Vulture Culture

Long gone are the days when social media was seen as a novel and innovative way to catch up with close family and friends outside of the confines of personal proximity.

Social media is now such a central part of our daily lives, we couldn’t ever imagine being without it. Many of us now don’t even remember a time when it wasn’t a thing.

Clearly this creation has stuck with us for a reason. No one can deny it offers unprecedented freedom of expression, communication on tap and opportunities to achieve daily fulfilment.

However, like most staples in life, there is a flip side. Social media has an evil underbelly and it plagues our society with a free reign.

I’d go as far as comparing social platforms to the wild west; worse even. At least those cowboy towns had a sheriff who strived to achieve law and order.

The worst thing is, the ugly side of social media needs very little definition.

We are all well aware of the terrible trolls that bash their harassing clubs across the online community. We all know about the keyboard warriors who like to flex their fingers to the detriment to others online. We’ve all seen how opinions are rammed down people’s throats and how mob mentalities form and online warfare ensues.

Its safe to say that social media has a dark side. My debut novel The Invite explores this idea in a variety of ways. Whether intended or not, social media has gifted power to all people and that sadly includes people who are quite happy to abuse that power. In fact, not only are some happy to abuse it, the prospect of doing so seems to hold a certain alure.

It also seems as though this sense of narcissistic empowerment is intensified by the safety in which it can be executed. Why go and pick a fight out on the streets and risk retaliation when you can lie there in your cosies and abuse people without any worry about consequence?

A deep sense of gratification looks to be achieved through a successful attack. The bigger the fish and the more piranha’s who join in, the more satisfying the result. There appears to be nothing more fulfilling to a troll than to create a frenzy and ruin reputations. 

 It is also important to remember, it does not matter what a person’s opinion is. Be you left wing, right wing, atheist or you might even worship French fries. Trolls don’t care what you believe in. I guess the one thing that can be said, is the stronger the opinion the more ammunition that is being served up on a plate.

I guess the question is now, why has this toxic culture occurred and what needs to happen to change things?

After giving this quite some thought, my brain has conjured a comparison which I believe helps us better understand the online community. Imagine social media as a school playground. In most school playgrounds you sadly have a school bully. There might even be a few school bullies if you have the misfortune. Some of those likeminded bullies might join together to form a rather unsavoury gang.

Social media exactly the same, just on a humungous scale. I don’t know exactly how many people use social media to date. I imagine it is millions, if not billions. Just think out of all those people, how many bullies there could be amongst them. Imagine how many of those bullies have the same twisted ideals. It doesn’t bear thinking about it.

Now if you think back to the school yard, bully management is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher/ supervisor on duty. Now I can’t vouch for everyone else, but back in my good old school days this was very often dealt with pretty badly in all honesty.

When it comes to bully management online, it is the social media platforms that are the teacher/ supervisor on duty. When you consider all these companies really care about is making money and also consider the overwhelming scope for active bullying to occur, this has created a massive and very serious problem.

The problem is clearly vast and extremely complex. I think when social media was originally formulated, I believe the early pioneers never really envisaged the can of slimy worms it would open. I don’t think any real bulletproof strategies for managing bad behaviour were really considered or implemented.

It appears as though all that has come to fruition since is a few patch plasters to remedy the problem. There are now options to report abuse and people can get banned; apparently!

These processes are nowhere near robust enough to deal with the problems we have.

Significant and ground breaking new strategies and innovations need to be implemented in order to create a policing structure that works. I personally feel that this will only be made a reality by the introduction of a social media regulator who will make sure social media companies are doing what is essential.

At the moment, social media companies are free to do what they want, and what they want to do is make money. As a result, policing is probably palmed off to the apprentice who gets paid less than what they deserve.  

Until a regulator is introduced all I would say is we all need to watch our backs. We need to be careful and also grow thick skin to the abuse. Remember how we coped with the bullies back in the day. Above all remember, those trolls are the ones that are messed up, not you.

Easier said than done I know, when the vultures attack!

Let’s get Physical

When I first published my debut novel back in the midst of lockdown, it was only ever my intention to unleash my creation to the online world.

