054. Elon's Not the Problem. We Are.

The fact that you love to read means you have the skills to use the interwebs more effectively--what are you waiting for?

This current ruckus about Elon Musk, Twitter, censorship, disinformation, bias, online influencers and the ‘public square’ has got me thinking about the first time that something I wrote went viral. It was in 2010, it was a piece about the end of my marriage for Salon, and it kicked off a pretty significant, for me anyway, online shitstorm.

In those days, the best way to get a book deal in the creative nonfiction/memoir category was to get in to the New York Times “Modern Love” column. It was the period of time just after an unknown writer could get a book deal by blogging (e.g. The Julie/Julia Project) and right before an unknown writer could get a book deal by tweeting (e.g. Sh*t My Dad Says). The writing form for “Modern Love” was very clear: 750 words, a hook, a description of a challenge or ‘conflict’ that was broadly about love in one way or another, a plot twist that revealed an opportunity for personal growth on the part of the writer, and a resolution of the conflict caused …