The Dark Truth About the Platform People

Though I take the train only occasionally, I generally travel on the same morning train into Los Angeles. I buy my ticket from the automated kiosk and join the closest line. Without fail, I'm preceded in that line by the same group of regulars; individuals that have shared their place on the platform for years. They've become great friends. They share family adventures, discuss their favorite television programs, and even engage in playful teasing. They'll observe other lines up and down the platform, speculating on the lives of their fellow travelers. On rare occasions, their association has reached beyond the platform to birthdays and other family events. 

There appears to a curious limit to their friendship, however.

One of them, though clearly a part of the group, retreats to her favorite, albeit less social, queue  a few minutes before the train arrives.

For those who remain at their traditional platform position, their association appears limited to the station.  Once they climb aboard the train, they say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. They don't appear to have independent onboard social groups. The car they choose to board each morning is the "quiet car," designed to discourage the sometimes raucous conversation they typically enjoy together.

It almost seems as if they need the independent time to cool down from their free, true selves, to their more repressed professional personas. There's no greater symbol of that transition than their enforced route as they step off the train, then walk down a crowded ramp and into a narrow concrete tunnel. Fellow passengers shuffle slowly through the passage, anonymous cogs in a mindless machine.

Those last few moments on the platform in Santa Clarita, perhaps, offer them a desperate last gasp of humanity before darkness descends. 

That's my theory, anyway.

I could be wrong.

The Blogger Interviews: Steve Miller [QiRanger]

I think you'll enjoy this week's Vlogger Interview, featuring Steve Miller, known on YouTube as QiRanger.

Steve has a voice that comes out loud and clear not just through his YouTube channel, but across his social media landscape:  his blog, his podcast - even his Tweets.  He's not trying to sell anything, or build celebrity.  He's sharing an adventure.  As an American teaching English in South Korea, he takes viewers on a voyage through a country it's history, and it's culture.

"Predominantly I focus on travel, not only here in Korea, but also around the world. Most of my content is related to traveling abroad outside the United States, and in addition to that, I work here in Korea as an English intructor, so I do have some content related to life in Korea and live as an English instructor here in Korea, but I also write about cultural issues, historical issues, I have a podcast, and I just try to share a wealth of information that I think people would find interesting who have not been to Asia and specifically to Korea."

Steve is more proof that the best content is created through passion.   Subscribers, and a YouTube partnership are only part of the equation.  The quality and consistency of his content caught the attention of the South Korean government.

"I have an incredible amount of fun - it's something I enjoy doing.  It is a job. I do get money from being a YouTube partner, but I also write articles for the Korean government to help them with their tourism.  I also appear once or twice a month on a local English-language radio station here to talk about travel as well. So, there is certainly a business side to it, but for me, it's about fun."

Social media creators are like conductors, I think, leading an orchestra made up of a universe of social media platforms.  If they can reach the sometimes elusive goal of creating content across that platforms that work together - than they can, in effect, create beautiful social media music.  Defining just what that is might be is wildly different  from person to person, I think Steve's approach is a good example of how to do it right - and, as the saying goes - do what you love, and the rest will follow.