Blogging in the "Post Fact" Age

This blog is a creative outlet for me. I love to read and interpret recipes and cooking articles, create something in my kitchen, and share the fruits (or vegetables, or desserts) of my efforts with others. It's important to me to use this digital platform to bring good vibes into this world that is increasingly mired in ugliness.

In a New York Times piece published just over a year ago, Farhad Manjoo explored where the internet is likely headed in his article "How the Internet is Loosening Our Grip on the Truth." Manjoo explores the distortion of facts and loss of rationality that has become widespread across the internet. He ends his article with pessimism, stating his fear that we will someday be crushed by the overwhelming weight of trying, then failing, to keep the internet fact-checked.

Manjoo's article is fuel for my light little blog about the kitchen. While I'm not sure we can take the internet back from the conspiracy theorists and websites filled with half-truths and fake news, I do think it's a responsibility of the general population to put positivity out into the ether. I fill my Facebook and Instagram pages with images of my dogs and toddler-aged nephews (but never all in the same picture-- as much as I've tried to wrangle two puggles and three boys into one photo, it's impossible!).

The internet is filled with distrust, anger, arguments, and hate; we don't have to feed the monster. I implore everyone to take simple steps to make the world a brighter place. Start an Instagram page for your pets. Use a blogging platform to share your hobby with others; creating and designing this blog has been easy and fun. The internet belongs to all of us; I would go so far as to say that each of us has the responsibility and the power to make it more positive.

So this is my challenge to anyone reading this blog: do something. Put yourself out there, add something bright to the world. To illustrate the power of a precious photo, I've included a few of my favorites of my little puggles.