Probably Why You Hate Brands On Social Media

So apparently the way to go about writing is to do so drunk then edit sober. Here I will attempt both in not the latter state. #YOLO.

The other day I had a thing on Twitter with someone who said community managers are making social media, more specifically Twitter, shit because of their rubbish content. While I understand where he is coming from, it is wrong. And I will attempt to explain why.

You so, community managers (social media people) are very limited in the content they post. Well, to an extent at least. The thing about social media is that it is quite a personal thing. You have people expressing their opinions and what not in a personal capacity. This leads to other people engaging in that and so on. The problem comes in when brands try and "fit in".
While brands want to be people, they are still very much brands. This is no fault of the community manager. We understand people and we understand brands, we are also hired to bridge that gap which is not alway possible. Let me explain even more...

The community manager will write an awesome content plan. A content plan is a document that basically has every post written a month prior to posting. This content plan goes through a whole process before it is approved to be put in the internet. I will explain this more now...

Step 1:
Community manager writes a month's worth of content. The posts are awesome, funny, risque in some circumstances, and very much human. This is from the perspective of a person who spends a substantial amount of time online and observing their communities - you people.
These ideas are rad for the most part. Well, I think so at least.

Step 2:
The content plan is then passed on to the next step of the process. Usually the account manager or client service person who understands where the community manager is coming from but also understands what the brand wants. They have to find a middle ground before the client receives their content plan. These people usually want to have the cool content (human stuff) happen, but unfortunately there is still one more step... They will come back to the community manager with reverts and advice on changes that will please the client. This is where it gets a bit more bleh.

Step 3:
Hold on I just need to check on my roast potatoes.

Real Step 3:
The client. 
You see, more often than not the client is a person who doesn't completely understand social media. They just know that it is important and they need it, which, in this day and age, they do.
They are usually more worried about what will sell their product, whether the content is in the "brand tone", and whether the content it is safe or not. This is where the problem lies, because these people don't always understand that social media is quite a personal thing they don't understand that the brand tone needs to be adapted to a more natural, conversational tone.

The Community Manager At This Point In The Process

Are we still on the same page?
If not, holla at me.

Ultimately you want brands to not talk to you in a generic, high level and bland tone. You want them to talk to you like you would with any of your friends or followers. The thing is that brands cover such a broad spectrum of followers that it's quite difficult to be a cool person as a brand and appeal to everyone –
Having said that, some brands have it down. Those brands are usually a lot smaller and a lot more niche so they have a better idea of who is in their their community.

A brand is very much like a musician. It has its own way of saying things, its own outlook on life. And much like musicians, not everyone likes the same music. Some people understand some types of music while others just don't because it's not their thing.
I may have gone astray, but the point is that a lot of the time so much has changed from where the Twitter post you might see compared to where it starts. In the same way that a musician might have a great idea for a song, but by the time the record label and producer sees it they will have changed it to make it work for the listener. The only difference being the client of the community manager will more often than not know less about the industry and the audience than the producer and record label will.

Are we still on the same page?
If not, holla at me.

So when you see a shitty post from a brand on Twitter, take a second to process that the original idea may have been different. Also, the person you are ranting to is not the brand, it is a human. The postman between you and the brand. 

I've lost count of the amount of times I've wanted to tell people to fuck off simply because f the horrible tone and abusive language they use. Remember, these platforms are still run by humans and these humans merely represent the brand, they are not the brand. So chill. 

Pro Tip:
The next time you see a promoted Tweet, hover your cursor over the ad, click on the little x where it says "dismiss" and you can carry o living your life.

PS.
Stay lekker.

PSS.
Jon Snow dies.

An Open Letter To Vegans

Dear, vegans and some vegetarians.

