Lily Snyder

Welcome to day 2 of Blogtober! That time of year where bloggers post daily throughout the month of October.

You may have noticed that yesterday’s video was not hosted on YouTube. I tried to upload it to Bitchute but the site was having issues. I finally got it to process today.

I think we have a lot of alternatives to social media. People went from Facebook to Instagram, Snapchat to Tik Tok. What about video though? YouTube still reigns supreme. Let’s not forget, YouTube is owned by Google.

I’ve been listening to troubling happenings at YouTube for a while now. Censorship, content creators punished over words used, and demonetization issues. Most recently, Steven Crowder’s channel was ghosted by YouTube. Searching for his name returned none of his channel’s videos. This seemed to only be happening in the USA.

Is Bitchute the answer? Probably not (I can’t get the video to embed on WordPress for one). But it’s up to the people to support the next best thing, the up and coming new platform. That’s the beauty of the internet. We have a voice and we should use it while we still can.

Where is the alternative to Facebook Groups?

I’m part of a few organizations that have Facebook Group “communities”. All their members are on Facebook and all the participation happens there. I knew when I deleted by Facebook account I would no longer have access but I didn’t realize how many organizations depend on Facebook!

For instance, I’m supposed to talk about this week’s podcast challenge question in their Facebook group. Since I don’t have a Facebook account I’m going to talk about it here.

If you’re an organization or company, don’t put all your community eggs in one basket.

Check out sites like Might Networks to build your own online community without being throttled by Facebook.

A Mighty Network is a totally new way to build a community-powered business. It’s the only way to bring together a community, your online courses, and so much more–all in one place, all under your brand, available on every platform.

Via mightynetworks.com

Describe a podcast to someone who has never heard of them

A podcast is any audio medium. It can be a daily show, episode based, or released once a year. Podcasts are normally free to listen too. Although, I did pay for Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History segment, Wrath of the Khans. As you may know, I have a slight fascination with Genghis Khan and Mongols.

Podcasts are also a way to expand your audience. YouTubers, like Tim Pool from the video above, launched his own podcast. It’s the audio from his YouTube video segments of the day put together in one long episode.

Most people think of interviews when they think of podcasts but they are becoming more creative. I’ve come across some bloggers whose podcasts are of the blogger reading their post. I experimented with this idea but it was harder than it seemed.

Why Podcast?

I think what draws me to podcasting is that it’s an opportunity to practice my Toastmaster speaking skills. I have to admit, I am a little paranoid of having my voice out there. People do crazy things on the internet like voice manipulation or using it to hack into your bank account.

I heard one story on the radio (old fashioned radio) of how the Chinese government identified a Chinese citizen who was speaking out from their voice. Their face was covered but since their voice wasn’t, they were still identified.

What are your favorite types of podcasts? Do you think social media’s Big Tech are out of control? Let me know in the comments below!

Featured Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash