Social Media = Not Very Cowboy
I’m writing on my new blog every day for thirty days straight. This is the seventeenth one.Valentine Pish moved from Czechoslovakia to Texas back near the turn of the 19th century. I don’t know many specifics about my Great Grandpa. I know that he lived in a small town in East Texas named Yoakum. I know that he was a driven man, wanting to start a new life in the land of opportunity. I know that he raised Alois Pish to be one of the strongest men that I’ve ever known. And today at 98, Alois, my grandpa, is the standard of a man to which I hold myself.
I’ve found that writing a blog for thirty days straight isn’t really too bad. I’ve got plenty of stories and opinions. The hard thing has always been figuring out if I want to share those stories and opinions. That’s why I started this challenge. I said to myself, “I’ll do thirty days and see if I like it or not.” Opening myself up like this isn’t normal. Some of my favorite characters in movies are the strong, silent heroes. Right now I’m watching Longmire, and Sheriff Longmire is the prototypical strong, silent hero. He does his job. He doesn’t look for any recognition. He doesn’t go talking to people about his feelings. He doesn’t even own a cell phone or use the Internet. He reminds me of my Grandpa.I’d love to be that kind of person, but here I am in the middle of a 30-day blog challenge where I feel like some days I’m talking more about my job than actually doing my job. I’m consistently sharing my feelings to the public. And I don’t think I’m looking for recognition, but I’m posting all of this on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - and I definitely check multiple times throughout the day to see how many likes, favorites, and retweets I’ve gotten. The hypocrisy is ripe.I’ve been told that sometimes, when casting roles in movies, casting directors will use an actors number of followers on Instagram as the deciding factor. So. They tell us that social media can make or a break a career. So. Here I am. I’m inserting myself into this social media self-promotion machine, but it makes me feel uncomfortable when I want to be more like Valentine Pish and Walt Longmire.I honestly don't know how to end this post. I don't really have a strong answer, opinion, or story to stick the landing. So let’s do something else. Let's assume that people read my blog. Let’s go a step farther and assume that other actors read this specific post. I’m going to ask those actors a question, and you can comment here, on Facebook, or on Instagram: what are your thoughts on social media as an actor? How do you approach social media for your career? How do you stay consistent without feeling like you’re oversharing? Any opinions are welcome.