I have been confronted by any of you over my years of existence and am even friends with some. There is a complete mutual understanding between myself and my vegetarian/vegan friends. 
We love you and your enthusiasm but the problem arises when sometimes your enthusiasm comes across as a little too aggressive.
You see, us meat eaters completely understand where you come from and I will admit that the modern day processes are not ideal. We love animals just as much as you do and we want to cuddle them and pet them too. We even have pets, I know right?
I make an effort to eat as many vegetables as I can and regularly have meat-free meals. In fact, as I type this I am feasting on a moist, juicy and scrumptious roast potato. But as a human being with canines I feel it is beneficial to my diet to consume a certain amount of meat as we have been doing since the dawn of time. The problem is that now humans have become so greedy that we have taken over the planet and raped it of all it's vegetation, some of which is used in your every day lives. That's not cool, I will admit. 
I want to free all the cows and pigs and chickens from their pens and let them live happy care-free lives, but I also want to eat some of them. I don't see this as "wrong" or a savage act. If you hadn't known any better or lived in an Amish community with not ties to the outside world you would probably see eating meat as normal. In fact, you would probably have to slaughter your own beast to obtain that meat anyway. I guess that is neither here nor there.

Again, I'm not saying any of that is right, but I'm also not saying it's wrong. If we were to free all the animals in the world that were raised for consumption we would be left with an overpopulation of animals breeding at a rapid rate. We would also have less air to breath because cow farts and burps are pretty toxic and will poison our precious oxygen supply, much like the car you drive does or the paper mill that supplies you paper does or the smoke caused by your furious online rants.

Unfortunately in this modern world there is no turning back. There is only slowing down.  I will compromise and live a meat-free Monday from now on. Maybe if we all did it would make a significant change, but let's face it, we will never stop eating meat. We always have eaten eat and we always will.

Maybe one day we can resort to eating human meat to save a few more animals, but I don't see that going down too well with the general population.
See, I'm no scientist but I do know there are certain health benefits from not eating meat and I know there are certain health benefits if you do eat meat. To me, neither are less healthy, one is just a whole lot more tasty.

I urge you to keep fighting you fight, just fight it in a nicer way than most of you are now. For instance, don't go to a restaurant that only serves bacon and then complain about it when you don't eat meat in the first place. Humans have many differences and we have adjusted and learned to live with each other's differences so please, just be a nice human and live with those who don't follow the same practices that you do. You don't really have a choice... well, you do, but killing people on a mass scale is frowned upon, especially considering current affairs. And please, stop calling us murderers, because we aren't, we're humans just like you. 

Much love;
Ricki and the meat eaters.

PS. Here is a picture of a steak.

What is music even?

Firstly, excuse the fat body of text, blogger is blocked at work so I wrote this on my phone...

Musical taste, much like food, is something different for everyone. Everyone has been through a phase of loving a type so much that anyone who says anything against it makes you rage. But why?

I played in a metal band for the better part of 8 years and for those of you know know metalheads you'll know what they think of anything that isn't metal. In the same breath, metalheads love their music more than most people. The difference is they will refuse to accept. 

Anyway, I got to a point where I felt the need to explore other musical avenues. Enter pop, dance music, folk and acoustic, everything! I grew up on classic rock, radio music and adult contemporary and further on punk. I think that listening to music from the likes of The Eagles to Boyz II Men to Joe Cocker and Tina Turner planted a seed in my mind that would only grow into a colourful hybrid of a musical tree later in life.

Music is music in whatever form you may find it. It all has a beat, be it fast or slow, it all has melody whether it's technical or even a simple groove. It's the same, just packaged differently. It's a little sad that people can be so mad/annoyed at each other for liking different types of music. 

I'd like to put forward a little experiment. One day when you're home alone or one evening after work. Mail a bunch of your friends with different tastes in music. Say, 5 friends, get them to send you 2 or 3 of their favourite songs across their favourite genres or just their 3 favourite songs ever. Take those songs and add them to a playlist then find yourself a comfortable couch, bed, floor to zone out on, hit shuffle and just let it happen. If you don't have friends then go find a rad playlist of random music on YouTube. 

