I’ve been feeling the wind start to shift for a while now. That shift is becoming more apparent. A few days ago, I posted a photo from a recent shoot on Facebook and Instagram. It got banned for “violating community standards” (pornography). Here is the image. Judge for yourself. Yeah it’s sexy, but it’s also well within the standards. I’m not sure who reported it, or why the moderators at Instagram & Facebook proceeded to remove the photo. One way or the other, it’s a reminder that those platforms are not mine. I’m a guest in their house, and I have to play by their rules, no matter how stupidly or incorrectly they apply them.
I have two other friends who are very polarizing public figures who have depended on Facebook for their business, who have been severely harassed by Facebook. Cat Palmer, a controversial photographer and artist in SLC, had her Facebook page permanently disabled because someone accused her of impersonating…. herself. Seems like that should be pretty easy for Facebook to sort out, but, no. She lost 7 years of audience and community building and had to start a new Facebook account from scratch. Men’s coach Sean Whalen was banned for 5 days for a mere controversial political post. It’s a well known fact that Facebook and Instagram (Instagram is owned by Facebook, by the way), use algorithms to determine what you do and don’t see in your news feed. THEY DECIDE. Facebook has become the mainstream media.
I’ll pass, thanks.
Though I’ll continue to use all of the social media platforms, here’s how it’s going to be moving forward: What you see on social media will just be a watered down version of my work. If you want the full strength stuff, you’ll have to come here, to my website.
Things are getting crazy out there, ladies & gentlemen. Every week I’m a bit more amazed at how insane the world is becoming. Our society is quickly spiraling downward into a state of handing over our liberties for the illusion of security. This is a dark place that never ends well.
AND YET – I am hopeful! As crazy as things are, many brilliant opportunities, technologies, ideas, and leaders are emerging!
The fact that you are even here reading this leads me to believe you are one of the few in society who care about social progress, life, love, and liberty. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t like or care about my work. The way I see it, you and I are freedom fighters. This next war is not going to be fought with guns, though – it will be fought with ideas. The battle ground is the life of the individual. The social progress we all crave will not come from the top down anymore. That’s an old paradigm that has died. The revolution will happen from the bottom up. One liberated individual at a time.
My goal is to create things that make you smile, inspire you, and ultimately, help you share the ideas of life, love and liberty in a fun way with the people in your circle. You are a leader. My goal is to help YOU become a more effective leader of those in your world.
Sex, politics, and religion… these are the taboo topics. The things you get in trouble for bringing up at family dinner. So often the sensitive topics are the very ones that need to be discussed. So often these topics are the battle ground for freedom in the 21st century. It’s CRITICAL that you and I become very skilled at discussing difficult ideas in a way that relaxes and inspires people, rather than putting them on the defense. It’s my hope that the podcasts, books, photographs, and comedy that I create will help you facilitate that.
I’ve relied a lot on Facebook to put out word about new stuff over the past few years. It’s proving to be less and less reliable, and I have no faith of that improving, so it’s time to get serious about the email list. If you want to receive email notifications about cool new things, get on board my mailing list:
Receive updates from Paul Duane:
You should receive a confirmation email from me within 2 or 3 minutes of signing up. Be sure to send back the confirmation AND add my email address to your white list / approved / safe email address list.
That being said, welcome 😉
Here are some more of the photos from my shoot with Allison, for your viewing pleasure.
Makeup by Amber Dawn Powell
Hosiery by Cecilia de Rafael & Hosieree.com