Given the strong focus of online interaction and social media, I was certain that my book The Invite was destined only to be enjoyed through the screens of our devices.

After the initial launch I was overwhelmed and humbled by how well my creation was received. Job done then you could say. I achieved everything I could have hoped for and more through my offering as an E-book alone.

However, it was difficult to ignore the many requests from people who longed to purchase my novel in the way novels are meant to be, in the form of a good old-fashioned book.

I did manage it quite well at first and after a while the initial buzz of the Kindle dream started to dwindle and my mind began to pine for new writing endeavours.

However, I was unable to quench the thirst for new projects due to the reoccurring thought that my mission with The Invite was not yet accomplished without the printed article.

I therefore made the call to give the purist’s what they wanted!

After all there is nothing quite like wrapping your hands around a shiny new chunk of literary magic. Just the smell of freshly pressed pages and the slick, glossy and weighty feel of brain food that sits nicely in hand. I have to admit that there is a certain magic about it.

Ok maybe I’m also a purest at heart too.

I therefore embarked on a journey into the unknown in the pursuit of a physical home for my creation.

I’m not going to lie there has been lots of sweat, blood and tears involved in the process, but I’m finally delighted to announce that the finished product is now complete.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with my young adult novel The Invite, the book invites you to join troubled teen Lindsey Hookwink on her night of virtual horrors that well and truly expose her unhealthy smartphone habits. 

So if you are one of the proud people who are loyal to the printed page, I salute you; and you can order your printed copy of The Invite now!

For those who of you who remain a convert to the Kindle way of life and wish to check out my online offering anyway, also on sale for purchase through the link above.

I look forward to you joining Lindsey’s virtual adventure, between both device or through the sheets.  

Reluctantly Back on the Grid

The Social Media Allure

I’ve been away from social media for months now.

What started out as an experiment to practice what I preach in my debut novel The Invite surprisingly evolved into a new way of life.

The initial aim was to progressively reduce my usage over a 3 month period until I reached cold turkey.

Although the process had a few ups and downs it was ultimately a great success. Little did I believe it would strip away all desire to reignite a return to shares, likes and posts though.

What is odd about the decision, is that I’m not really sure why I became so switched off.

Ironically the only logical reasoning I can think of, is that the idea of remerging with an infinite online community seemed quite frankly, effort!

With the decision has come great freedom and a sense of tranquillity. No longer being governed by a reflexive impulse to keep checking my phone for updates or mindlessly scrolling for a 5 second dopamine hit, offered a state of happiness and released shackles I never truly believed I was chained to.

However, a time has now arrived when exciting new updates regarding my novel writing exploits are on the cusp of being unleashed, but my new lifestyle has created a dirty big brick wall to my launch plans.

Like it or not I must face the fact that there is a very slim opportunity to spread the word about my latest offering to the world, without actually engaging with the world. Near everyone lives online now and therefore I must return to their home in order to complete my quest.

And in all honestly, I’m quite daunted by the prospect.

I can say with 100% conviction that my return to social-ality will be more of flying visit rather than a permanent arrangement.

It is my hope that at the end of the journey others may also choose to join me and unplug, even if it is just for a while.

All social media talk aside, your probably thinking hang on a minute, what is the new novel exploit…?

Keep your eyes peeled for my next blog to find out! In the meantime enjoy world book day guys.

Social Media Cleanse Diary – Day 30

I feel supernatural forces are in motion this year; hell bent on playing with the passage of time.

Only a moment ago I posted an update from day 5 of my social media challenge. Now here I am looking to catch up on my progress log, only to realise I have made it through an entire whirlwind month already. It has passed in the blink of an eye!

To be fair it has been a manic month as I have embarked on the exciting and also stressful journey of moving house.

Thankfully I have just about had time to keep on track with my tally of daily social media hits.

Given the lengthy delay in dishing out the dirt on my social habits, there was potential for this post to transpire as an essay style confession regarding my array of struggles encountered, accompanied with a huge list of social media useage logs.

I’m thrilled to use the word ‘potential’ as the past month has been anything but a disaster.

