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purplesurveys · 3 years

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survey by egooverdose

Japan: What is one stereotype you associate with Asian countries/people? :/ :/ Uhm...

Jelly Bracelets: Do you have any? In which colors? Have you ever broken one? I seem to have forgotten what these refer to, but I’m sure I had a couple that didn’t last long. I wasn’t much into bracelets as a kid. Joakim Berg: Who is your favorite foreign singer|musician? Do you translate his or her lyrics? Beyoncé, I guess. All Americans are foreigners to me. I don’t translate her lyrics, nor do I do that with any other songs in English.

Josh Todd: Do you have any tattoos? If yes, what made you decide to get them? No, but I’d love a couple that symbolize important things or people, like a bowl of nachos for Nacho and each of my dogs’ pawprints.

kent: Say something in a foreign language? The word ‘kampana’ is Filipino for bell.

Kundera: What is one philosophy you have regarding life|living|purpose? Idk, I’m starting from scratch after the shitstorm that was this year. I have to find one again. I’m not rushing, though, and I want to give myself as long as I need to regather. Fuck knows I need to be kind to myself right now.

Learning: What is something you enjoy learning about? Off the top of my head, anything that doesn’t involve machines tbh. I can read about anything Wikipedia and encyclopedias have to offer, but I draw the line at factories and automobiles and engineering and robots and stuff lmao, it’s just not my thing.

Minimalist Interior Design: How would you design the inside of your own home? You already mentioned it; minimalist. I don’t want a lot of furniture and a lot of color in my space. I’d be happy with a minimal number of items organized in a meaningful way with some pastel shades here and there.

Miserable Weather: What is a weather-type that you like that not many others do? Thunderstorms, I guess? It’s been a hit or miss for me these days though; I’ve found myself crying more when it rains...but for the longest time I’ve enjoyed bleak and rainy weather. I’m not planning to drop it as my favorite just yet.

Morning: Are you friendly in the morning, or are you barely awake? I’m friendly at work from the start to the end of my shift because it’s the nice thing to do, and because I have to be. But I’m almost always anxious and on the brink of breaking down every morning. Since it’s WFH, no one from work has to know that.

Music: How important is music in your life? It’s slowly becoming significant again. I got a Spotify subscription for myself after years of sharing with Gab’s account lol, so I’ve been revisiting the music that I had to set aside for months while I had to grieve on my own. It was brutal the first few days and I cried a lot when I heard my go-to sad songs again, but I soon realized I need releases like that and so I’ve been a little more unafraid to listen to music each day.

Oasis: What is a band you remember liking from your childhood? Paramore? HAHAHAHA they were the first band I ever loved, man. And I’m happy I get to say I still very much love them.

Opinions: Do you ever get mad at people for not having the same opinion as you (i.e. Abortion being wrong|right, Meat-eating being wrong|right)? If it’s the kind of opinion that will step on fundamental human rights, like being vehemently against same-sex marriage, then we will have a problem. Otherwise, I don’t care if someone prefers Android or having pineapples on their pizza unless they’re being an asshole about it.

Orchids: What is your favorite type of flower? Does it grow where you live? Peonies. Idk, I guess so? I don’t speak flowers.

Outerspace: Do you think there's a possibility of life out there? There sure is; the universe is so vast. I wish we’re able to learn more in this lifetime, though; I wouldn’t want to miss out on future discoveries.

Photo-Editing: Do you edit any of your pictures? In what ways? Sometimes I’ll add a cute or flattering filter; that’s the furthest my editing skills go. I don’t use advanced applications like Photoshop and I don’t know how to remove moles or stray hairs or whatever.

Photography: If you like to take pictures, what is your motivation? I’m not into photography per se, like it’s not a hobby of mine or anything; but I do like taking photos of special or funny events. It’s nice to have a memento for a little bit of everything going on in my life.

Poland: Would you ever consider living anywhere cold? Yes. Maybe not Norway or Finland levels of cold, but somewhere considerably cooler than the humid hot mess I currently live in. When I went to Jeju four Aprils ago, they had the p e r f e c t temperature I could ever ask for and it was sooooo perfectly and comfortably cold in that I got to walk around in shorts but I never shivered or got goosebumps.

Potatoes: What is your absolute favorite food? It used to be burgers, but my mom has been making so many cheeseburgers the last few weeks that I need to take a break from them lol. Right now, my favorite would be sushi.

Questions: Do you like to ask questions, or answer them? Answer them, hence this blog.

Quirks: What are some weird things about you? Depends on what you count as weird. By far, people have been weirded out the most by the fact that I don’t eat fruits and will avoid them like the plague. I don’t mind the reactions and it’s actually turned out to be a great icebreaker, so I whip out that factoid pretty often haha.

Quizzes: When was the last time you were tested on something? I had a blood test last May because we needed to know if my fever was dengue or something else. Turned out to be a UTI.

Radiohead: Do you like any depressing bands? After Laughter is sad as shit but I wouldn’t say Paramore is generally known by this image. None of the other bands I listen to would count as ‘depressing.’

Rings: How would you describe the size of your fingers? They’re long and slender, which I love.

Satire: Do you enjoy political satire? It’s a hit or miss. I generally don’t seek it out.

Singing: Who do you know personally that has a nice singing voice? Leigh.

Skinny Jeans: Would you wear them? Or do you hate them? I wear them, but I hate them.

Smashing Pumpkins: Listen to the band, or take it literally and actually GO smash pumpkins? xD Neither.

Snakes: Would you ever wear snake-skin pants, or other animal clothing? I used to wear leather shoes because it was required for school. I avoid the practice now.

Snow: What, to you, is the best part about snow|snowy weather? You tell me, lol. I’ve never experieinced snow before.

Space: Do you like to have your own space? Are you independent? It’s definitely important to have it every now and then; I’m actually taking this survey from a Starbucks because I needed so baddddd to get out of the house. It’s the first time I’m out on my own without having to do errands since March, and it feels kinda nice.

As for being independent, I’ve been mostly a dependent person and I like having people to lean on, but my breakup has also been pushing me out of my comfort zone and to try out new things just by myself. We’ll see where this takes me in a few months.

Starry Nights: When was the last time you gazed at the night sky? Last Saturday.

Stockholm: What foreign country would you like to go to for a shopping spree? Do I really have to go to another country for this? Hahahahaha idk maybe Shanghai? The people there were dressed so well when I visited.

Studded Belts: Do you own any? What do you think of them? Nope.

Suave Shampoo: What is your favorite shampoo scent? Brand? I don’t have a preference for either. As long as it’s able to clean my hair, it’s fine.

Sunglasses: What kind do you own|wear, if any? Do you like them? I don’t really. I don’t like my vision getting tinted.

Surveys: How many surveys do you think you have taken since you've started? My old survey blog has nearly 1500 while this one has a little over 1000, then add what’s probably a few hundreds that I did in 5th grade but never saved anywhere...so maybe somewhere between 2500 to 2700 in total? Hahaha I honestly thought it would be more.

Sweden: Do you ever feel like you should have been born in another country? I think nearly everyone from the Philippines thinks this.

Swedish Fish: What is a candy you often enjoy? Gummy anything.

Tea: Do you like tea more than coffee, or the other way around? I love coffee; I’m drinking one right now :D I never enjoyed tea.

The Beatles: My brother gets mad if people say they aren't the best band ever; what about you? Then I guess I shouldn’t be talking to him.

Theories: What do you think will happen to you after you die? Sleep.

Thom Yorke: If you met your favorite musician, what would you ask him|her? If we were in a Covid-free society, all I’d ask for is a hug, really. I wouldn’t have anything to ask them.

Thought: What do you spend most of your day thinking about? I’m still grieving about the stuff I’ve already covered.

Thought-Provoking Conversation: What do you consider deep? This would be a little hard to verbalize and I don’t really feel like describing rn. I guess you can say this question in itself is deep, ha.

Tokyo: Where is a busy place you would like to go to? Aw man what an innocent question. I wish I could show this survey-maker what a trainwreck 2020 has been and how ‘busy places’ virtually don’t exist anymore, at least for now.

Unpretentious Gestures: If someone pays you a compliment, do you take it to heart, or do you pass it off as just flattery? I take it to heart, but I’m not always able to receive it well.

Video Games: Do you think they cause people to become violent? No. I spent my childhood going on killing rampages on GTA and I’m still unlikely to resort to violence.

Vocabulary: What was the last word you learned? The term ‘low latency.’

Warsaw: What is a funny fact about your heritage? Good question, but I can’t think of any at the moment. I don’t really think ‘funny’ when I look for facts to absorb but now I want to look this up haha.

Web Design: Have you or could you build your own site? My principal requirement for my Online Journalism class was to make my own website/blog, actually. But Covid blew up and we ended up having to cancel the entire semester altogether, so my classmates and I never got to pursue more of that class other than our first few meetings, which were used for lectures.

Winter: How long|cold are winters in your area? It does not even exist.

Words: How many pages of words do you think you type a day? Maybe like 5 or 6. It’s a WFH set-up, so I’m exclusively on the laptop typing away the entire week.

Writing: Do you try to avoid it, or do you embrace it? I embrace it as long as I don’t have to write fiction or prose. I like writing, but only through journals and surveys.

#survey #surveys

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pinayelf · 4 years

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I'm a bit scared to ask this off anon (idk, dont wanna bother ya!), so here we go! Can you talk a bit more about your HCs for Seheron? I'm super curios :0c (-☣️)

Nope it’s not a bother at all lol, I could go on about my Seheron headcanons all day lmao

Disclaimer: These are all headcanons used in my personal canon and not official canon, nor is it the only right way to headcanon Seheron.

