Crystalline, PerSec & Instagram stories
In the name of online safety, I tried a social media experiment while visiting a cool DC exhibit
The other day, I asked my followers to tell me what kind of information they could glean from this picture:
The wonderful Mila knew exactly where I was. She figured it out in less than 10 minutes (if you are new to this newsletter, you may be surprised by this — but believe me, you will soon get used to the speed!):
Jose did it in about 10 minutes:
Jose also helpfully provided his method:
Now, first of all, what I would like to say is that Crystalline at DC’s ARTECHOUSE is simple, relaxing, beautiful, and thought-provoking. It’s like being inside a combination of video game and Pixar film. The exhibit is dramatic without being overwhelming, there is a sense of refuge about it, thus it is the absolutely perfect exhibit to end a year like 2020.
I like venues that try to make us think about the intersection of modern art and technology in new ways, but some of the exhibits I’ve been to over the years kind of hammer you over the head with that stuff. ARTECHOUSE made a number of very particular choices with Crystalline — it’s vivid, without being jarring, and playful, without being cloying. You can interact with the exhibits in a really beautiful and calming way. I highly recommend it to those of you who are in DC.
Having said all that, let’s focus on the online safety aspect of the exercise: When you are visiting a beautiful exhibit, it is very tempting to post photos and updates in real time. A lot of people do it using stories and fleets. I *specifically* chose to do it while visiting Crystalline, and my friend Ken, a veteran of these exercises, noticed immediately:
I was using my public Instagram account (I have both a private and a public one, I HIGHLY recommend getting two if there are different things you’d like to share with different audiences), and I was posting stories from Crystalline like crazy as I stood there.
I was doing it to prove a point. And that point was very simple, as illustrated by Ken: Someone’s always watching. They can be a good, safe, normal person, like Ken. Or they could not.
Because of past, rather terrible experiences with stalkers, I almost never post pictures or stories in real time, UNLESS I am on assignment as a reporter. That night at ARTECHOUSE, however, I was with a lovely man, whom I felt absolutely safe with, and I honestly just wanted to see if anyone would pick up on the stories and connect them to tweet I did the next day.
And they did. Others did it besides Ken, just not publicly.
The desire to promote the things we love is noble and worthy. I find that this is important to point out, because we are often asked by colleagues, friends, and creators we love to promote their work. Word of mouth is important to many artists and writers.
But if you have any safety concerns — any such concerns whatsoever, and I know that many of you reading this do — post that picture or story later. It’s OK to tell someone, “I will absolutely let people know I was there and I loved it. Tomorrow.” It should all be part of a standard safety etiquette in the 21st century.
Now that I’ve said all that: Please check out Crystalline in DC! It’s absolutely worth it.
Do you have online safety concerns? E-mail me at nvantonova [at] gmail (dot) com, let’s see if I can help out! And if you learned something new today, please consider a paid subscription. Just $5 a month helps keep this enterprise afloat!