Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

I was recently contacted by a ‘content creator’ whose work I had shared. I used the attribution mark, I tagged the account, but she was not happy with me because I wasn’t interacting with the content – likes and comments – and she assumed I was just building up my own page without giving back. She implied that I don’t take time to show solidarity and support, then imply I’m simply building my own page.

I struggle with this. If someone does not want me to share, I respect that boundary and block them so I don’t accidentally cross it. But the idea that I must engage beyond a share is strange to me. The implication that I am somehow exploiting people and not contributing to the community is offensive.

I am not building a page for personal gain, any more than I blog for personal gain. I don’t track shares of my social media content very much because again early on I had this different experience as a blogger. When I share content on Instagram or elsewhere, it is because I find it valuable and hope my followers will, too. I try to be careful about attribution marks and tagging creators as a professional courtesy but also so that readers can find the OG source. It can be hard because my social media scheduling software doesn’t play nice with tags. So I’m making decisions  – do I spend 15 minutes looking up Insta/X/FB/BlueSky/etc tags which  are often not consistent or do I rely on my followers’ common sense to click the link and see the source. I waiver on that. People don’t tend to read. 

Today in fact someone messaged me because I don’t provide a detailed breakdown of each video, listing names, contact information, etc. I mean – watch the video a few times and take notes. Then look them up.

When a creator approaches me and asks me for more than I give when I share their content, I respect that and don’t share it – I usually block the person so I don’t accidentally do it again. I do not think I will change the way I use Instagram or other platforms. It is nice to just meander around and engage, true. But again my intent is not to build a brand or impact the all powerful algorithm – I’m just trying to share good information. at a time when it is desperately needed. I feel like my blog, my admin/moderator work on  some platforms *is* engagement. Again, that’s just my pov. 

Now I do understand. People steal my blog content all of the time without any attribution at all. A national LGBTQ group took my blog post about the recent death of a trans person and used it in their press release as their own original reporting. I was appalled, but after weighing the pros/cons – I admonished them but there’s nothing I can really do. Then I found out they’ve done it before.

And frankly I can’t think of a single time any IG creator whose work I shared returned the favor by posting my blog content. Maybe they do and I just don’t see it. I don’t expect it, but it is sort of the same thing. I certainly wouldn’t snap at them.

So the answer lies in the type of online work we create. Maybe it is generational? If you prefer that I not share your content, I won’t. I don’t want to disrespect you. But I’m not going to promise something I can’t really honor. You are welcome to dive as deep into my IG history as you like to prove your point about engagement. But did you take any time to follow my profile link to read my blog? I don’t demand that anyone will, but I wonder sometimes if people learned about me – my disability,my background, my  blog focus, the threats – if maybe they might not assume the worst about me sharing their content- with attribution and tags.

The link to this blog is in all of my profiles so someone who wants to chew me out should be able to find it. Then they could see 20 years of blogging content creation. No likes, a rare comment. I don’t track shares. I do cite sources and links. I’m sure I screw it up sometimes.

What they also don’t know is that I moderate multiple social media groups. I immerse myself in difficult content because the world is on fire. Plus, I blog. For 20 years.

i move through the world like a golden-era of blogging person with different experiences and expectations. Of course I have to learn new tools, new rules. But I also bring some value from that pre-social media era. The local blogging world was all male and white and cishet. Most of them stopped blogging long ago. But here I am along with the likes of Alvin McEwen and Dana Ruldolph.

In part, this feels like ageism. I come from a different era of online engagement. I use modern platforms, absolutely. But I’m still my authentic self. I couldn’t begin to explain ‘reach’ or ‘key metrics’ and I can barely spell algorithm.

My age, my blogger approach to the online world, my OG style of engagement shouldn’t be used to punish me. There’s room for multiple ways of moving about the interwebs.

So I am going to do what I do while observing the accepted courtesies. Hurling accusations and snide suggestions that I’m not showing up for the creator community is actually something I’ve death with for 20 years. Actually, I’ve worked through it for 20 years.

But the next time someone comes for me because I didn’t like their post, I’m going to simply share my blog URL and move on.

PS: I am not a Boomer, I’m solid Gen X.