In my headcanon, Seheron is the Thedosian equivalent of the Philippines, which disclaimer is my own headcanon so anyone is free to have their own since there is no official Bioware canon

The reason I headcanon Seheron as the Philippines is because a lot of the lore regarding it reminds me of or parallels to the Philippines. There’s rice terraces there, there’s rainforest and from the looks of it a tropical climate

Seheron has also been occupied for some time by both Tevinter and Par Vollen, the Philippines has a long history of being colonized and occupied and I saw parallels

In fact from the wiki: “The fog dancers tell stories of the land Seheron once was. They say that the griffons of the Grey Wardens came from Seheron. They speak of the ancient Curse of Nahar that brought the fog, and the promise that will one day lift it. They tell about the March of Four Winds, about the lost people who fled to the northern islands and about the heroes who learned from the elves.“

That reminds me so much of how much pre-Colonial Filipino history has been lost or how things from then have been changed and shaped so much from the different countries that colonized and occupied us

A lot of the architecture in Seheron is largely based off Tevinter styles, which means Tevinter culture is now rooted in modern Seheron society, much like how Spanish and Western things are prevalent in modern Filipino society

Now heading off that - if you ask Bull about Seheron he talks about how there are ports and towns and civilians - these would be the people who live in ~modern (or more or less the culture that assimilated with Tevinter and Par Vollen influences) Seheron society. Then there are the Fog Warriors, who in my take are people who stick to the old ways of Seheron culture long before Tevinter took over.

Some general Seheron headcanons:

Seheron is not an Andrastian country. Even with outside influences, the constant warring between Tevinter and Par Vollen wasn’t enough to influence one singular religion. The main religions would be the Qun, Andrastian, and native Seheron beliefs

The main exports are rice and fish

Many native Seheron people have fled and moved elsewhere due to the war tearing the country apart (hence why my Amells, Couslands and Trevelyans have Seheron origins)

The fish sandwich thing Bull mentions a merchant sold is something like lumpiang sariwa, which is different ingredients wrapped in a soft spring roll wrapper.

The language they speak is based off Tagalog (and maybe some Ilonggo if I can figure out how to do it)

People from Seheron typically have Malay and Austronesian features - brown skin, black hair and dark eyes. So similar to people from Southeast Asia.

Fog Warriors

The Fog Warriors use both magic and melee in their fighting, that’s why they seem to slip in and out so easily without detection

They have their own religion

They are humans and they are friendly towards elves - in fact in my personal canon The Fog Warriors and Clan Bahaghari (the clan my Lavellans and Marikit’s mom originated from) cohabited with the Fog Warriors as they both sought to keep each other safe from slavers and the war.

The Fog Warriors have a leader with the title “Lakan”, which is also the title of a leader back in pre-Colonial Philippines around the Luzon region.

The leader of the Fog Warriors was named “Ilao” and she led her troops to save Clan Bahaghari from an Tevinter slaveship and died protecting them, so Imryll’s middle name is “Ilao” after her. She then names her daughter after her as well.

The Fog Warriors also speak Seheron

They treasure their mages and have their own schools of magic, much like the Dalish and the Chasind. Also like the Dalish they are attuned with nature magic, similar to keeper magic (like Velanna’s specialization)

Seheron elves

It’s extra dangerous for elves in Seheron due to the large Tevinter presence as well as the number of elven slaves on the Island

Like how Dalish elves from the South can speak common Dalish elves from Seheron can speak Seheron.

Most Dalish clans have long left Seheron due to the danger, Clan Bahaghari was the last to leave

Seheron elves have a distinct type of eye, which is that their iris is black and there’s no pupil, just a ring of white there. It sets them apart cause I think in some canon text it’s mentioned that dark-eyed elves are rare? I dunno lol, but I made this trait specifically because of that factoid.

So far that’s all I have! There’s more little details but this post would be 700 miles long lmao, but if there’s anything else I think of I’ll add something!

#Anonymous #seheron #dragon age #meta

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skammovistarplus · 5 years

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Culture and Translation - S01E08

If you read all of this, congratulations. I think this is by far the longest culture and translation post I’ve done yet.

CLIP 1: Hit Me With Your Best Shot / One Way or Another

I didn’t get to this part last episode, but as some people have mentioned, Nora lives with her parents. Spanish grammar has a feature called “masculine generics.” I’ll quote Wikipedia: “Grammatical gender in Spanish refers to how Spanish nouns are categorized as either masculine (often ending in -o) or feminine (often ending in -a). As in other Romance languages—such as Portuguese, to which Spanish is very similar—a group of both males and females, or someone of unknown gender, is usually referred to by the masculine form of a nouns and or pronoun.” Because of this, we can infer that one of Nora’s parents is a man, but we don’t know whether the other parent is a man or a woman. Twitter likes the idea of making the Eskild expy her parent, and Linn his husband, but I don’t think it’s caught on in here.

Buah, ¿sabéis quién triunfó también en la fiesta? (“Hey, you know who also triumphed at the party?”): I have never seen “to triumph” being used this way in English, but that is the verb Amira uses and I really wanted to keep the idea of hooking up with people as a victory, something you win at.

Es que me parece súper fuerte, ¿no? (“I just think it’s too much, no?): “Fuerte” (literally “strong”) is Spanish slang for something that crosses a line or is “extra” in some way.

Hombre, pues no sé cómo lo veréis (“Man, I don’t know about you”): What Viri says would be literally translated as, “Man, I don’t know how you’re going to see it.”

Ya, y a ésta le van a llegar los cuernos hasta el techo del gimnasio (“Yeah, and the side girls are going to reach the gym ceiling all standing on top of each other”): Okay, so here is a line where I took liberties in order to get the most out of the line and the visual. In Spanish, when someone cheats on their significant other, we say that the person being cheated on has “cuernos” (horns) or is a “cornudo” (horned). So, Cris says that Cristian is cheating on Lara so often and so much that her horns are going to grow as high as to reach the gym ceiling. In English, the closest translation is “cuckold,” which comes from the Old French word for the cuckoo bird. Since I couldn’t work with the actual translation, I reworked the line to say that the side girls could reach the gym ceiling if they stood on top of each other. Sort of like that factoid that says if we stacked every human up on one another, we’d be 1/4th of the way to Venus.

I think Nora means that it’s better if she doesn’t flash a UV light over her room, but it’s not clear in Spanish either.

I really can’t remember whether we ever played dodgeball in high school P.E., but the whole premise just sounds like a pair of broken glasses waiting to happen.

CLIP 2: Skam España didn’t come to play

Fun fact: like Lucas, I hadn’t had anything to eat all day when this clip dropped, and a kebab sounded amazing, lol. Another fun fact! When I realized what Lucas was doing, I had to stop the clip and take like 5 minutes to regroup, I was that shook. I was really late recapping this clip on Twitter because I couldn’t deal with the enormity of it all.

Mis padres se pelean como cada mes, mes y medio (“My parents fight every four to six weeks”): Lucas says, “every month, month and a half.” “4 to 6 weeks” was shorter and, I felt, closer to the way English speakers talk about time. But really, Skam España is basically hell to sub because they talk quicker than any other Skam, including the French. If a sentence can be made shorter, but still keep the exact same meaning, we as a team feel blessed, lol.

Just in case it wasn’t immediately obvious, they literally just bought the kebabs and Eva didn’t spend the whole morning fixing them. And, also, that Lucas comes out to Eva over kebabs is an intentional homage to the og. In fact, in Spain, we eat kebabs like sandwiches, we don’t pick at them with forks/tongs, so Lucas and Eva are eating them like Jonas and Isak did.

I thought this would be as good a place as any to link to the Wikipedia article on LGBT rights in Spain. I’ll quote from the article: “Spain has been recognised as one of the most culturally liberal and LGBT-friendly countries in the world and LGBT culture has had a significant role in Spanish literature, music, cinema and other forms of entertainment as well as social issues and politics. Public opinion on homosexuality is noted by pollsters as being overwhelmingly positive, with a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2013 indicating that more than 88 percent of Spanish citizens accept homosexuality, making it the most LGBT-friendly of the 39 countries Pew polled. LGBT visibility has also increased in several layers of society such as the Guardia Civil, army, judicial, and clergy. However, in other areas such as sports, the LGBT community remains marginalised. Spanish film directors such as Pedro Almodóvar have increased awareness regarding LGBT tolerance in Spain among international audiences. In 2007, Madrid hosted the annual Europride celebration and hosted World Pride in 2017. The cities of Madrid and Barcelona also have a reputation as two of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world. Gran Canaria is also known worldwide as an LGBT tourist destination.”

CLIP 3: Making his way downtown

Tampoco es para tanto (“it’s not that serious”): Another translation would be, “it’s not as bad as all that.” I think the line I went with was clearer and more specific.

Yo creo que ha mejorado (“I think it looks better”): Eva says, “I think it’s gotten better,” but I reworked it. Lol sometimes I wonder if people read these and wonder why I just do whatever the fuck I like, but I promise I try to stick to what sounds more natural to me in English.

Te está durando mucho (“It’s taking too long to heal”): Cris actually says that the cold sore is lasting too long (presumably lasting too long on Viri’s face, lol).

Okay, so my experience with Spanish guys is that they initiate cunnilingus on their own and without prodding (i.e. will eat girls out), in the hopes that the woman will return the favor. I have surveyed my friends and they have reported similar experiences. Girls have said that guys have never not gone down on them, and guys have reported having no issues doing it. Og Skam actually backs me up, as Chris says that a guy did it to her, once, in Gran Canaria. So, while the girls are pleased for Viri that Alejandro went down on her, they’re not about to give him the King of the School slo-mo treatment Jonas received for doing the same. (I do have to note that the girls were impressed that Jonas not only went down on an older girl, but that he actually got her to come with oral only.) Given what we later learn about Viri and Alejandro’s encounter, I’d bet money on Alejandro hoping Viri would take the hint and suck him off in return, but since she doesn’t mention doing so, I think she just didn’t.

I think Viri did allow Alejandro to go down on her when his cold sore was already visible, and I’m legit appalled, tbh.

