome word for me in any event! I think it’s cuz some method of abstraction from the quantum & organic field is always involved (e.g. the western alphabet as a linear & abstract Communication Technology), with often unforeseen radical & alienating impacts upon the Humanities… which is where “ART-for-LIFE’s-sake” (vs. ART-for-ART’s-sake) comes into play as a cultural mandate of African orality as I understand it. I’m happy to be reaching alongside you for that Higher Ground, Sis!
On my “About” page, I’ve disclosed that the impetus for my blog began with outreach from beyond the veil… & I got to a point of pulling down my initial posts cuz I was being totally left-brained in the colonized egoic sense of looking at “birth-life-death” as a linear finite sequence (alpha-bet Tech), even tho my Africa-centered Quantum experience has been telling me otherwise in the most dramatic of ways! Since then, all my writing (journaling, blogging, novel…) has been a deliberate process of purging the false matrix boundaries imposed over the Multidimensional Universe we all anchor in our Sovereign life missions.
It’s wonderful that your beloved Cheyenne’s outreach is facilitating a new bond for you both beyond the physical frontier of our human existence, Sis. Mourning/grieving is such a personal journey… like a Dark Night of the Soul. But then, with gentleness, patience, & expanding Heart-consciousness, comes Daybreak!🌈 Meditating, journaling, writing, earthing, walking, swimming… have been great alchemical processes for me over the years as I’m gradually becoming acquainted with specific members of my Spiritual Team (beyond immediate family transitions) who’ve been helping to guide me during my earthly assignment. UbuNtu is real…
Thank you for your always encouraging words about the clarity my writing helps to bring, Sis! I’d love for you to write a review of “BaNtu Waltz” on my BookBaby account if you have the time & inclination. If so, please let me know where I can send you a review copy. I’m on a huge learning curve on this Self-publishing journey that you’ve helped to inspire… Otherwise I’m doing fine. Thanks for being such a light! 🌈🌞💖M
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Sis, thank you! Your response went straight to my heart and answered my question that I didn’t know I had all along! When I write, I connect with the antiquity of my past. I always write when I’m sad, but because it requires me to be sedentary, it’s been a battle because I must get in my 15,000 steps a day and at least 250 per hour. I’m now focused and deliberate on doing both! Thank you!💗🙌🏽
I purchased “BaNtu Waltz” in print and digital from BookBaby at the end of January 2025. I also used the feature that allows customers to forward their contact information to the author. I hope they’ve forwarded my information to you. I have not finished reading it yet, but I’m honored to write a review for “BaNtu Waltz!” I will post both on my website and on BookBaby. 💓
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Also, I remember in a few of your articles you elevate technology through a different spelling, and it has resonated with me on the spiritual level.
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