Newstex Blog
Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of hand-wringing about the effect of ‘cancel culture.’ Hardly a day goes by without some well-known person or company being excoriated for something they’ve done or said, whether it’s Lizzo being condemned for her alleged treatment of her backup dancers or Bud Light being criticized for working with a trans influencer. It’s easy to be angry on the Internet. Whatever your beliefs, you can find plenty of people who seem to stand against everything you hold dear, and it can feel cathartic to share your rage with the world. For creators, this can be an intimidating environment, and it can feel like you have to walk on eggshells to avoid ending up in the digital pillory. But the good news is that it’s possible to be authentic without constantly having to look over your shoulder.
If you’ve read any advice for content creators, chances are you’ve seen countless discussions about the importance of creating a personal brand. Now the word ‘brand’ may conjure up images of lavish marketing campaigns and influencers hawking their latest merch. But branding doesn’t have to look like that. On the contrary, it’s possible to have a perfectly serviceable brand without those things. In this post, I’m going to talk about my experiences developing my own brand as a specialist blogger.
The other day, a friend was complaining that their blog posts weren’t getting the level of attention they wanted. As I learned more about their content, I began to see why they might struggle to stand out from the crowd. They only seemed to use secondary sources while leaving primary sources untouched. I think there are a lot of content creators like my friend. They know research is important, but they don’t understand the importance of using a balanced array of sources. In this post, I’ll be talking about primary sources and how they can help you produce better, more authoritative content.
This post is the third installment in our series aimed at specialist bloggers. In the past two installments, I’ve talked about choosing topics and editing. Today, we’ll be looking at research. This can be a daunting prospect for a lot of creators. Many people have told me they never did open-ended research projects when they were in school. In many cases, they worked with curated lists of sources provided by their instructors. But when they have to scope out sources entirely on their own, they feel more than a little unprepared. Hopefully, by explaining my research process, I can make it a lot less mystifying and intimidating.
The Vicar of Dibley is one of my favorite TV shows. It’s about a female Anglican priest named Geraldine Granger (played by Dawn French) who serves a parish deep in the English countryside. I was recently rewatching “The Christmas Lunch Incident” and there’s a scene where Geraldine is freaking out because it’s Christmas Eve and she still doesn’t have her sermon written. “Right, now some frightening facts,” she says. “It’s the biggest gig of the year. It’s a one-woman show. There’s 12 hours to go. I have no ideas at all.”
This is the second installment of our two-part series on digital communication (you can read part 1 here). In this post, we’ll be looking at challenges in digital communication, its social/emotional aspects, and the importance of being a good digital citizen.
Despite being a fundamental part of human existence, it can be easy to overlook the importance of communicating. After all, it’s all around us, from the fussing of a hungry baby to a billboard selling fulfillment through consumerism. It wasn’t long ago that most of humanity lacked any kind of platform beyond the people in their immediate vicinity. Now, however, many of us are just a few mouse-clicks away from being heard by the whole wide world. But while this affords us a wealth of opportunities, it also requires creators to demonstrate new levels of agility in order to succeed.
This is the second part of our series about digital literacy and the mastery of creating content online.
The Agony and the Ecstasy is one of my all-time favorite films. Based on actual events, it’s a lavish period drama about the relationship between Michelangelo Buonarroti (played by Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (played by Rex Harrison). Although Michelangelo considers himself a sculptor first and foremost, Julius forces him to paint the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. This conflict highlights a dilemma that has bedeviled creators for centuries. Since they often needed the support of powerful patrons in order to create, the wishes of their patron often took precedence over their own. Thankfully, the digital age has tipped the scales in favor of creators. It’s now easier than ever for creators to produce work that aligns with their distinctive vision, but it also adds new challenges. Content creation in the 21st century requires a solid understanding of digital literacy. This article is the first installment of a two-part series looking at content creation.
The mimic is one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most iconic monsters. They are protean creatures that can take on the appearance of inanimate objects such as chests. If someone unwary attempts to open the chest, it springs to life and attacks. Savvy adventurers learn that not everything is as it seems, and they need to pay careful attention to their surroundings if they hope to avoid an ambush. Alas, the Internet can feel like a dungeon filled to the brim with mimics. Anyone can be taken in by misinformation or disinformation, which is why it’s imperative that we carefully evaluate the information we find online. This is particularly true if you’re an authoritative content creator, as drawing on false information will inevitably erode your credibility.
Whether you’re an influencer or an academic, having a solid online persona is essential. It’s the lens through which your readers will view your work, and just as you wouldn’t show up to a job interview in cutoff shorts and a t-shirt with a dirty joke, you also don’t want your online persona to undermine your credibility. My colleague Jason wrote an article on the subject last month, but today we’re going to look at some specific tips to help you perfect your online persona, including the use of curated pieces of content and the promotion of thought leadership.
