Hello internet. It’s me!

“Hello internet.  It’s me!”

Now imagine me shouting that in Grand Central Station at rush hour one week before Christmas. Now imagine that every other person around me is also shouting hello. Some of them have bullhorns, some have flashing lights, many of them have their friends pointing to them and drawing attention to them.

That’s what social media feels like to me, a shouting cacophony.

I was one of those kids who liked to be the big fish in a little pond, purposefully never straying out of my comfort zone and keeping to things I was really good at, like writing, art and music. Then the internet exploded and I found out that the little pond was in fact an ocean the size of a planet and there are not only bigger fish. There are sharks.

It’s a little daunting, and it’s impossible to even attempt a website or a blog or a social media engine without a bit of ego on your side. After all, I wouldn’t be doing it, unless some part of me said, “Out of the millions of websites on the internet, you should look at mine. I’m worth reading.”

And this goes against everything about humility and fair play that I was ever taught as a kid. That little kid, who preferred to have everyone tell her. “Oooh! You’re so clever! I could never do that!”

It’s time to grow up, little kid and brace yourself. There’s a lot of sharks out there… sharks with megaphones.

Did I ever mention that metaphors aren’t my strong point?

Monica Marier is a caffeinated writer, artist, mother and eccentric. On weekdays, she’s busy working on her books, recording audio files, and composing short stories for her blog. On weekends she’s a co-founder of Tangent Artists.

Links:

Comics: www.tangentartists.com

Follow her on Twitter! @lil_monmon

Books: Available through Hunt Press http://www.huntpress.com/