I can honestly say that my social media exploits have been practically non-existent since my last update. I still have to pinch myself to believe the words I write right now.

Here is an overview of how things have panned out over the past few weeks.

During week two of the challenge, I used Facebook twice for 2 minutes on each occasion, Snapchat once for 1 minute and Instagram once for 1 minute.

Now I could reflect on this with critical eyes, considering how well I had done in week one. The main plus here however is that social media usage has still reduced by about 30%.

Week 3 is where the magic really started to ignite. I only engaged with any form of social media a grand total of 3 times all week. This encompassed 2 minutes spend on Snapchat and 1 minute on Facebook.

I was in full stride during this period of time, fully absorbed into house viewings and mortgage discussions. This meant that even the idea of accessing social media, didn’t cross my thoughts for the most part.

Regrettably as the craziness from previous week simmered down ever so slightly I did regress a little bit in terms of my progress during week 4. I used Snapchat on 3 occasions for about a minute each time and Facebook twice, one of which to wish my grandad a happy birthday. I must admit the birthday thing did get me questioning this odd habit we have developed. Rather than actually saying happy birthday in person why do we feel obliged to send a Facebook message. This is something that may never have occurred to me in previous times.

Anyway this slight relapse just confirmed to me how insidious social media can be and how easy it is to fall back in the habit of having a cheeky check on it every now and then; particularly during times of boredom. This realisation prompted me to delete every social media App downloaded on my phone, with the exception of WhatsApp. And for the past 4 days I haven’t looked back.

In terms of how I’ve been feeling mentally during this whole time, it would be too good to be true to say that I’ve felt a million dollars every day of the week, but yes on the whole I am feeling pretty good. I am starting to no longer feel those strong feeling of envy that were becoming common place before and (if anything) I am actually finding peace in knowing other people are experiencing big moments in their life.

I don’t want to jinx it but I genuinely don’t think that the second half of my challenge will prove to be an almighty battle. I refuse to declare this with any certainty as I am all too aware how powerful the allure of technology can be during times of weakness.

As long as I keep working on my head space and sticking to my guns I’m hopeful this challenge will end in successful and enlightenment.

Regardless of the outcome I’m sure there will be some more twists and turns as I approach the end of this journey and so I’ll try and be on the ball a bit more with the updates from here on in.

For those who are yet to read up about my current challenge, get up to speed @ https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/16414670/posts/510

Don’t forget, if social media addiction is something that interests you, why not check out my young adult novel The Invite and join troubled teen Lindsey Hookwink on her night of virtual horrors that well and truly expose her unhealthy smartphone habits.

See you later social media, time to practice what I preach!

Isn’t it ironic how I created a work of fiction that explores powerful themes on how social media has the potential to cause harm, but yet social media is my main outlet in which I use to promote it?

A bit controversial I know and maybe this makes me a hypocrite? On second thoughts don’t answer that!

In my defence I feel the world we currently live in left me with little choice in this matter if I was serious about reaching my intended target audience.

None of us can seem to live without our trusty platforms and so for months now I have bit the bullet and utilised them more than I should, in spite of my beliefs.

From the start of my self-publishing journey, I have pleaded with myself to approach the book promotion with a military mindset, go in, spread the word and leave. There would be no lingering to snoop on everyone’s latest Insta post or scroll mindlessly through Facebook.

And for a long time, I convinced myself that I was doing just that.

One day however it struck me that book sales had well and truly simmered down and I hadn’t posted any meaningful content of relevance in ages! In spite of this it occurred to me that I was still spending the same amount of time (longer even) on all the usual social media suspects. If I wasn’t promoting my book then what was I doing I hear you ask…?

In truth I’m not entirely sure. Looking back, I think the best way to summarise is, I would almost instinctively go on each platform and scroll mindlessly at content at random intervals throughout the day. At first, I think I assured myself I was doing it as a way in which to build my networks. Maybe at first, I was. But after a while it became clear that the network building had come to a complete halt.

So what is the big deal I hear you ask…?

I felt terrible is what. For months now I have been battling with depression and I’m all but certain social media has a lot to answer for in making me feel this way. 

