A Look forward to 2015: There and Never Going Back
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2014 was a crazy year, and I mean that literally. I spent most of the last quarter in deep depression, and I am glad to say that I am doing a lot better now.
I started out the year working on a Zine, technically a micropub magazine (dashPunk). I wish things would have gone that way. I was really excited about the project, even though I knew it would have been a lot of work.
On January 29, I brought Project: Shadow back and started working on changing the nature of my work. I wish I would have stuck with it, but more about that in a minute.
I didn't go ahead with the Zine because I felt like it wasn't a good fit for what I was trying to do. It cost so much to do something that should be a lot easier, and I wasn't willing to charge people enough money to make it profitable. I didn't want to loose money on the project, so I abandoned it.
I should have seen what was coming before I did. On July 14, I noted in my journal that certain things were starting to freak me out. On September 22, the depression hit. It held on like nothing I have ever experienced before. It smothered me in its embrace until December 16.
I learned a lot while living under those shadows, important things. I learned who my real friends are, and just how many people included me in their life as someone who could be useful to them. My friends weathered the storm with me. I am grateful to them.
As you know, I like to give names to important parts of my life. I think I will remember this period as The Pruning. I learned what was really important to me, and I cut away everything else.
On my Social Media life and Business
I want to start looking back by looking at the numbers starting with those from ThinkUp.
Number of Posts
In 2014, @cedorsett posted a total of 829 tweets. At 15 seconds per tweet, that amounts to 3 hours and 27 minutes. @cedorsett's followers probably appreciated it (ThinkUp).
This year, I posted a grand total of 963 times on Facebook. If each status update and comment took about 15 seconds, that's over 4 hours dedicated to keeping in touch with friends (ThinkUp).
I feel like I haven't been social and open enough about what is going on and what I have been up to. While it sounds like I spent a lot of time posting, that came in fits and spurts.
My longest tweeting streak lasted for 26 days, from August 4th to August 29th (ThinkUp).
I posted at least one status update or comment to Facebook for 57 days in a row, from January 1st to February 26th (ThinkUp).
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As you can see from the graph, I started out the year strong, and had a increase around Shore Leave, but the general trend line was down.
Part of that was my disillusionment with social media, and part of that was the depression that crept up on me throughout the year. I need to be more open, and I am looking for ways to share more and to be more helpful to you all. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
I entered a grand total of 10,071 words into the Twitter data entry box, reaching peak wordage in January, with 2,650 words. If @cedorsett were writing a book, that would be about 37 pages (ThinkUp).
I tapped 17,031 words into Facebook's status update or comment box, topping out with 5,520 words in January. If Eric Dorsett were writing a book, that would be about 62 pages (ThinkUp).
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The most interesting thing to me is that I talked more about writing on twitter and my books and books in general on Facebook. I also talked more about movies on Twitter.
Moving forward
I need to go back to what I had originally intended to do. I need to "think out loud" on the blogs and through my social posts.
On that front, I set up a Known site and I plan on making that my social hub, but I will repost from their to my other accounts. I don't enjoy Facebook, and I really never have. After 8 years on Twitter, I don't feel like I am getting out of it what I used to. I am not leaving those services, but I feel like I need to build out a site has the social qualities I want it to have. That is what I hope the Known site will become.
For now, I am the only one that can post there, anyone can comment and like. Early on, I will invite others to post individually. Hopefully, once it is up and running, I will open up the registration to everyone. The reason is, when I first set up the site it was open, and it was flooded by spammers. I locked it down, and am now looking for ways to fix that problem.
I want to get the podcast up and running again, but I need your help with that. I need to know what you want to talk about, and how it can be of service to you.
This year will hopefully be a turning point in my life and my work. I hope it is for you too. I can't wait to see what we can do together.