LISTEN to the music. Close your eyes and let your ears take you past the annoying voices and weird sounds you may hear at first and you will find something else, something that repeats an awesome groove, or beat or melody. Every song has it but we don't always hear it because we don't want to listen. The key to appreciating any type of music is to listen to everything in it. Find the drums, find the separate instruments and vocal harmonies. I guarantee you there will be something in there that will catch your ear and possibly even blow your mind.

I'd like to hear your results, so if you like please do leave a comment. I truly believe that everyone can like any type of music, or at least appreciate it for what it is without dismissing it completely - There's something good in everything.  
Let's share experiences, let's enjoy each other's brains.

The State Of Social Media Continued

I'm just people watching the other people watching me. These are more things I have observed. Feel free to add more observations.


The Graphic Image Sharers

*Warning may upset sensitive viewers.
These people find joy in sharing the siffest, most horrifying images of death and injury. This makes spending your lunch break on Facebook a little less appetising. 

Fitness People

You're making me feel bad about all the pizza I eat and the exercise I don't do. But it's okay because I'm good at other things... like eating pizza. Keep it up.

Parents

Like and comment on every photo. Ask weird questions that are visible to everyone and basically make you relive high school only online.
Also chat to us about those privacy settings... <3 

The  Hungover

These people feel very sorry for themselves, even though it's all their fault. 

The self pity is strong and more time is being spent on telling the world how horrible they feel and none on fixing the actual problem. We've all been there.

The Fadnatics

These people, including myself, jump onto topics of conversation for the sake of not being left out. I'll be the first to say I don't know shit about boxing, but I hoped Manny Pacquiao would win.

Wannabe Bloggers

Hi, my name is Ricki.

The State Of Social Media... Kind Of.

As you may or may not know, I flippin' love Twitter. As of late my beloved platform has taken a dramatic shift. not a great one, I must add.
I tweet a lot, more than most, I guess. But as much as I tweet I also observe. 

My job is in social media so I spend a good 6-8 hours a day online looking into trends, people's behaviour and all sorts of internetty shit, and there are a few things I have noticed. I'm not sure how I'm going to express these "opinions" without being too blunt. But I feel it's something that everyone knows about and no one really talks about. Well, some of these things at least, and it's these things that are making the internet less fun.
*Keep in mind that these points are not twitter specific. They exist on every social media platform imaginable. 


Trolls

Everyone loves a good troll now and then. I myself have been on a few rampages but have really tried to keep away from such behaviour.
I lesson we've all be taught but have not always practices is "If you don't have anything nice to say don;t say anything at all". This should be rule number one of the internet. Have your opinion, but you can do that without being a dick. We're all adults, for the most part, so I don't see why we wouldn't act as such.
I guess the veil of anonymity is something people get a kick out of. This doesn't make you powerful at all, it makes you weak... if your opinion is so strong you should be strong enough to stand behind your opinion in your own capacity, not behind a fake name and cartoon picture. No one likes you.

The Happiness Haters

These people are my favourite. I'm also being really sarcastic. 

These people find "joy" in talking down on people who project general happiness among all the clutter of news and rage. Yes, motivational posts can get a bit overboard now and then, but it's negative sentiment to genuinely happy people that gets me down.
I've recently been a victim of this. I use the word "victim" very lightly - I wouldn't want to make you think I feel sorry for myself for it. I don't.
Live and let live. How can these peoples' happiness possibly have such a negative effect on your life? You know where the unfollow/mute/block button is, use it. Until then, here's a happy dance for you.

The Everything Haters

Who hurt you? Talk to us, we're here to help. Yes, opinions are cool, but being an asshole isn't cool. Just chill.
That is all I have to say in this matter. 