All things considered I figured it was time to set my own example. I have therefore come up with a challenge to cleanse my soul of social media and keep a daily diary of how I feel to record the experiment.

I figured it would be a cool idea to tie this is to the 1^st Anniversary of my book The Invite on 31^st October- aka Halloween.

The plan is to undertake a gradual withdrawal of my screen time over the coming months until I reach the stage where I am T-total. Research suggests that this is the best way to obtain a healthy benefit from the online break.  

On September the 6^th I will embark on my 2month-long quest which will include a phased approach to my ultimate goal of achieving online freedom. I have created a week-by-week plan, which (fingers crossed) will proceed as follows:

• First week – Figure out the problem and note down how many times I used a social media platform, detailing which one was used and when
• Week 2- Try and reduce overall useage by half
• Week 3 – Delete the platform I use least and try to reduce useage of the others by half again
• Week 4- Limited social checks to every other day
• Week 5- ‘Cold turkey’ This will be the time to delete all social media. I will only be keeping chat options such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
• Weeks 6-8- Remain social media sober

To monitor the impact of my challenge I plan to create a daily diary which will outline the specifics of how I am finding the experience and more importantly, how my mental well-being is being affected.

I will post my daily entry right here on the blog (which will hopefully be the most online interaction I have throughout the 2 months) but will refrain from engaging with any kind of responses my updates may summon.

It is going to be a fascinating and possibly excruciatingly difficult task, so do come back to check out my daily up and downs in just over a week’s time.

In the meantime, if social media addiction is something that interests you, why not check out my young adult novel The Invite and join troubled teen Lindsey Hookwink on her night of virtual horrors that well and truly expose her unhealthy smartphone habits. 

All that is left to say is, wish me luck!

Plodding on with my new pooch

Poppy is an author’s pup

How in god’s name are we approaching May already!?

I find it hard to comprehend how time can whizz by so quickly when we have all been stuck in lockdown for 4 months. Perhaps that is a good thing, who knows. I think the term ‘time flies when you are having fun’ definitely does not apply here!

Not to act up like an angry old goat or anything, but oh my days, has this year been a sack of stale cow dung! I mean the previous (I don’t even know how many) lockdowns were painful, but this one has cut the deepest. I don’t know if everyone else feels the same?

The endless days of bitter cold, working like a robot without any play and simply being made to stare constantly at the same four walls have sucked away my very soul!

Thankfully there has been a shining little light that has helped guide me through the dark times. At the end of January this year, myself and my fiancé decided to extend our little family to three and bought home a 10-week-old Cocker Spaniel, who we named Poppy.

Now don’t judge me for following the lockdown puppy craze. I can assure you the decision was a long and informed one. It just felt right!

I’m ashamed to admit I am not historically a big dog lover; however, the other half had a lovely Labrador which completely changed my perspective on these wonderful creatures.  

The moment we first met Poppy she melted our hearts and we just knew she had to come home with us.

As amazing as the whole experience has been so far, little could have prepared me for the extent in which it would turn our lives upside down. I was offered a fair warning about the commitment, but I figured this was just an exaggeration. It was not!

I have not been blessed with children in my life just yet, but I can imagine having a puppy is comparable to having a baby; except puppies also have sharp teeth and love to bite EVERYTHING!

It is safe to say that it has been an absolute mad house here for the past 3 months. Sleepless nights, multiple toileting accidents, lots of destroyed furniture and one major scare which cost us a hefty vet bill.

The good news is that there has been little time to fester in an ocean of self-pity when there are walks to be taken or military style training to conduct.

The bad news however is that I have had next to no time to reflect on my debut novel The Invite, let alone focus on writing anything new.

Now I have finally had time to breath again, I have decided it is time to get back to the bread and butter. And when I look at the continual avalanche of online hate that plagues us, I think getting the word out there about my teen fiction novel has never been so essential.

Factor in the disturbing figures surrounding mental health in young adults, I almost feel that it is my duty to spread the word far and wide about my fictional interpretation that drills into issues surrounding smartphone addiction.

