I posted a series of memes last week that showcased my utter delight at the schadenfreude of Meta effectively being bullied into rolling back one of their new AI features just days after its launch.
And yesterday, I had my branding photoshoot 📸
These two things seem completely unrelated, right? But I promise they're not. Let me explain: Social media that centers community can change lives.
Last week, Meta (you know, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp) released a feature called Muse that automatically opted users in to having their likeness and voice used to create AI content.
We all know it's standard practice for tech companies to mine their users for data (if you're not the customer, you're the product, right?), but in this particular case, the feature was such a gross theft of personal identity, and the backlash was so swift from all levels of society, that users were effectively able to bully Meta into discontinuing the feature just by coming together to say “ABSOLUTELY THE FUCK NOT."
That's the power of community working together. We can make change on a global scale, and social media makes that possible.
AND. We can also make change on a smaller scale, focused on our local communities and impacting individual people's lives.
For those who have been following my branding photo shoot saga, you may know that I was originally scheduled to take my photos in mid-May ... but the venue my photogrpher and I had picked shut down due to a fire.
Actual footage of me dealing with this news:
They said they'd reopen in a few weeks, so we rescheduled for the beginning of June ... and then my kid was in the hospital.
Actual footage of me balancing life, work, and a hospital stay:
Then it was ✨wedding season✨, so both my photographer and the makeup artist I'd hired to make sure I didn't look like a drowned rat in my photos were booked for the entire month of June, so we rescheduled for July 21.
AND THEN, just days before we were scheduled to shoot, my photographer went to visit the original venue again ... and they had closed. PERMANENTLY.
I was fully spiraling. Like maybe this photo shoot wasn't supposed to happen? Maybe my business wasn't supposed to happen? Maybe I should just shut it all down and call it a day because what the FUCK, universe??
My photographer was so great. She was in my DMs suggesting other venues that she had used with other clients, or who she had good relationships with, who she knew would be photo-friendly, and who she thought might be able to accommodate us on short notice.
But me? I took to social media. (Naturally.)
I posted on Threads with a summary of the drama and a plea: We need a place for photos. PLEASE.
And y'all ... one of my mutuals came through. Now mind you, this is a person who I have never met IRL. We connected last year when I first opened Golden Poppy Digital and she was looking for social media services in advance of starting her own business. Life changed, and we didn't end up working together, but she saw my post and sent me a DM offering her apartment building's community room.
And when I tell you this space was PERFECT 😍 There were bookshelves. There was a comfy couch. There were cafe tables. There was a rooftop garden. For two days' advance notice, I couldn't have asked for a better setting.
That's the power of community showing up for each other. We may not have changed the world, but this almost-stranger made a tangible difference in my life by seeing my need, offering her help, and ultimately both reducing my stress and supporting my business.
This is why I firmly believe that social media can be used for social good. Is it a bummer to have to use platforms that line the pockets of unethical billionaires? Of course. But there are ways we can use these tools to foster connection, create community, and uplift messages that genuinely make the world a better place.
And in both these cases, that's exactly what we did 🧡