"Naysayers"

Much like everyone is entitled to their own opinions, people are entitled to their own beliefs. Now, before anyone gets offended, this is a two way road. If you cannot have a civil conversation about what ever belief it is you are against then don't even bother. Just block or unfollow and move on. It's really okay.
I do not see the need to talk down and ridicule people based on their beliefs. If I think the world was created by a giant crab and when I die I will go live in a giant oyster shell under the sea, why can't I? Who are you to tell me I can't think that. And who am I to tell you that you can't think what you think. We can all think for ourselves, so let others think for themselves too. We're all here now so there's no point in arguing about how we got here or where we'll go when we're done. We just don't know for sure. Let's just be friends while we're alive.

Subtweeters

These are my absolute favourites. I'm also being very sarcastic. They're not...

Once again, I've done this, but I don't see the point. We're all grown ups here (I think) so act like it. Conversation is one of the greatest things in life and subtweeting defeats the whole point of being in social media. note the word "Social"... My dear friend Merriam-Webster can help you here:

social: \ˈsō-shəl\ - relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other.- liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people- of or relating to people or society in general

If you don't like conversing with people or being with them, log off and go read a book or something. 

The Creeps

Now this is a major one. Sadly some people might not even realise they fall in this category as it differs between the people they engage with.
Basically these are the people that make other leave the internet. They are the ones who are the first to favourite every tweet, double tap every instagram post, like every Facebook page. Yes by following that person I guess you do have the right to do so, but it really doesn't come across as healthy. These people infiltrate every social circle somehow and it's just plain weird. I'm sorry. It's this obsessive behaviour that makes people, especially girls, too nervous to tweet or post anything regularly. Again, chill. You can look from a distance, you don't need to like and comment on ev-ry-thing-ah. Again, you might need to log off a bit and discover the outside world and find more things to enjoy. I don't know.

In closing I must reiterate that these are things I have noticed myself and things I have heard others bring up in real life conversations (aka IRL). So I can't be too far off.
Long story short, don't be a dick, be rad and treat people the way you would like to be treated. Unless you like to be treated like an asshole then don't even bother.

Until next time. Be awesome. 

Are You Gin?

It's pretty safe to say that gin has very much become "a thing" recently in Cape Town. From what was thought to be an old person;s drink to one of the trendiest cocktail ingredients known to man.I ain't complaining, it's probably one of the most refreshing drinks to have on a hot summer's day. Gin and tonic garnished with cucumber you - can't get much more fresh than that even if you're Will Smith.

I was invited to join Gordon's Gin #GordonsLegend winner Andrew Mphore at Mother's Ruin Gin Bar on the first of his many adventures in the week to come.
Andrew won Gordon's Gin's Legends competition, the prize consisted of 50 000 SA Ront and a week in Cape Town with a whole list of incredible activities and gin included. How rad?
Now Andrew is a police man from Johannesburg so that already is something to high five him for. He also donated 10% of his winnings to charity out of his own will. The world needs more people like this. So well deserved, man!

Upon arrival we were treating to a fresh gin and tonic with a choice of awesome garnish from cucumber to lime to mango and mint. I went for the grapefruit* which brings out the dryness of the tonic and gin and adds that oh-so-lovely grapefruit tang. I then proceeded to eat the left over orange slices... I don't know why.
We got chatting about the difference of life in Joburg vs Cape Town and discovered that Andrew served at a police station that I lived near to for a few years. We're basically best friends now.
*Fact: Grapefruit is in fact not related to grapes at all. 

Now "London dry gin" does not mean it was distilled in London as the name may suggest. It is purely the way in which it's distilled that gives it that name. Traditionally twice distilled and made with juniper berries to give it that ginny taste. It's basically vodka distilled with something to give it an awesome flavour – it could be fynbos which gives local gin Inverroche its taste a dark, coppery colour even rosemary and black olives in the case of Gin Mare out of Spain.
Mother's Ruin manager, Mark, gave us the low down on all these things. Now, I wish the Gin Mare bottle wasn't empty because the rosemary/black olive small just leaves you wondering how great it tastes. Apparently Mark took the last bit home from the bar because it was just too good to sell.