For those who are yet to read The Invite, this debut novel of mine takes readers on a twisted journey with troubled teen Lindsey Hoodwink who is treated to a night full of virtual horrors that tap into her unhealthy obsession with her smartphone. Let’s just say the boundaries of technology and real life, become unbelievably blurred…

You can get your copy of The Invite now @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invite-C-P-Riches-ebook/dp/B08MCDYPPL

To be honest I doubt there will be a better time to pick up a copy, as I have decided to offer my pride and joy for FREE, for the May bank holiday weekend only!  

So now things start to return to normal (majorly touching wood right now!) I plan to keep on with the writing exploits and although I have been somewhat occupied over the past few months, I may have a little new writing project that has been sometime in the making over lockdown…

More details to be revealed soon.

As an end note, I can’t believe this might actually be my last blog before we return to real life. Do I dare the dream? We can but hope!

Chris

I invite you to join my debut novel adventure

Seeing The Invite on sale for the first time

How on earth has a month passed by already since publishing my first ever novel?!

I mean seriously.

It feels as though I am frozen in continual state of disbelieve at what I finally managed to accomplish. And now that its over it feels surreal.

I’m awful for returning to my amazon account on a regular basis to see how things are going and to simply remind myself that it wasn’t all one big, crazy dream.

I’ve been so caught up in the madness of it all I’ve only just found the time to sit and reflect. This has also been hindered by my long-awaited return to work after my 7-month stint on Furlough.

It is safe to say that it has been a manic month!

On this cold, December night I can at finally cast my mind back to how the book launch unfolded on a night full of trick and treats.

Halloween was the day I decided to deliver the goods. It only seemed fitting as this frightful night of celebration 2 years back was the day I finished the first draft of The Invite. Scary how fast the time has gone.  

Myself and my partner Jenny had a jam-packed day of treats and spooky activities planned for the occasion. I was so excited for the big day but soon after it began this nervous energy began to boil over.

I had created a countdown to the big release for 12pm and it wasn’t long before I felt restless, nervous to ensure that everything ran smoothly for the big moment.

I had little time to dwell on my thoughts though as Jenny had me working like a slave in the kitchen as we prepped a wicked afternoon tea.

In what felt like an eternity (in spite of being busy) the clock eventually informed me that I had 2 minutes to go before the final mission. 

I took off my apron and fired up the laptop.

After a quick social media update, I began to undertake the final steps on Amazon to set my dreams into reality.

After years’ worth of preparation, I only had a few buttons to press, but my mind seemed to have melted like hot butter and it took longer than it should have.

I was finally greeted by the invitation to publish my book to the world and after a mere moment of holding my breath, clicked ‘ok’.

I was rewarded with a message congratulating me on the published work, but my heart quickly sank as the small print said it could take up to 72 hours to appear in the Amazon store.

I had promised excited family and friends they could purchase their copies in a matter of moments and now I was faced with the unbeknown and embarrassing job of updating my prospective customers with news of a delay.

I was furious but did all I could to appease people. Afterall it was only a couple of days added to many month’s of waiting. 

I posted an update on social media and then tried to force the issue from my mind and crack on with the fiendish fun.

After a couple of hours, I couldn’t resist having a cheeky check on Amazon on the off chance that The Invite had bypassed the waiting time and I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was there.

Clear as crystal my book shone out on my screen, patiently waiting for new customers.

Except it hadn’t been waiting at all. I further check on social media confirmed that a couple of people had already bought the thing before I even knew it was on sale!

From here on in the day was a whirlwind of excitement as I shared the news and people embraced my journey to make the event more of a success than I ever could have imagined.

I was pretty much on cloud 9 as evening approached, but this was soon shot down somewhat when Boris spontaneously invaded all of our celebrations with grave news of a second national lockdown.

Even this shoddy news couldn’t break my spirits though and we celebrated with fizz and our afternoon tea. I think this is the first time I have ever been toasted an achievement and it was a humbling moment.

Toasting the release

We then had fun all evening watching scary films, carving pumpkins (mine was Harry Potter themed) and then fancy dress before enjoying our latest zoom quick with the in-laws; Halloween themed of course.  