I learned of the Callao youth center through Skam España, because I’ve never needed to go. That said, it is a real youth center and they were pleased and touched about being featured on the show. Honestly, if even one teenager in need learned of their services through the show, I’ll consider Skam España a resounding success.

I love that Amira has seemingly gone with Cris to that youth center sometime before the show. Tangent, but I love the way the Amira/Cris friendship (and relationship, if you wanted to read into them that way) has been developed through the season. I remember having discussions early in the season about why Cris would join the losers, when Viri referred to her as “that pretty girl over there” and Cris was surrounded by a group of people when she was first introduced. In my opinion, Amira and Cris are best friends, and before the girl squad, everyone else was just along for the ride. But I’m looking forward to what we could learn about Amira and Cris’ friendship (and relationship) in further seasons.

CLIP 4: 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Spanish Daughter

Dating in Spain! The concept of “a date” exists in Spain, it’s called “una cita.” But we rarely, if ever, use this word. In fact, I don’t think it’s been used at all through the season. What we do is “quedar,” i.e. arrange to meet at a specific place and time. But it’s important to note that you can “quedar” with your friends, a hookup or a boyfriend/girlfriend. Since this arrangement isn’t exclusive to romantic relationships, I’ve translated it as “hanging out.” Again, the word “cita” (date) exists in Spanish, so if it’s ever used, I want to make sure it has the proper impact for the audience. Other dating vocab:

“Salir juntos” (to go out together): If two people “salen juntos,” they’re a couple.

“Salir conmigo” (to go out with me): If you ask someone to “sal conmigo,” you’re asking them to hang out as a couple.

“¿Quieres ser mi novio/novia?” (Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?): This is how you’d make a relationship official, beyond just arranging to hook up.

Pillado (“hung up on her”): Lit. “caught.”

Cris says “bye!” in English. Jorge then says, “Really?”

Y parecía tonto (“And he seemed dumb”): This is a truncated, common Spanish idiom. The full idiom is, “y parecía tonto cuando lo compramos” (and he seemed dumb when we bought him). It is used when a person who is frequently timid or a wallflower does something assertive or takes charge.

Pero que andar quedando es de novios (“but that to have standing dates is a couple thing”): As I mentioned earlier, we don’t use the word “cita” all that often, and, as Hugo tells it, Cris didn’t use it to turn him down. Here’s what Cris meant: Cris thinks she and Hugo had a good time at Nora’s party, but she doesn’t want to make a thing out of it. She doesn’t want to hang out one-on-one. That includes hanging out together at each other’s houses, like Eva and Jorge sometimes do, or go do something together, like going to the movies or to get something to eat.

A veces Cris se pasa un poco de directa (“sometimes Cris is a bit savage”): I reworked this because “directa” means “straight-forward,” but “se pasa” is slangy. “Se pasa” would mean “to go too far,” so a literal translation would be, “sometimes Cris goes a little too far with the straight-forwardness.”

A mí me parece guay que haya ido con la verdad por delante (“I think it’s cool she was straight up”): Okay, so the literal translation is, “I think it’s cool she was honest upfront.” But… It’s Jorge. He’s the Jonas expy. And I just could not and didn’t want not to use “straight up,” i.e. Jonas’ catchphrase.

El sábado ¡a las nueve, tío! (“Saturday… at 9pm, dude!”): This is another underrated moment. I don’t know if people remember, but Jorge’s excuse for not attending Nora’s party was that he was playing football at 9pm on a Saturday. Here he actually gets a text to play a game at 9pm on a Saturday, and he’s like, “who the fuck are these people?”

As I explained on Twitter at the time, Jorge mimics calling the cops over Eva being hungry. The joke is that Jorge would consider it an emergency that necessitates police involvement. This is a really common (and corny, natch) joke in Spain. We’re very dramatic, so obviously any situation, no matter how mundane, is on the verge of needing police intervention.

We all know that when Jorge asked Eva what she wanted to eat, her answer was pizza. Right? Just checking we’re all on the same page.

CLIP 5: Vaginas and languages

Note about the message in Arabic: I was the one who originated the translation, after I asked a Middle Eastern friend if she could translate it for me. She translated the note as saying, “Equality between women and men – Rashid Alfadhili.” I thought it might be a direct quote from a writer or an activist, but if you search for the name online, all the references are to my Twitter. So, who is the mysterious Rashid Alfadhili?

The obgyn is singing Havana D’Primera’s Me dicen Cuba. The actor is indeed Cuban, and the character speaks in a noticeable Cuban accent.

If you have further questions about The Herpes Thing, I reblogged a post by @niteskycs and added my own commentary, including quotes from this scene.

There’s one more thing I want to mention wrt candidiasis/thrush/yeast infection. Candidiasis is an opportunistic infection and so, it’s an infection that takes advantage of an opportunity not normally available, such as a host with a weakened immune system. Because of this, and before antiretroviral drugs, people with AIDS often suffered from candidiasis and could die from it. Thus, it is notable that the obgyn thinks Viri may have candidiasis (which, again, gets ruled out). It makes it really obvious that he suspects Viri’s actual problem might be that she has a weakened immune system.

If you have further questions or commentary about this scene, feel free to hit up my inbox, reblog, reply, etc.

The positions of the girls behind Viri are a reference to og Skam.

CLIP 6: It always comes back to dicks

Cris is playing a game which consists of pulling the tab on a can back and forth as she recites the alphabet, until the tab breaks apart. The letter that she was saying out loud when the tab broke apart is the initial of her crush/loved one/person she’s fated to be with. Which in this case is H!

Alguien que haga que, sabes, te entre aquí una cosilla en el estómago (“someone who makes it so… you know, that makes you feel butterflies in your stomach”): The literal translation is, “someone who, you know, makes you feel a little thing in your stomach,” but Eva is referring to the “butterflies in your stomach” metaphor. The metaphor exists in Spanish as well (that’s what Bely Basarte’s Mariposas is about), but I think it’s been adopted after the English idiom became well-known in Spanish.

Un gilipollas integral (“an unadulterated asshole”): Viri says “integral,” which is a word we’d normally use to refer, like, to whole-grain bread or rice. While I think Viri calling Alejandro a “whole-grain asshole” would’ve been hilarious, I thought “unadulterated” would also be just as funny. As in, Alejandro’s assholishness has not been contaminated with any niceness. He’s 100% pure asshole.

Unos colegas y yo hemos alquilado un local (“Some buddies and I have rented a place”): This is a very Spanish way of putting things, I think. “Un local” is basically any business premises or shop unit (such as, for instance, at a mall). It can be as sparse as four walls and a water outlet, or a fully furnished club, or even factory premises on the outskirts of a city. Alejandro wasn’t very forthcoming with details, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the “local” when this clip dropped. But, we’ve since come to learn that, in the universe of Skam España, there’s a Kose Club, which can be rented for private parties. And this is the place Alejandro and his buddies rented.

Capullo (“Prick”): “Capullo” is yet another word for penis. Its non-penis meaning is “flower bud” and, when talking about dicks, makes reference to the head of the penis. “Capullo,” in the dick sense, is pejorative.

CLIP 7: Doing recon

I’m assuming that, for this specific party, Alejandro and his buddies hired people who would serve alcohol to minors. Or just had some friends play the part of bartenders unofficially. Because this is some illegal ass shit.

De puta madre / De fruta madre (“That’s fucking great” / “That’s ducking great”): It looks as if Amira has renounced swearing, as well. I seem to recall that Sana Bakkoush would swear, but I can’t think of any example off the top of my head. Anyway, Amira accidentally swears when she compliments Cris’ pumpkin accessory. The girls call her on it, and she says a clean version. I’ve seen it subbed as “fruiting great,” which is the literal translation (“fruta” is fruit), but I looked into the ways Americans censor their speech, and went with “ducking,” myself.

Either way, I was really proud of myself when this clip dropped. There were several instances where I could’ve gone for a swear word while subbing Amira, but I had the feeling the character was intentionally keeping it clean. It felt great to have that feeling confirmed within the show.

Edward Scissorhands is really iconic, but Sweeney Todd came out in 2007. And, you know, it’s Tim Burton, not Benh Zeitlin. Hardly an obscure director. I guess Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane wasn’t specific enough?

Is one of the second years dressed as Inu Yasha, or is it just me?

Que son súper chungas (“those girls are bad news”): I’d say “chunga” is most closely translated as being “ghetto.” These girls are bad news, girls you don’t want to fuck with, because they will fuck back with you ten times as hard. You know how in 90s sitcoms there are always older girls hanging in the school bathrooms teaching the underclasswomen to smoke? A girl who is “chunga” is that older girl.

Putivuelta (“slut round”): I’m pretty sure the concept doesn’t exist in English and, if it does, I haven’t come across it yet. When you arrive at a club, you and your friends check out the whole place, scoping out hot singles. As far as I’m aware, “putivueltas” are only ever performed by women and queer men, and the targets can be of any gender. I’m sure straight dudes have a name for what is essentially scoping out the place for chicks to hit on, but straight Spanish men, at least, do not call it “putivueltas.”

Uh, what is that awkward Hugo and Amira’s conversation about? Amira lets Hugo know that Cris is scoping out the place for singles, so she’s both letting him know Cris will be back and that Cris has moved on from Hugo onto newer pursuits. And then there’s a medium close up on Amira’s expression, and she looks Over It. Is Amira jealous of Cris because she wants Hugo? Or jealous of Hugo because she wants to be able to pine for Cris openly??????? (By the way, I assume saying “slut round” doesn’t count as swearing, Amira?)

The song in this clip is Brisa Fenoy’s Free. Brisa Fenoy also wrote Lo Malo, which the characters make references to and eventually shows up later in the season. Here’s Free, in English:

Baby, I am free I am free

Baby, I am free I’m ready for me I go out in what I want to go out I’m better without you I like everything

Without additives Without artificial flavoring, without lies Without regrets Without giving everything and lose it afterwards Without baggage to travel lighter

Without terms that put a brake in my progress Without modifying us with so much augmentation Let’s be flesh and bone people With a lot of virtues and few flaws

Let’s get together already Through transformation we have to demolish What we were will last me the day before The future is today, what are you going to be?