Mark giving the lesson

I've worked with quite a few distilleries of all kinds but there's something about gin that just gets me all tingly. It's versatile, fresh and just a great all-round drink.
To end off the night I was treated to the James Bond Martini, AKA Vesper, as published in the 1953 Ian Fleming James Bonf book, Casino Royale. I thought it was pretty rad how Mr Bond asked for the gin in his drink by name. Maybe that was when blegging started?

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

—Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, Chapter 7, "Rouge et Noir'

It's a drink that'll put hair on your chest, and a great way to end a night. Big love to Gordon's Gin for letting me in on this experience. If you've never given gin a go, try it once at least. Gin, tonic and a slice or two of cucumber will not leave you disappointed.
If you find yourself in Cape Town, visit Mother's Ruin Gin Bar in Bree street for a world of gin. They have it all!
Until next time.

It's Happy Time!

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally feel like I have a better understanding of life. Okay it happened a few months ago. Now not to say I know the meaning of it, or my purpose, but I know that what makes me happy is happiness. In every form possible. 

It differs for everyone, but it's there. Life can be kak like, really kak at times. I get that, so before anyone says "ah, but like, you don't consider other peoples' situation, man"; just woah, bru. Of course I do, it would be stupid not to. Your situation could be completely awesome or it could be completely horrible, but there is something there that will lift you up and make you happy even if it's just for a moment. 

Okay, if you watched that video, I realise it looks like a hashtag campaign with help from a major corporation. So what, that's not the point. The point is that it's a simple concept and it exists off line too – just make shit rad. This kid has made a difference in my life in the message he spreads. Just be rad and radness will spread.

*Why complain about how shit a band is, rather say how awesome a band you love is. It will probably make a better difference in that a lot of people are more likely to agree with you on that, and in turn, create a happy conversation that is more pleasurable for everyone to scroll past and enjoy themselves.
*That instance was not taken from a particular instance, it is just the easiest to explain.

Let people be happy for their things and be happy for yours. Why do anything else? There's really no point. People will always stick up for you and have your back in tough situations. Being more positive in general just makes it easier for other people to do that. It's how we get to know each other. We may be a bunch of randoms on the internet or a new group of friends, we just need to be "co-people" - some movie I can't remember right now. 

Take this post for what you want. It just made me happy to put it out there. You decided to read it, so decide what you do with it from here on out. 

In close, check this out too. The dude makes sense. 

Stay awesome and #MakeItHappy.

The Story So far

What better time to write than when on holiday, when your mind is clear and you have no every day troubles eating away at your mind. Plus it's about damn time. 

I've been living in Cape town since July. And I fucking love it. Not because of the lovely surroundings and endless supply of obnoxious food and drink. Or the convenience of having everything within a few steps away from your front door. Or the fact that there's something do to every day of the week, or even if you're flat broke you can still have a good time somewhere somehow.
I love it because I have figured out who I am. I've learned to much about what I like and dislike, what it's like to be a lone in a  big city and having to fend for myself.  Some might say "what took you so long", to that I say this is simply my time. It happens earlier for some but it took me this long. 
I see life in a completely new light now. 

Of course I miss friends and family, but I've made new friends and family in Cape Town. I feel like I have the support I need, even though people are all busy with their own lives there will always be someone ready to lend a hand, ear, car. And of course, there's still the knowledge and support that comes from back home. Thank you guys for being there!

I've discovered so much through music too. Since before I moved I had been in talks with my CT bestie Alain about getting his and his brother's project, Veladraco, off the ground. Things are finally rolling. We have a band, we're practicing, Alain is writing like a machine and we're set to play our first show in January. Hold thumbs for us.