After what had been the most amazing yet bizarre day, the following days (or weeks in fact) were spent observing all progress and spreading the word before a nervous wait for feedback.

The first finished reader comments came from immediate family and friends who loved it. They could just be being polite, but I welcomed the kind words anyway.

During this time, I was busting a gut back in the office, enduring long days in retraining whilst helping to train a new addition to our team. It was so frustrating when all I wanted to do was shout about my book.  

Even though I couldn’t spend too much time promoting, the feedback has continued to trickle in and I’m ecstatic to state that I still maintain a 5-star feedback rating on Amazon. I can’t thank those of you who have taken the time to download a copy, read it and then leave your constructive comments.  

Now the initial launch is kind of coming to a close I am torn between spreading the word about The Invite some more or starting a new book from an archive of ideas that I have accumulated over the years.

As authors we can’t keep away from the pen for too long, so no doubt I will end up doing both. Looks like 2021 is going to be just as crazy as this one. Hopefully with a little less Covid this time though!

If you haven’t checked out The Invite already, you can grab your copy now @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invite-C-P-Riches-ebook/dp/B08MCDYPPL

Smarten up on the dark truth

Teenagers chained to their phones

After sharing an update on my new book release, I received a comment online that intrigued me.

It was a suggestion to watch a documentary on Netflix called the Social Dilemma.

I was told it would blow my mind… and it did!

This production was suggested due to a strong overlap of themes to my book release, The Invite.  In my haste to find out exactly what these might be, I decided to watch it that very same evening.

The first thing I noticed is that the documentary was being presented by original employees from tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google. I immediately thought this was unusual and so did not expect the content that was to come.  

The whole thing was cleverly done and quickly turned from being light-hearted and conversational to deeply disturbing.

The best way I can surmise this unnerving watch, is as a stark diagnosis and warning about our relationship with social media. The content focussed primarily on the sinister psychological methods of social media technologies to manipulate us, the people. We were educated about the use of clever algorithms that learn our behaviours and exploit them to the achieve the goals of the tech companies.  

The key message was that we are the product and social media companies will do whatever they can to keep us plugged into their pages.  

Without giving too much away, some of the shocking topics discussed included revelations such as how your phone knows what you are looking at, for how long and then feeds you info related to this.  

Scarier still, these algorithms conveniently refrain from showing you content that may contradict the opinions/views that you are being spoon-fed. When you factor in that social media sites do very little to filter out fake news, which in fact often enhances consumer engagement with their sites, it is very easy to see how many of us can develop a warped and extreme view of the world.  

There are various key messages conveyed throughout the short film, but rather than verging any further into spoiler territory, I will zip my lip there and strongly recommend you give it a watch. https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81254224

The more engrossed I got into the documentary the more I realised how the content directly mirrored a lot of the dark themes presented in my own book. When you consider my story is fiction and this is real life, that is a rather terrifying conclusion.   

The warning conveyed on my screen made me realise that the release of my book might actually be the most important thing I ever do and is needed right now!  

Thankfully I can announce that my book is ready to make us all think about online addiction. You can actually order The Invite now by visiting  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invite-C-P-Riches-ebook/dp/B08MCDYPPL

In the interest of objectivity, I should say it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The narrator’s believed that it was never the initial objective of tech companies to brainwash society. Like any other business, they just want to make money. It is just that somewhere along the way, things have got out of control. The key message I guess you could say, is that we need to get it back! 

The Invite is out now!

First look on Amazon

After quite the roller-coaster journey, I am proud and ecstatic to announce that The Invite is finally available to purchase as an e-book on Amazon!!! You can get your copy now by clicking here https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MCDYPPL/ref=sr_1_6… Please share if you think any family or friends might be interested too

Get ready for The Invite!

My debut novel The Invite is just about ready to go and I’m excited to announce that the release date has been confirmed as 31.10.2020, Halloween. 🤩🎉📘🎃

The book will be available as an e-book through Amazon and I will share a link to the page on the day of release.

It is only…

2020-10-31T12:01:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Lindsey’s unbelievable adventure is unleashed to the world