Baby, I am free I’m ready for me I go out in what I want to go out I’m better without you I like everything

Without tricks like those that hurt us Without losing those pounds that fool us My body is mine, and if I want I eat what I like, I’m the one in charge

We’re what we do to change what we are No more sexism, together with each other We’re not sex symbols, there’s a bit of everything here Let’s be so authentic that they can’t prevail over us

Respect and freedom We have to demand it Let’s be a unit They won’t be able to create us Respect and freedom We have to demand it Let’s be a unit They won’t be able to shut us up

Baby, I am free I’m ready for me I go out in what I want to go out I’m better without you I like everything about me

Respect and freedom We have to demand it They won’t be able to shut us up

Here and now let’s all shout Baby I am free

CLIP 8: Moments before tragedy strikes

Si nos hubieran cobrado la entrada, se hubieran sacado un pastizal (“if they charged for admission, they’d have made out like bandits”): The literal translation would be, “If they’d charged us for admission, they’d have made a pasture.” Much like in English, you can say “dough” to refer to money, in Spain you can say “pasta” to do the same. A “pastizal” is a word with its own meaning (“pasture”), but it sounds like it could be large amounts of “pasta.”

Satanasa (“Lady Satan”): What Amira says can be literally translated as “Lady Satan.” I’ve never it before, but I think she’s going for a Halloween version of “Cheese!” 😂

Se le ha ido la pinza a Lara (“Lara lost her mind”): This idiom, which Jorge used all the way back in episode 1 to say something slipped off his mind, can also mean that Lara just lost her shit entirely!

It’s worth noting that the song playing when Lara slaps Eva, is actually playing in Eva’s mind. As you can see if you check the social media for the episode, Post Malone’s Better Now is still playing when Lara is pulled back from Eva. Here are the lyrics for the song playing in Eva’s mind (Jorge Marazu’s Simulacro), in English:

If this was a drill I bought it to the end It’s not going to be cheap to climb back up I have lost the measure And even though I had a taste I forget it’s a two-way street

The star lights went out Their circuit breaker tripped It hasn’t stopped snowing all day And even though they’re hurt My hopes and dreams I forget it’s a two-way street

The whims that get in the way Of instinct and reason, don’t know a goodbye without pain

Let’s not wait until tomorrow I wish you the best Now we’re getting to the end…

Social media:

This episode had a lot of references to og Skam. I’ve noted the references in the clips where they happened. There were also references to og Skam on social media though. Most notably, the club where Alejandro hosts the Halloween party is called Kose Club, after Kosegruppe. Die Antwoord’s Baby on Fire, which is the song that plays when Iben’s squad fights the girl squad, is playing on the background of a couple ig stories.

It took me a while to notice that the kitty in the background of Cris’ pics switches from being Viri, to the second year girl Cris hooks up with.

Other:

Halloween has only become a thing in Spain in recent times, and mostly as an excuse for young people to host parties or clubs to host Halloween-themed nights. Kids don’t go trick and treating, although their parents may buy them Halloween-themed candy in grocery stores. As such, I’m not too bothered about Alejandro hosting a Halloween party in Saturday.

That said, if he wanted to host the party on Halloween proper, he could’ve done so. The 1st of November is a national holiday, All Saints’ Day. Traditionally, religious people visit family graves on this day, and leave flowers or candles. Since the 1st of November fell on a Thursday, schools were also out on Friday.

#culture and translation #skam españa #skam spain #skamesp #skames

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adtvenltd · 5 years

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The DMT drug is not a drug, its a lot stranger

DMT is a psychoactive molecule and in this sense it's far a drug. The name of this text is provocative for a very good reason. DMT is so bizarre and mysterious that it literally pushes the limits of the that means of “drug”. In fact, many people who've fed on DMT say the revel in transcends the bounds of language itself.

but to start with, what simply is DMT?

It stands for dimethlytriptamine and it is a key ingredient in the Amazonian shamanic brew ayahuasca. while fed on, DMT fits snuggly into the maximum extensive and essential community in the human mind: the serotonin machine. If under the influence of alcohol as part of the ayahuasca brew, the revel in usually lasts for four to eight hours. If smoked, it’s movement is lots shorter. It has a peak enjoy of 3 to five minutes and absolutely back to baseline, or regular fact, in 20 to half-hour.

A adventure of not possible proportions The DMT and ayahuasca revel in are frequently called a adventure or trip given the feeling of taking place an epic excursion of the soul. The DMT experience consists of the classic psychedelic results of holographic rainbow patterns, time and area distortions and emotional intensities. but it commonly includes a further element.

individuals who take DMT frequently report encountering and interacting with beings, spirits, extra-dimensional extraterrestrial beings or figures of the mind (*pick phrase that suits your notion system) . Artists and video animators had been busy trying to depict their internal DMT visions in thoughts-bending works of art. And wordsmiths have been scribing their visions en masse. you could examine masses of descriptions of DMT studies at Erowid.

however many profess that the handiest manner to likely recognize the DMT revel in is to address it head on. creator Erik Davis positioned it nicely: “Like our loving and like our death, our [psychedelic] journeys are ultimately acknowledged, if whatever is ultimately recognised in any respect, from the internal”. here is what pharmacologist Professor David Nichols of Purdue college had to say about the interior of DMT stories and their “inter-dimensional beings”:

To look at its protection and the medicinal and non secular elements of DMT, Dr. Rick Strassman conducted research at the college of latest Mexico inside the Nineties. He gave 50+ people 600 doses of DMT over a duration of several years.DMT the spirit moleculeHe found that the molecule is biologically very secure and not dangerous to the frame. current research has proven that DMT has anxiolytic or anti-tension outcomes at the brain and that it grows new mind cells in the hippocampus (that is a place of the brain vital for memory and imagination). The ayahuasca brew (which contains DMT) has recently proven promise in helping heal remedy-resistant despair in a pioneering study in Brazil.

however with its soul increasing qualities, DMT may be extraordinarily psychologically difficult.

DMT and “horrific trips” The possibility of a scary or “awful” experience could be very actual. there are many matters which can have an impact on the DMT revel in, such as your non-public psychology and the placing or surroundings of the journey. but it’s critical to recognize that not all of us see “horrific journeys” as bad. Many individual on the psychedelic route relate to horrifying or hard cloth of their visions as possibilities for letting-go or for studying about themselves and their emotional conduct. They decide upon to speak about these studies as not terrible however challenging experiences that are insightful and crucial parts of the psychedelic path (see movies at the ayahuasca course for extra about this).

This brings us again to the concept of druuuuuuuuugs.

We ought to be careful with how we use language. The reality is that phrases are sort of like magical instruments, specifically with regards to something like DMT. due to the fact, what you assume, consider and think will form your DMT enjoy in very powerful approaches. if you virtually accept as true with DMT is a poisonous drug, then you will probable have terrifying visions. The experience could be very at risk of suggestibility.

The pineal gland tale consequently, DMT is likewise a breeding floor for abnormal ideas. one of the most popular misconceptions approximately the molecule regards the mysterious pineal gland within the middle of the human brain. DMT does naturally arise in all human bodies (and in such a lot of animals, flora and fungi) and it were found inside the pineal gland of the brain of rodents in very small amounts. but recent research has shown that DMT is not produced evidently within the pineal gland with everywhere close to the quantities had to create its splendid outcomes.

DMT crystals for sale online

that is what Dr. Rick Strassman, who is regularly referenced as the source of the pineal gland DMT concept, had to say about the concept:

I did my pleasant in the DMT ebook to distinguish between what is thought, and what i was conjecturing approximately (primarily based upon what is thought), regarding sure elements of DMT dynamics. however, it’s remarkable how useless my efforts seem to had been. such a lot of humans write me, or write someplace else, approximately DMT, and the pineal, assuming that the things I conjecture approximately are real. while i was writing the book, I thought i was clear sufficient, and repeating myself could are becoming tedious. We don’t understand whether DMT is made inside the pineal. I muster lots of circumstantial proof assisting a reason to look long and difficult on the pineal, but we do no longer but understand. There are information suggesting urinary DMT rises in psychotic sufferers while their psychosis is worse. however, we don’t realize whether DMT rises in the course of dreams, meditation, close to-loss of life, dying, birth or some other endogenous altered nation. DMT is everywhere, nearly One exciting factoid about DMT is that its in such a lot of distinctive lifeforms in the world. It’s one of the maximum simple chemical factors of many lifeforms. as an example, commonplace citrus bushes, consisting of lemons and oranges, comprise DMT. The motive why you don’t enter a kaleidoscopic time-area warp while ingesting orange juice is due to an enzyme on your stomach that breaks-down DMT earlier than it is able to get to your bloodstream. The powerful ayahuasca vine of the Amazon rainforest has a special molecule in it that enables the DMT to enter your blood.

because of this orange farmers are actually mass generating one of the maximum effective pills on this planet. Researcher Morris Crowley estimates that the kingdom of Florida (US) produces 5 kilos of natural DMT according to season in its oranges. He explains that this is more or less a hundred and fifty,000 doses. consequently, ought to we also name oranges capsules?

even as DMT is found all internationally, a scientist discovered how to create it in a laboratory in 1931. Richard Helmuth Fredrick Manske turned into first to synthesize it, but it became Dr. Stephen Szara of Hungary who confirmed the Western global that this molecule has powerful psychedelic consequences. He turned into a fashionable scientist working within the 1950s and 60s and who visited San Francisco California within the Sixties. Szara went there to observe the “hippies” taking DMT. He wrote a captivating if no longer ordinary article approximately his studies known as A Scientist looks on the Hippies. you can study approximately it in Graham St. John’s outstanding ebook thriller school in Hyperspace: A Cultural history of DMT.

