In prelude to the launch of Bitterroot, I’ve been spending time navigating various social media platforms in hopes of coming up with a strategy. Marketing. Ugh. We hate that word, right? In my digital travels, however, instead of landing on a salient promotional gameplan, I’ve been sucked down into the Wonderland of this awesome new debate: influencer versus creator—and more broadly, the birth of multiple niche cultures (as opposed to the binary of normative versus counter culture).
Along with the squirm away from outright huckstering in favor of informed suggesting, apparently, the era of Instragram perfection is stuttering to a close; social media burnout is real.
And man, aren’t those millennial mommies who’ve been pimping their kids on Insta for the influencer buck (brand partnerships is the euphemistic term) freaking out.
Ergo, my novel-in-progress. (Although, progress is a stretch, as I’ve just got an outline so far.) The theme I’m interested in exploring is how today’s moms have the same impulses they’ve always had (remember when scrap-booking was all the rage?), but the tools today can be had at the click of a filter button. And the nefarious element (let’s call them pedophiles) has far greater access to potential targets. It’s not that the stage mom mentality has become more ubiquitous, it’s that there are now far more avenues to commodifying that urge. Back when I was a wee bairn, photos were black-and-white and taken only in prelude to Christmas, so there’d be something to send to the grandparents. Here I am in Vienna, with my 22-year-old mother and a box. But there was still something performative and staged, you know?
If you’re of a certain age, remember the show, Truth or Consequences? I loved watching Bob Barker make fools out of the guests. Even then, my favorite flavor was irony. Anyway, watch the first six minutes of this 1960’s clip. The impulse to pimp the kiddies was alive and well.
Imagine, if you will, today’s version of that baby crawl race. I see a “reel” replete with mockery similar to the recent whapping-babies-with-American-cheese-slices craze.
Anyway, my quest for social media prowess has been hijacked by inspiration for the next book. And I’m not sorry.
Geez. This is a section of Tiktok I haven't explored. Love the perspective from the old B/W video though. Pimping out the kids vs entertainment, right.
I had an idea a while back for a Munchausen by proxy Mom soliciting donations for her "sick" child online. This has to have already happened. I believe I'll take a break from the big story and finally give this a spin.