How to keep technology from mocking your broken heart

After 16 years of marriage, the text from Lisa Arends’ husband read: “I’m sorry to be such a coward leaving you this way but I’m leaving you and leaving the state.”

She collapsed to the floor. And never received any communication from him again.

But their digital interactions haunted her in a way she never could have imagined. With linked email accounts, she saw in his junk email that he had failed to pay the tab on the cost of a band — for his recent wedding.

See also: Tinder for travel: How to use dating apps to have more fun on the road

Arends’ extraordinary story is, of course, on the very extreme end of the digital heartbreak spectrum, but the technological echo of a past lover is something many people understand far too well. Read more…

More about Dating, Apps, How To, Social Media, and Technology

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Recreate any arcade, board or video game for our #MashFlix Vine challenge

For this week’s Vine challenge, recreate your favorite game in six seconds

The theme was inspired by our next MashFlix film GTFO, which is all about women in gaming. The interview-driven documentary was funded on Kickstarter, then debuted at SXSW earlier this year.

See also: 13 Vine Videos to Bring You Back to Your Gaming Childhood

Our example is of retro arcade game Q*bert — remember it? But we won’t limit you to any type. We’re open to board games, video games, addicting apps and puzzles too

Enter your submission using the hashtag #GroovyGaming for a chance to be revined and featured next week. We’ll also be sending out free streaming codes. Read more…

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Chrissy Teigen battles trolls by writing tweets, then saving in drafts

“My dream is to have this curvaceous butt and boobs,” says Chrissy Teigen, model and social media maven. “I’d die for hips. I want to have this womanly, feminine body … I don’t love knowing what people are going to be commenting on.”

Teigen talks with Mashable about her insecurities after shooting the September cover of Women’s Health UK in between filming a new commercial for Samsung’s latest Note 5 and Edge Plus phones. The 29-year old has become Samsung’s newest spokesperson

It doesn’t hurt that she has an approachable and massive social media presence, where she documents everything from life with husband John Legend, her jet-setting lifestyle and her many extravagant meals. She also films outrageous videos, like one in which she balances a plate of chicken wings on her thighs while floating in a pool, and takes many, many photos in the nude Read more…

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Introducing Pure Blogging, Where It’s All About the Content

Any regular reader or subscriber of this blog will know I’ve been talking a lot about “pure blogging” the last 6-12 months.

Born from a frustration/tiredness/lethargy (delete where applicable) of seeing multiple blogs talking about the very same thing, all for shares and clicks, I wanted to stoke the conversation around what it meant to blog.

Not that there’s anything wrong with business blogs, or blogs about blogging, or content marketing for content goals blogs, per se – some offer value.

But it just feels so…. redundant. How many ways can the same message be said by different people, all fighting for the same traffic, eyeballs, clicks and shares?

How much passion can come through the words, or videos, or podcasts, when the content is being pushed out a post a minute, with extra use of super buzzwords to try and stand apart from the rest?

So… yeah. Frustration/tiredness/lethargy (sorry for the repetition – again, delete where applicable).

Which made me think about why we started blogging, and what it meant to actually connect with people.

The Pure Blogging “Movement” Starts Here

So, instead of bitching and moaning about it, and how blogging today seems like a soul-destroyed relic of what it once was (and, in fairness, still is in some corners), it’s time to put the so-called money where the mouth is.

(Note: this is just a saying. I’m Scottish – my money is staying firmly in my padlocked pockets)

Today I’d like to introduce the Pure Blogging project. Or movement, if you like, as there seems to be a lot of voices online talking about the return to pure blogging.

So what is Pure Blogging, and why would you be interested?

At its simplest, Pure Blogging is a blog where the only focus will be on content that matters.

No business lessons. No tips on growing lists or followers. No lists on becoming a thought leader in your niche.

Instead, it’ll be a blog about life, pure and simple.

Our place in it. Our experiences living it. Our lessons gained from it. Our hopes and dreams for the future of it.

As the name suggests, Pure Blogging will (hopefully) take the reader back to when bloggers weren’t afraid to be vulnerable, and share their darkest thoughts and fears, as well as their brightest moments.

#Pureblogging is the blog you want to read when content means substance over styleClick To Tweet

It’ll be a blog for appreciators of stories that connect, that mean something, that aim to inspire and encourage.

At its core, Pure Blogging will be the blog you used to read back before social media and content marketing replaced substance with style.

I hope it’s something you’ll check out, especially if you’re tired of the same things about blogging that I mentioned at the start of this post.

One thing I guarantee – the focus will be on the content at all times. No ads, no spammy emails, no Upworthy-type viral titles to get you to click.

Instead, it’ll be stories by storytellers for story lovers. I look forward to seeing you there.

And if you’re interested in being part of the writing team, you can find out more about that here.

Here’s to the return to pure blogging – cheers!

The post Introducing Pure Blogging, Where It’s All About the Content appeared first on Danny Brown – all rights reserved.

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Pure Blogging and the Experience We Give Our Readers

Recently, I read a blog post by Jack Steiner entitled Do People Really See You? It’s an insightful read about being there when it’s important to be, and what it means to follow through on your promised actions.

The post, like many others of Jack’s, really resonated with me, and I left a comment, which I’d like to share below.

Hey there Jack,

I remember when I was eight years old, and asking my schoolteacher a lot of questions. Like, a LOT. He said to me, “Boy, don’t you know children should be seen and not heard?”

I retorted, “Well, how will we learn?”

He answered, “By remaining quiet and not asking questions. Now, silence!”

He sent a note home with me to advise my parents I was trouble. My grandfather was looking after me for a few days, as my folks were on a small vacation (yes, kids weren’t allowed, fun…).

My grandfather was furious. But not at me.

Next day, he came to my school and collared the teacher in front of the whole class. He pointed at us kids, sat on our chairs, and told the teacher, very calmly,

“See these children? THEY are YOUR teacher. You are old, and set in your ways. They are the future, and full of wisdom we need to allow. Don’t dare tell any of these children to never ask questions again. I pay your wages. Earn them, or you will lose them.”

I’ve never forgotten that. I think he’d like your take on who really sees us and which ones we should care about.

Thanks for the thoughtful read, mate, and making me recall a major learning point in my life.

The reason I wanted to share the comment was to show you what content should do when it’s at its purest form – the kind of pure blogging I’ve been talking about for the last few weeks and months.

Think about it for a moment:

• When was the last time you read a blog post that carried you to a distant but treasured memory?

• When was the last time you wrote a blog post that inspired that action?

We talk a lot about social proof being a sign of a successful blog – shares that make our work seem popular, followers that make us feel popular, subscribers that make us feel popular.

And while they’re all metrics that can help deliver the goals we want to achieve, the real gold of this thing called blogging is the experience we give our readers.

At least, it should be.

So let’s make a promise to each other. Let’s concentrate on finding the content that moves us,and share/subscribe to that.

Blogging – pure blogging – should be about opening up and inviting others in to share an experience. But it needs help to find the audience it deserves.

Let’s get to work.

The post Pure Blogging and the Experience We Give Our Readers appeared first on Pure Blogging.

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