Terence McKenna considered one of the biggest proponents of DMT changed into the overdue psychedelic creator and bard Terence McKenna. within the Eighties and 1990s, he toured the arena giving talking tours approximately the mysterious nature and results of psychedelics. His capacity to discuss this type of extensive range of topics in one speak makes him one of the best psychedelic minds in records. His range of pastimes covered renaissance magic, biology, mathematics, anthropology, ethnobotany and Jungian psychology. therefore, it’s simplest honest to finish this article with a video of him discussing “tablets” and psychedelics:

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theoaonthecusp-blog · 5 years

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Jesse Byers?

Sometimes it’s hard to explain to my friends or even fellow OA fans how I have come to a particular theory or stumbled upon a piece of information that may or may not be relevant, to anything at all really. It makes me sound like an absolute psychopath...which I am not...not yet, anyway. Are Brit & Zal trying to alienate OA fans from the people who used to love us so that we have no choice but to join some cult? ;) I don’t really think so, they seem like nice, good people...people who are too fucking genius but I won’t hold intelligence against them, even if I really wish I were that brilliant & creative too.

Anyway, I thought I’d share just one of my trips down one rabbit hole and where it got me so that you can share in the insanity too.

So one thing that left wanting more was Jesse. Why did he not seem to have a last night? What was the deal with his parents? They gave us all these visual clues but not a lot to hold onto for sure.

So what do we know about Jesse really? We know that he is essentially an orphan. We know that he remembers his dad from being a little kid, that his dad carried him to the car on some trip to Canada when he was little. He tells Uncle Carl the story about feeling like he was “floating”. Aside from that, we only know that his dad “left”. We know that his mother committed suicide and that he and his older sister Ali now live by themselves in a big family house in Crestwood. Ali appears to own a small business installing wood floors, I assume that it was probably a family business but we don’t know for sure. We’re pretty sure that Ali has a girlfriend named Maureen. We know that Jesse & Ali have both become big potheads, probably in an attempt to numb themselves from feeling the trauma they have experienced.

Anyway, when we meet Ali, we also get to see a glimpse into Jesse’s house. Stranger Things is playing on the tv. There are drawings all over the walls, as if someone has gone crazy. At first I thought that maybe the kids were responsible for the drawings since they no longer had any parental supervision, no authority figure to tell them to stop. But then I started to think that perhaps the drawings were a clue about their recently dead mother. Maybe she made the drawings? We see a weird-looking humanoid figure, a small airplane, a horse, some other scribbles and some scary anthropomorphized trees. The trees in particular reminded me of something...something that had crossed my mind several times while watching The OA. The movie Return to Oz, which I was majorly into as a little girl. I even dressed up as Ozma for Halloween one year. Anyway, in this version, the flying monkeys have basically been replaced by “The Wheelers,” a brigade of part man/ part bicycle creeps who serve as the Gestapo for Princess Momby. When Ali says “she better not be some giant blind creep”, it occurred to me that their mother might actually be Nancy Wheeler. Which meant that the dad could very well be Jonathan Byers. The dates don’t seem to exactly match up regarding their ages but nothing ever seems to match up perfectly when it comes to stories of interdimensional travel, does it? I could be totally wrong here but stick with me for a moment. Since Jonathan’s father Lonnie left, it’s not much of a reach to think that history might have repeated itself and that Jonathan did the same thing. Was Nancy continuously haunted by memories of her visit to the Upside Down and close encounters with the Demagorgan, another “giant blind creep”? Hmm.

Even though The OA tells us that logic is overrated, we can actually make it useful here. When trying to prove something unknown using the rules of logical inference, if we don’t have quite enough information to go on, we can start by making an assumption. So that is what I am doing here. Assuming that Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers are Jesse’s parents. Really I just need him to have a last name. So Byers it is. So I google “Jesse Byers” and the top hit seems to be some kid who auditioned for American Idol. Oh yeah, Miles name drops American Idol right before Steve punches him in the throat. Yep, this must be the guy. So I visit his Youtube channel and see that he sings all sorts of cover songs. So I narrow it down to videos that were posted within a few months of the initial airing of The OA season 1 and scan the titles. One in particular jumps out at me, “God is Great, Beer is God & People are Crazy.” Now that sounds right up our alley so I try watching it. I can’t fucking understand a damn word he’s singing so I google the lyrics instead. It’s about this guy who goes to a bar and meets an old man and they chat about things and the guy tells him “God is great, beer is good & people are crazy”. Later the guy spots the old man’s obituary and sees that he was a millionaire and that he had given his fortune away to a man he hardly knew. Ultimately we’re supposed to understand that the guy singing was the recipient of this inheritance. Ok, so whatever. So I decide to google that plot and wouldn’t you know, it’s a movie called “If I had a Million” from 1932.

I start looking at the credits for this movie for people named Will/ Bill, Billy, Billie, Willie, any version of William and right off the bat I see that one segment was written by a man named William Slavens McNutt so I follow him. Of course W.C. Fields who stars in that segment is a familiar name to me and I start to wonder what his full name is. Go figure, another William. Born William Claude Dukenfield. So now we’re definitely onto something, especially considering that Crestwood is actually set in Claude, Michigan. Hot on the trail! So I learn some shit about W.C. Fields and I learn that he had 2 sons, both named William. WTAF?!!! W.C. Fields Jr. is his “legitimate” son with his wife and then William Rexford Fields Morris is born out of wedlock & raised in foster care whom only ever meets his father one time. How shitty!

So upon googling “William Morris”, I ended up down a path to a different William Morris, an artist/ POET/ designer from 19th century England. Sort of odd but I follow the lead. He was married to an architect named Jane Burden...hmm, “the burden of raising a blind child”, maybe I’m still on the scent. Anyway, this William Morris was a big influence on Victorian period design including stained glass windows. He’s also into fantasy fiction, medievalism and socialism. He was really into the preservation of old buildings. He & some pals establish William Morris, Marshall, Falkner & Co. They opwn Liberty Department Store in the west end of London which becomes known for their floral and graphic prints that came to define the Victorian period. I learn a bunch of interesting potentially relevant factoids before discovering that the costume department there is directed by a guy named Edward William Godwin. Uh oh, another god damn William...better go follow him now. Immediately I find out that he is an architect/ designer known for RUSKINian gothic style and holy fuck shit motherfucker I’m still hot on the trail...somehow. This guy has a Japanese influence and I look up some of his buildings and holy shit...one of them looks exactly like Georgetown-fucking-University...which from here on out, I must refer to as GFU. Wouldn’t you know, that is where Brit & Zal met. Now I realize that not everyone would actually recognize that some random-ass castle in England looks exactly like GFU. But I do because I grew up in that area. Again, they are speaking a language I just happen to know. Weird and fucked up. So anyway, then I’m looking for the next Will and I find him. Edward William Godwin apprenticed to an engineer (hello, medium & engineer anyone?) where he met reform Gothic Designer, William Burges.

And here’s where shit gets weird, if it wasn’t already. I click on the Wikipedia link for William Burges and I don’t find another Victorian dude, I find a story about Benjamin Kyle or Burger King Doe and my brain quite literally explodes. I’m dead. And I still haven’t solved a damn thing.

#TheOA #BenjaminKyle #StrangestThings #BurgerKingDoe #JesseByers #WCFields #ReturntoOZ

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discoursecommunityproject-blog · 7 years

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The Impact of the Tumblr Discourse Community on the Harry Potter Series

Since the first Harry Potter book was released in 1997, the series has been a cultural phenomenon. Thousands of people lined up to purchase each new book and see each new movie. They dressed up for premieres, bought all different types of merchandise, even held Potter-themed weddings. The franchise is considered “one of the most financially and culturally successful enterprises in entertainment history” (Brummitt, 2016, p. 114). Despite the fact that the final book in the series came out ten years ago and the last movie was released six years ago, Harry Potter still thrives and remains relevant in pop culture, as evidenced by the success of the 2016 stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Now the question is, how has Harry Potter retained, even grown, its fanbase over time? I will argue that the discourse community surrounding the Harry Potter series – aka the “Harry Potter fandom” – has allowed the series to maintain popularity over time, even after the conclusion of the book and movie series.

Background

Let’s start with the obvious question: what is a fandom? A fandom refers to the collective and active groups of superfans surrounding any given topic. Often, these fandoms have unique names and those in the Harry Potter fandom call themselves Potterheads. Potterheads are an extremely large and diverse group of fans stretching around the globe.

Potterheads make up their own discourse community both in person and online. Though there is significant overlap between the “physical” and online Potterhead discourse communities, for this essay I will focus on the online discourse community, specifically that of Tumblr. As Catherine Tosenberger (2008) writes, the online “Potter fandom is an invaluable repository of the creative and critical responses of the series’ most dedicated and engaged readers” (p. 200). The fandom uses their discourse to contribute to the fandom and the series as a whole. Fan contributions to the Potter universe–whether fanfictions, parties, or blog posts—keep Harry Potter relevant, even years later.

Method

I focused on the website Tumblr for this project. While the fandom is active on many different websites, Tumblr is the central hub of fandom activity. To take advantage of the Tumblr platform, I incorporated it into my project, highlighting examples of the Potterhead discourse community. I utilized the “tag” feature to group different genres of discourse into the blog. As Power states, “Built-in audiences… are linked by the ever-crucial tagging element” of Tumblr (2014, p. 91), and thus tagging is essential for the discourse community. The goal of this project is to submerge the reader into the Harry Potter discourse community on Tumblr.

