I like that title. It has kind of a “The World According to Garp” feel. (And no, Google or whoever you are. I do not mean Gary.)
While there have been many social media experiments, 🔬, this is the only one that has been conducted by a Christopher Beyers, just like while there are many worlds, there has been only one accorded to by a Garp.
Wait. That’s not right.
Anyway, I recently branched out into Threads trying to sell books. And I’ve very quickly discovered the intense backlash to generative AI on Threads by my fellow author/poet/artists.
Which is great. I share that vibe.
Except apparently the em dash—which I’m using right now, to illustrate a point—is a “tell” that you are an entrepreneur and/or disgusting cheat, depending on which side of the AI debate you’re on (the human side, or the side of the stupid, dirty, content-stealing robots). That’s discouraging. I knew if I looked hard enough I could find some em dashes in The Second Coming of Christina. As in, in the first draft, written in 2013 in this three-ring spiral-bound notebook (shown in the picture below). I didn't have to look hard. Found one on page 4 (!!)*. And the thing is, I didn’t realize three-ring spiral-bound notebooks came with generative AI functionality.
Oh well. I guess if I’m ever accused of being a robot I’ll have to assess the age of the person making the accusation and the inflection of their voice. Then I can decide whether I should be flattered or if that was just the worst slur imaginable.
Also shown in the pictures below are all of my Threads ghost-posts I've thrown into the void over the past 24 hours for self-promotion. (Ghost posts are like regular posts, except they go even deeper into the void after 24 hours. From there they can only be retrieved by, I don't know, the CEO and the FBI?**) I’ve really enjoyed ghost-posting, I have to admit. And the void has been kind to me! After two months on social media I’ve sold … one additional books. I meant book. 📚
Hmm. Maybe being a ghost isn’t the most profitable form of existence.
*You might have to squint. Text reads, "...-not since Jake left-..."
**And, yes: I am now preserving these impermanent posts that are actively scheduled for expiration. And, yes: I had to screen-shot them from my phone and e-mail them to myself to access them through my computer to do it. And, yes: that is a lot of effort to save something from deletion that I (still) fully intend to delete. And, yes: that's sort of ironic.
