Singers In the Hands of An Angry Mob: What To Do When the Instagram Zombies Have Your Number

A short time ago, I heard of a composer named Daniel Elder who has thus far survived an attempted career assassination. His crime? A single Instagram post that condemned the burning of the Nashville court house just a few blocks from where he resides. Maybe the face masks were constricting oxygen and people couldn't think properly. Whatever the case may be, it got real ugly real quick. Rob Soave gives a detailed account of how a single post on social media essentially ruined his promising career. Read about it https://reason.com/2021/06/15/daniel-elder-cancel-culture-choral-composer-antifa-blm-gia/ (here). You may be wondering, "James, this is a trumpet podcast; why don't you just focus on trumpet, technique, history, forget all that stuff." To that I say, "Get your head out of the stand, buddy." Artists everywhere are terrified of one misstep on social media literally ending their careers. I think this is tragic, because art is the one medium of expression that is best suited to confront this type of groupthink. Can you name one political speech that rivals the impact of Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, some of John Lennon's stuff, Bob Dylan and the like. At any rate, when I heard Daniel's story, I felt compelled to reach out and lend my support and ask if I could perhaps interview him about his experience. He replied that he would prefer not to do spoken interviews, but he would be happy to do a written interview so as to think carefully about what he says. Good thinking. Add Daniel's experience to the ever-growing list of reasons to stay away from social media. Facebook, Twitter and the like are useful when used responsibly - but the end result seems to lead to the climate of fear Daniel experienced, and doubtless many folks who just want to provide for their families. It's also reason #4365 to look for other options when it comes to social media. I've been experimenting with a new platform called https://sociallair.io (Social Lair.) It's in beta mode currently, but I'm accepting new members into my own l