Why Tumblr is the Fandom Hub

Tumblr has gained widespread popularity due to “its accessibility to users and the important factor of community interaction” (Yunus & Salehi, 2012, p. 388). Essentially, Tumblr easy and customizable. One user can have as many blogs as they want, and typically each blog centers around a unique fandom or theme. Thus, it is easy to follow and interact with blogs connected to specific interests. Longtime Potterhead Jacqueline Gordon states that Tumblr “lends itself to fandom discourse” compared to other social media sites that are “geared towards self-promotion” (personal communication, 2017). Blogs are generally anonymous and tend to focus on the blog’s content, not the blogger. Compare this to websites like Facebook and Instagram where each profile is entirely centered around a person. Furthermore, the tagging feature allows users to easily search for posts relevant to their fandom community. Additionally, “many Facebook and Instagram posts that focus on the Harry Potter fandom borrow content directly from Tumblr, often in the form of screenshots” (J. Gordon, personal communication, 2017). While there are many Harry Potter posts on various websites, most of them come back to Tumblr.

Beyond setting up a prominent presence for discourse on Tumblr, the fandom has developed its own vocabulary unique to the discourse community. Potterheads naturally incorporate unique vocabulary and phrases into otherwise common genres, creating their own language. People take words created for the series and add deeper meanings to them that people not in the fandom would never know. An outsider may understand the difference between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, but they don’t question the greater meaning behind these things. Does Dumbledore symbolically represent death in the Peverell story? Should the relationship between Barty Crouch Jr. and his house elf be considered healthy or hostile? Was Harry justified in using unforgivable curses? The fandom takes words that were created and only used in the Harry Potter series and uses them to discuss greater and more important topics in the fandom.

Combining its unique fandom vocabulary with Tumblr’s specific website features, the fandom perpetuates Harry Potter’s relevance by creating different genres to appeal to a wide range of community members. I identified six main genres in the community: memes, informative posts, photosets, fanfictions, headcanons, and Q&As.. All of these genres incorporate the fandom’s unique forms of discourse. Though these genres are still very much unique to the Potterhead community, they help the series to stay relevant by recognizing a spectrum of fans, from those who know lots of details about the series to novices.

The first genre, memes, appeal to by far the widest audience. Memes are comedic photos with written captions and are usually just for entertainment. These posts are often found on other social media platforms and though they require that the viewer have a basic understanding of the Potter universe, they lack the same depth as some of the other genres I will discuss. They are brief, clever, and “shareable” and make the discourse community visible to those less invested in it.

Like memes, informative posts and photosets appeal to both highly invested and less-invested fans, but are not generally comedic. Informative posts simply contain facts both about the series and about other things in the fandom. They can be anything from logistics related to an upcoming fandom event to descriptions regarding a character in the story. It is common for them to look like an announcement or a list. This genre is used by the vast majority in the fandom. Photosets are mainly picture collages mixed with limited discourse. Any words are usually used to describe the photos. These generally appeal to a wider variety of Potterheads, those who may not know every Potter factoid but have a basic understanding of the series and vocabulary surrounding it. Additionally, these photosets generally are formed out of images from the movies, making them more recognizable to those who are less familiar with the books.

For those more involved in the series and the discourse community, fanfictions and headcanons offer a niche. Fanfictions are fan-authored stories based upon the Harry Potter franchise. These can be very loyal to or stray heavily from the book. Some may take place at Hogwarts and some may take place at an ordinary “muggle” high school. Headcanons are similar to fanfactions in that fans create unique content based off of the series, but these headcanons are usually short (2-5 sentences). It’s common for a headcanon to be a made up conversation between two real characters. Unlike informative posts and photosets, fanfictions and headcanons appeal to a somewhat different audience, those who are more invested in the fan community.

And lastly, for those most dedicated members of the fandom, Tumblr’s built-in Q&A feature appeals to them.. Users can ask a blog owner a question and when the owner responds, the entire Q&A is posted to the blog. In the Harry Potter fandom, these questions usually have to do with a person asking another about their views on something. Q&As generally cater to the most intense Potterheads, those who spend time and energy thinking out plot nuances and theories and debating them. Again, if you look in the top right corner of this Tumblr blog, there is a button for “Tags”. From that, select any of the genres listed and you will be shown examples of that genre.

These various genres allow for different views and interpretation of the series. Potterheads can add in their own ideas and opinions of the series through the genres. One extremely interesting example that I would like to highlight is a headcanon. The first example in the headcanons section of my blog is a photoset. Somebody reimagined aspects of the series to take place in the present day instead of the early 1990s. This is one individual reimagining the series literally keeping it relevant to modern times. The genres on Tumblr offer a place for fans to contribute to the series and also allow access to any level of fan. Instead of creating an insulated group of super-fans, the various genres

How Tumblr Has Increased Harry Potter’s Popularity

We’ve talked about Tumblr Potterheads as a discourse community and also why Tumblr is a hub for fandom activity. But the community on Tumblr has done more than just house fandom activity: it has helped the fandom grow overtime, even after the end of new books and movies. One reason is that the posts, blogs, and conversations on Tumblr are constantly increasing. So there is more information out there in the fandom. Members into the fandom are increasing because people can see new content. These unique ideas blending together allow the series to grow over time. Essentially, the series grows with the audience. The more that the fandom contributes to the series over Tumblr, the bigger the series becomes. Whatever the background of the Potterhead, whether grizzled, old fan or just a Harry Potter moviegoer, Tumblr offers something for everyone, from shareable memes to outlandish headcanons.

Even more importantly, these fandom members on Tumblr insist on new content. They want to see new angles in the series and what happened to characters after the books ended (epilogues). When persistent enough, these new angles have the chance to continually shape the series. After the series ended, author J. K. Rowling “announced that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay” (Tosenberger, 2008, p. 200). Fans are torn as to whether or not this is actually canon in the series. It is common belief that “Dumbledore’s homosexuality… may be connected to her awareness of slash fans” (p. 201). Slash fans are members of the fandom who actively seek out homosexual relations in characters in the book. Not only did these fans help the series stay relevant in pop culture through engagement in the discourse community, but it is possible that fan pressure pushed the author to alter her vision of the story.

The Harry Potter fandom is its own discourse community because members communicate largely over social networking. They use vocabulary and diction that are unique to the Harry Potter series. People reading their blog posts that are outside of the fandom would not know what is trying to be communicated. Tumblr is essential to the Harry Potter discourse community as most other social media websites refer back to Tumblr. The fandom’s various genres allow for personal interaction with Harry Potter content. This allows for a constant growth in information about Harry Potter to spread, thus making the series relevant even after it has ended. What’s more, the Potterheads’ influence upon the Harry Potter series expands to people even outside of the fandom. When utilized properly, Tumblr acts as a great hub for any fandom, or even any group of people with shared beliefs. It is easy to spread your ideas across a wide variety of audiences. If there is enough noise behind you, you may just influence something great, as Potterheads did with Dumbledore’s sexuality.

References

Brummitt, C. (2016). Pottermore: Transmedia Storytelling Authorship in Harry Potter. The Midwest Quarterly, 58(1), 112-132.

Power, J. L. (2014). Tumblr. Journal of Access Services, 11(2), 91-96.

Tosenberger, C. (2008). “Oh my God, the Fanfiction!”: Dumbledore’s Outing and the Online Harry Potter Fandom. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 33(2), 200-206.

Yunus, M. M., & Salehi, H. (2012). Tumblr as a Medium to Improve Students’ Writing Skills. Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 8(1), 383-389.

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ggdbshoponline-blog · 5 years

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stonedandstudying · 5 years

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A Great Franco-American Find from 1986

Back in November, when the Yellow Vest movement first sprung up in France, we did a segment on the show based on an old article that Michael from Maryland had dug up. It was a piece in the Washington Post, from 1986, smack dab in the middle of the Reagan years, and also the 100-year Anniversary of France’s gifting Lady Liberty to us, who still stands on Liberty Island, New York, today. Either way, I thought it would be a good thing to have on record as the Yellow Vest movement has since spread around Europe, and only time will tell if it makes it’s way to American shores, too.

I found it an important read, because whereas Americans and the French have long been partners in the quest to secure and maintain Freedom, the idea of Liberty is perceived differently on either side of the Atlantic. So here is some of that article from 1986, and after that is a link containing some historical facts you may or may not have known about another Franco-American Hero: The Marquis De Lafayette.

-Frank

American Liberty, French Liberte: More Than Just a Language Gap

By Michael Dobbs

Washington Post Correspondent

July 6, 1986

The nation that gave Miss Liberty to America joined in celebrations for her 100th birthday this weekend with an eclectic mix of American-style barbecues, television spectaculars and earnest seminars on the significance of the Atlantic Alliance.

But amid the hoopla and the hype, the kitschy reproductions of the Statue of Liberty and the suddenly upbeat talk about Franco-U.S. friendship, a serious question has been raised by commentators and political thinkers here over the past few days. Have Americans been celebrating the same ideal as the French?

At one level of course, Frederic Bartholdi's statue is a universal symbol of freedom and hope. As President Francois Mitterrand noted in his speech in New York harbor Thursday night, it is a reminder of the most important of the common values that unite western democracies.

On a different level, the festivities have served as a reminder that the word "liberty" has very different connotations on the two sides of the Atlantic. In America, the emphasis is usually placed on "freedom to:" to make a fortune, to build a new life, to create a literary masterpiece or pornographic trash. In France, the word has traditionally meant "freedom from:" from tyranny, from domination by other countries, from disorder or anarchy.

The contrasting interpretations of the word liberty have in turn led to different notions about the proper role of the state. In France, with its history of revolutions and counterrevolutions, the state has traditionally been viewed as a protector against dictatorship and as an agent of economic change. In America, it is often seen as, at best, a necessary evil.

The essential difference between America and Europe, a front-page editorial in the Paris newspaper Le Monde noted, is that Americans voluntarily identified with the ideals of their chosen country, whereas Europeans inherited national traditions handed down to them by history.

"Nobody has ever thought of celebrating a German, French, British, Russian, Chinese, Japanese or Moldavian dream. For the simple reason that in all these cases, you would have difficulty identifying the nation with an ideology. The United States, by contrast, was born as the result of the adhesion of its founding fathers, followed by generations of immigrants, to a common credo based on liberty," wrote Andre Fontaine, Le Monde's editor-in-chief.