Musically speaking, my mind is open to so much more. I like to think I've always have a good tolerance for music no matter what type it is. There's no form of music I can say I hate. I just dislike Rihanna's voice a little.
In a city full of culture and sounds you are bound to come across new and amazing noises. The more music I listen to, the more I learn about myself through lyrics. I've heard so many songs I can relate to across the spectrum of music. This is something I cherish so much and I look forward to discovering the endless supply of music out there.

This girl gets me

I've become a stronger person through realising that not everything is about myself. The things you or I do can affect people in the hugest ways. Sometimes you learn the hard way, other times it hits you right there in the moment. I appreciate everyone that has entered my life since my move. There are some people that I cannot thank enough for being in my life. People from different paths who have lessons to share, people who love and care so much. I hope I can do the same for you all too. 

I look forward to adventuring into the future with everything that I have gathered on my journey so far. And I hope that I can take everyone with me so we can be free and live the lives we want to live. 

I guess form all of this I realise the significance of people. As much as the general public "hate humans" we are good beings. It just takes a little more effort to look deeper and understand why people do things in certain ways.

I'm really working hard to get rid of the word "hate" and to not spread negativity at all. It sounds all hippie and peace-loving stoner, but it's true. I've discovered so much more through taking time to understand why people do things and why they think the way they do. 

We've developed this culture of negativity and hate, and not having time for things we don't like, even though we haven't given those things enough light of day to undertsand them. 

"The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate ,hate. I'm just gonna shake, shake shake, shake, shake. Shake it off!"

2014 has been one fucking crazy roller coaster ride for me. Thanks to all those who have jumped on and helped slow the speeding train to a nice cruising pace. I look forward to this journey with you all.

I leave you with a cheesy quote from one of my greatest heroes, Tom Delonge, out of the Angels and Airwaves song Rite of Spring: "And every day I wake, I tell myself a little harmless lie: The whole wide world is mine."

What is even how?

I don't even know why I have a blog. 

Maybe I was peer pressured into it. But by who? I have no reason to really have thins. I could write about things I think are cool. But who cares? I'm so not cool. 
People are funny on blogs, I guess. They talk about things that they've experienced, so I guess I could do that. Come to think of it they have probably thought all of these things too. But who am I to assume such a thing? Perhaps they have it all figured out and that's why people read their posts and look forward to every installment. 
My spelling isn't even that good.

I moved to Cape Town, I could write about that. I hope I used that comma correctly. Life's just going, bru. I always seem to be doing someting but t the same time I'm also doing a lot of nothing. So it's not like I have an excuse not to "blog" more. What a silly words too. Blog. Blog.

Blog.

We tweet the silliest things. It's awesome, but why do we do it? I love it though. But why? 

Funny thing. I was at this point that I stopped to tweet about how I have no idea what I'm doing and I received confirmation on this very subject. Thanks Leigh!

Okay. So now that I know that at east one other person has thought this, why am I ever writing about this?

Maybe I'll find my"path through life on the internet. But do I even need one at all? Why do we do this?


#Moist

#UltraMal

I'm loving it here. The people have been great, so welcoming and hospitable.
I'm two weeks into my new job and have been loving that too.
I experienced my first real office party on Friday which turned out being one of the coolest ones I've attended. Let's just say I may have left an impression.

Hawaiian office jol

It was my birthday last week and I felt all the love from near and far. From family and friends at home to the new ones I've made here. Thank you all for being such incredible human beings. 

This week brings even more excitement and is the last step in ultimate radness. I move into my new apartment! I finally managed to find a place to stay. It's in the CBD, I can basically see my office from my lounge and I am one step closer to nearing my dream of a carless existence. Unless it rains...

I really have enjoyed my time here so far. It hasn't been long but it has been real. My musical endeavours are kicking off, I'm falling into routines as one should, I guess. Everything is becoming more normal. I see good things, I'm inspired, I'm driven and I'm lone ranger. The master of my own universe. I hope I can lead myself to great things. I feel it.

<3