Several French commentators remarked that this weekend's festivities had much more to do with America feeling good about itself than a celebration of Franco-U.S. friendship. The relatively minor role accorded to Mitterrand in the Hollywood-style spectacular of Miss Liberty's formal rededication was widely commented upon here.

"In the history of the Statue of Liberty, France committed just one mistake: making it," sniffed Liberation, an independent leftist newspaper. An editorial depicted France as an inconvenient ally for the United States because it had its own ideas about liberty, which it refused to regard as an exclusively American invention.

The love-hate relationship between France and America, according to this analysis, stems from competing claims to the same ideals. Viewed from here, American anger with France is frequently the anger of the jilted lover. The French point out that, although both Paris and Madrid refused overflight rights for the U.S. bombing raid against Libya, American displeasure was directed almost exclusively against France.

As Liberation commented: "By giving France a privileged place in the scale of its emotions, America is effectively granting it a special recognition that satisfies our national pride."

If the French left has underlined the foreignness of the American ideal of liberty, right-wing commentators have used the U.S. model as an argument for domestic political change. The last few years have seen a revolution in conservative thinking here as right-wing philosophers jettison the notion of the all-powerful state in favor of American ideas of free enterprise.

A seminar of French and American right-wing political thinkers to mark the July 4 festivities concluded with a surprising measure of consensus on the need to free the economy from state control. The main difference between the two sides was cultural: the Americans went around wearing the green sponge reproductions of Miss Liberty's crown that had been issued to all participants, while the French showed Gallic reserve.

Also, a nice little collection of Franco-American factoids regarding Marquis De Lafayette: https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-marquis-de-lafayette

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minnievirizarry · 5 years

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10 super productive ways to use Pinterest for business

Be honest: have you been treating Pinterest as a second thought lately?

Hey, we’re not here to judge you.

Between Instagram’s recent boom and the panic over Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm, perhaps Pinterest has lost a bit of its buzz in the eyes of marketers.

But don’t write off Pinterest just yet.

In fact, the numbers don’t lie in regard to Pinterest’s potential for brands today. Boasting a user base that spends like crazy and loves to search the platform for products, many brands see huge returns via Pinterest marketing,

Listen: marketing at large is about carving out your niche. There’s a place for you to tap into your target audience on Pinterest, especially if you already practice content marketing via social.

Whether you’ve neglected Pinterest for business or have no idea where to start, we’ve got you covered. In this quick guide, we’ve broken down the essentials of establishing your brand as a player on Pinterest.

And with that, let’s dive in!

1. Fine-tune your Pinterest profile

Pinterest claims you can set up a business profile in 15 seconds.

Nice, right?

However, that doesn’t mean you should stick to the bare minimum when it comes to setting up your account.

The good news? Giving your Pinterest for business a professional vibe is pretty straightforward.

Brands like Whole Foods tick the boxes of what we’re looking for in terms of a pristine profile.

A clear, clean company logo that’s optimized for Pinterest’s sizing guidelines? Check.

A relevant, branded description that points to a link and highlights what followers should expect? Check.

Oh, and a few featured boards that show off the company’s awesome pins in action? Yep, that too.

Having a profile that looks the part from the word “go” is going to make building up your presence that much easier. Your profile should paint a clear picture of not only what your brand is all about, but what types of content people can look forward.

2. Perfecting your content strategy

And hey, let’s talk about content for a minute.

Pinterest is a network that’s totally image-centric. Much like brands trying to figure out how to use Instagram for business, marketers are trying to tap into the perfect photos on Pinterest.

Because you can’t just drop links and walk away, nor can you just post any type of image and expect much traction.

In fact, there are types of content on the platform that totally kill it time and time again. To win over new pinners, the following types of images should be cornerstones of your content strategy.

‘How-to’ & DIY tutorials

Educational content is the bread and butter of Pinterest. Consider how we live in a day and age where people are looking to get educated but don’t want to dig through an entire blog post. Image-based how-to’s and tutorials speak feed into that need for immediate information.

Whether it’s a beauty tutorial or an SEO checklist, Pinterest users are hungry for bite-sized information. Likewise, such images are prime for sharing around and getting some much-needed link juice to your site. Using free image tools, you can whip up your own how-to’s for followers without breaking a sweat.

Inspirational

Pinterest is perhaps best known for its “inspo boards” where users turn to, well, get inspired. From decor ideas to motivational quotes, providing pinners with a visual dose of inspiration is always a safe bet.

Eye-popping imagery

No matter how you slice it, your photos on Pinterest need to be pop. High-definition, striking photos that represent something out of the ordinary can help you score those sweet, sweet clicks time and time again.

Infographics and factoids

Infographics are among the most-shared types of content on social media at large. Perfect for scoring shares and embeds, data-rich imagery shines for B2B marketers in particular.

If you want to build a foundation of rabid followers, these types of post are the place to start. Even if you’re primarily promoting outbound links, images like these help prime people to click through.

3. Set realistic goals

This might seem like a no-brainer, but setting goals is an essential aspect of building a better social media presence.

And again, running a Pinterest for business is a totally different beast than any other social platform.

Are you trying to drive more traffic to your website and squeeze more out of your current content marketing strategy?

Do you simply want to raise brand awareness?

Interested in scoring more sales?

There is no “right” answer here, as Pinterest can help you achieve all of the above. According to Pinterest themselves, 67% of users actively discover new brands and products to purchase from the platform.

That said, your goals will ultimately determine how you approach the network in terms of content, optimization and how much time you commit to your Pinterest for business.

4. Optimize your pins

Pinterest can be an absolute goldmine from an SEO perspective.

Just about any Google image search related to ideas, inspiration or products will return a slew of top results which come from Pinterest. In this case, we searched “fashion inspiration 2018.”

Having your pins and boards pop up in Google doesn’t happen totally by accident, though.

Much like your Instagram captions or meta descriptions on-site, your pins can likewise be optimized for relevant keywords and hashtags. Some rules of thumb for optimizing your Pinterest for both organic search and on-platform queries include:

A combination of niche and industry hashtags (#hairgoals, #unicornhair, #beauty, etc), of which Pinterest allows you tack up to 20 (think: much like Instagram, “more” isn’t always “better,” though)

Sticking to an aspect ratio of 2:3 for your photos is considered optimal sizing

Relevant keywords and language that encourage users to want to “learn more” and click through (bear in mind that 90% of pins are external links)

And given that you have 500 characters to work with, hitting on these points doesn’t have to be a total struggle, either.

Additionally, Rich Pins represent an optimized means to highlight particular details of your content. Whether you’re publishing products, recipes, articles or apps, a Rich Pin gives additional info such as product ratings, pricing and additional relevant details for those who click through.

5. Don’t fear the ‘hard sell’

More and more brands are becoming comfortable with the concept of social selling.

That said, most platforms require marketers to walk on eggshells when it comes to promoting products directly.

This is where Pinterest shines versus the likes of Facebook or even Instagram. According to Shopify, the highest average order value of social sales comes from Pinterest. Meanwhile, the same study notes that over 90% of users are taking to the platform to research products.

The takeaway here is that you have something to sell, especially in the B2C space, you shouldn’t be shy about putting it on display.

For example, brands such as TOMS funnel followers directly to their store via stylish product photos.

Features such as buyable pins also allow users to buy directly from Pinterest without having to leave the platform at all.

And as part of the growing trend of social media becoming more “pay to play,” Pinterest also boasts an ad platform that’s not in-your-face or spammy. Naturally integrating your promoted pins in relevant searches, Pinterest’s “ads” look like anything but when nestled among other pins.

Whereas it might feel like pulling teeth to sell via other networks, using Pinterest for business allows to, well, do business.

6. Integrate Pinterest into your brand’s site

Taking the time to embed your Pinterest feed is on-site is a smart move to maximize your brand’s exposure. If you want people to follow your business’ Pinterest account, you need to make your presence known.

Besides, Pinterest’s widget builder allows you to create a customizable, copy-and-paste feed on-site in a matter of seconds.

Doing so does double-duty of encouraging more social followers and breathing a bit of life into your homepage. Check out how ThinkGeek shows off its Pinterest presence in addition to their other social profiles.

Whether it’s on your sidebar, header or homepage, the more avenues that people have to find your Pinterest account, the better.

7. Stick to a content calendar

Based on the different types of content that perform well on Pinterest, it’s beneficial to switch things up on a regular basis.

For example, Pinterest giants such as Penguin Random House are posting everything from memes to inspo every few hours to keep followers on their toes.

While you may not be pushing out that level of content, it pays to keep your feed organized. This means both having an idea of what you’re posting daily and also double-dipping relevant content from the likes of Instagram or your blog where appropriate.

That’s why having a dedicated content calendar in place can be a game-changer for busy brands.

For example, let’s say you have a killer photo for Instagram that would be perfect for Pinterest. Posting via both platforms is to fair game, granted you optimize the captions for each.

Giving yourself a bird’s eye view of your social content helps you maintain your sanity and keep in the best practices of your respective platforms. Likewise, you can go ahead and line up your posts for the week or month without batting an eye.

8. Get your timing right

On a related note, timing makes a difference Pinterest just as it does any other social platform.

Given how quickly the platform moves, multiple pins per day is definitely within best practices.

Looking at our own data on the best times to post on social media, brands can follow a similar strategy to that of Instagram in terms of timing.

Conventional wisdom tells us that afternoons and early mornings represent peak times on Pinterest. While timing isn’t the be-all, end-all of your Pinterest presence, having this data handy is helpful for those scheduling their content. If nothing else, it gives you a ballpark idea of when to post versus publishing when your followers are snoozing.

9. Analyze your results

Given the amount of content that gets pushed through Pinterest on a day-to-day basis, keeping an eye on your analytics is a must-do.

Rather than spin your wheels, a data-driven approach to Pinterest for business will help you optimize your presence.

More clicks and impressions. More traffic and sales.

It all starts with digging through your data.

That’s why setting up your analytics on the native platform by confirming your business’ site should be a top priority. Pinterest’s built-in platform can clue you in on your top pins and what’s driving the most traffic to your site.

Integrating Pinterest as part of your social media reporting can likewise help you see how your performance stacks up against other social sites. The ability to track specific URLs you’re promoting is also a plus if you’re pushing a specific campaign or product.

10. Don’t forget to stay active

Perhaps another no-brainer, but definitely worth noting!

If you don’t want Pinterest to feel like a secondary area of effort, you can’t afford to treat it like one.

The good news? Staying active on Pinterest doesn’t have to be a total time-sink.

Not by a long shot.

By knowing which types of content clicks and scheduling it accordingly, keeping your feed fresh is so much less daunting.

With the help of the pointers above, you can make the most of your activity without wasting any time whatsoever.

Bonus: Extend your Instagram content on Pinterest with Sprout

With Sprout Social, you can easily duplicate and cross-post your Instagram content to Pinterest.

This lets you fill out your content calendar more quickly across channels and extend the life of your Instagram posts.

Instagram moves fast with content quickly falling off the feed, so try giving your content a second life on Pinterest – especially when you’re optimizing your Pinterest presentation with the rest of our tips above!

And that wraps up our guide!

How are you using Pinterest for business?

Representing a not-so-hidden gem for B2B and B2C brands alike, Pinterest doesn’t have to be a massive head-scratcher for marketers.

And despite popular belief, it’s not too late to hop on the bandwagon. Hopefully our guide provided some much-needed inspo to help you do exactly that.

We still want to hear from you, though. What’s your experience using Pinterest for business been like? Any struggles? Success stories? Let us know in the comments below.

This post 10 super productive ways to use Pinterest for business originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/pinterest-for-business/

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thehighperformancelife · 6 years

Text

on the ground...

The adventure, the seven volcano challenge, is just a few days away from starting and the crew and I have arrived in Guatemala to get acclimated, prepared and ready to take on the challenge and so much more. For example, we need to learn a bit about the country of Guatemala, so here are a few factoids:

· Capital City – Guatemala City

· Population of Guatemala – 17.25 million

· Language spoken – Spanish

· The export of coffee is the biggest business in the country

· Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake in Central America, with a maximum depth of about 340 meters. It is also regarded as the most beautiful lake in the world

· Guatemala is a presidential representative democratic republic whereby the president is both the head of state and government

So, when you throw in a beautiful countryside and a great and friendly culture you realize why this is such a great place to visit and explore

Loving life when I am finally there

Ciao

Joe

0 notes

shadow-of-the-giant · 7 years

Photo

Welcome to the Tumblr blog for the J2 AU fanfic In the Shadow of the Giant! This blog has been established to include posts regarding language, currency, religion, government, food, clothing, sexual practices, and other items of interest that were prevalent during the time period of In the Shadow of the Giant. Basically, small factoids that might enhance your reading pleasure, but are definitely not necessary for it.

On the left of the blog, you will find links to the story, a post regarding warnings, as well as links to a version of this on LiveJournal (which I will be archiving on Dreamwidth). Anonymous commenting is turned on at LiveJournal and given the way they’re set up, will probably be a more interactive experience between myself and you if you decide to leave a comment, ask a question, etc. than here. I will not be turning on Asks here, because with work, home, family and writing, I would be spreading myself too thin. I will respond, give or take a few days, to any comments left at those other communities.

Also, the story will be locked at Ao3 to registered users only.I have done that to all my stories that deal with subjects such as non-con, etc.I will not be unlocking them. It is free to join Ao3 and only takes a few minutes.

I will repost from my “main” blog when the story updates, if there are delays, etc. I will tag items here as NSFW when appropriate, but don’t think there will be many posts of that nature here.

This blog is best viewed on a stationary device such as a laptop/computer. If you receive a warning about blocked content, there is a particle effect script running to simulate falling ash. It is safe to allow it to run.

#read first #welcome #mod post

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jessette20 · 6 years

Text

Whole Foods Profile

Be honest: have you been treating Pinterest as a second thought lately?

Hey, we’re not here to judge you.

Between Instagram’s recent boom and the panic over Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm, perhaps Pinterest has lost a bit of its buzz in the eyes of marketers.

But don’t write off Pinterest just yet.

Listen: marketing at large is about carving out your niche. There’s a place for you to tap into your target audience on Pinterest, especially if you already practice content marketing via social.

And with that, let’s dive in!

1. Fine-Tune Your Pinterest Profile

Pinterest claims you can set up a business profile in 15 seconds.

Nice, right?

However, that doesn’t mean you should stick to the bare minimum when it comes to setting up your account.

The good news? Giving your Pinterest for business a professional vibe is pretty straightforward.

Brands like Whole Foods tick the boxes of what we’re looking for in terms of a pristine profile.

A clear, clean company logo that’s optimized for Pinterest’s sizing guidelines? Check.

A relevant, branded description that points to a link and highlights what followers should expect? Check.

Oh, and a few featured boards that show off the company’s awesome pins in action? Yep, that too.

2. Perfecting Your Content Strategy

And hey, let’s talk about content for a minute.

Pinterest is a network that’s totally image-centric. Much like brands trying to figure out how to use Instagram for business, marketers are trying to tap into the perfect photos on Pinterest.

Because you can’t just drop links and walk away, nor can you just post any type of image and expect much traction.

In fact, there are types of content on the platform that totally kill it time and time again. To win over new pinners, the following types of images should be cornerstones of your content strategy.

‘How-to’ & DIY Tutorials

Inspirational

Eye-Popping Imagery

Infographics and Factoids

Infographics are among the most-shared types of content on social media at large. Perfect for scoring shares and embeds, data-rich imagery shines for B2B marketers in particular.

3. Set Realistic Goals

This might seem like a no-brainer, but setting goals is an essential aspect of building a better social media presence.

And again, running a Pinterest for business is a totally different beast than any other social network.

Are you trying to drive more traffic to your website and squeeze more out of your current content marketing strategy?

Do you simply want to raise brand awareness?

Interested in scoring more sales?

That said, your goals will ultimately determine how you approach the network in terms of content, optimization and how much time you commit to your Pinterest for business.

4. Optimize Your Pins

Pinterest can be an absolute goldmine from an SEO perspective.

Just about any Google image search related to ideas, inspiration or products will return a slew of top results which come from Pinterest. In this case, we searched “fashion inspiration 2018.”

Having your pins and boards pop up in Google doesn’t happen totally by accident, though.

Sticking to an aspect ratio of 2:3 for your photos is considered optimal sizing

Relevant keywords and language that encourage users to want to “learn more” and click through (bear in mind that 90% of pins are external links)

And given that you have 500 characters to work with, hitting on these points doesn’t have to be a total struggle, either.

5. Don’t Fear the ‘Hard Sell’

More and more brands are becoming comfortable with the concept of social selling.

That said, most platforms require marketers to walk on eggshells when it comes to promoting products directly.

The takeaway here is that you have something to sell, especially in the B2C space, you shouldn’t be shy about putting it on display.

For example, brands such as TOMS funnel followers directly to their store via stylish product photos.

Features such as buyable pins also allow users to buy directly from Pinterest without having to leave the platform at all.

Whereas it might feel like pulling teeth to sell via other networks, using Pinterest for business allows to, well, do business.

6. Integrate Pinterest Into Your Brand’s Site

Besides, Pinterest’s widget builder allows you to create a customizable, copy-and-paste feed on-site in a matter of seconds.

Whether it’s on your sidebar, header or homepage, the more avenues that people have to find your Pinterest account, the better.

7. Stick to a Content Calendar

Based on the different types of content that perform well on Pinterest, it’s beneficial to switch things up on a regular basis.

For example, Pinterest giants such as Penguin Random House are posting everything from memes to inspo every few hours to keep followers on their toes.

That’s why having a dedicated content calendar in place can be a game-changer for busy brands.

For example, let’s say you have a killer photo for Instagram that would be perfect for Pinterest. Posting via both platforms is to fair game, granted you optimize the captions for each.

8: Get Your Timing Right

On a related note, timing makes a difference Pinterest just as it does any other social network.

Given how quickly the platform moves, multiple pins per day is definitely within best practices.

Looking at our own data on the best times to post on social media, brands can follow a similar strategy to that of Instagram in terms of timing.

9. Analyze Your Results

Given the amount of content that gets pushed through Pinterest on a day-to-day basis, keeping an eye on your analytics is a must-do.

Rather than spin your wheels, a data-driven approach to Pinterest for business will help you optimize your presence.

More clicks and impressions. More traffic and sales.

It all starts with digging through your data.

10. Don’t Forget to Stay Active

Perhaps another no-brainer, but definitely worth noting!

If you don’t want Pinterest to feel like a secondary social network, you can’t afford to treat it like one.

The good news? Staying active on Pinterest doesn’t have to be a total time-sink.

Not by a long shot.

By knowing which types of content clicks and scheduling it accordingly, keeping your feed fresh is so much less daunting.

With the help of the pointers above, you can make the most of your activity without wasting any time whatsoever.

And that wraps up our guide!

How Are You Using Pinterest for Business?

Representing a not-so-hidden gem for B2B and B2C brands alike, Pinterest doesn’t have to be a massive head-scratcher for marketers.

And despite popular belief, it’s not too late to hop on the bandwagon. Hopefully our guide provided some much-needed inspo to help you do exactly that.

We still want to hear from you, though. What’s your experience using Pinterest for business been like? Any struggles? Success stories? Let us know in the comments below.

This post 10 Productive Ways to Use Pinterest for Business originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from http://bit.ly/2lDO1ta

#Social Media Marketing

0 notes