Here lies the next stage of 2000slovepoetry.
I feel lucky to have always had a clear direction to my DA, and that along the way, I have been rewarded with overwhelmingly positive feedback from my audience. In the making stage, I grew 2000slovepoetry to 140 followers virtually within a month. Taking into account the journey and personal challenges, I am proud of where 2000slovepoetry is at today. I have gotten non-traditional poetry fans involved in the community, and been able to shine a small light on the human experience with stories.
During production for this DA, I have somewhat learned to embrace the intimacy and personal nature of the poetry account. However, I have struggled with it as well. I have no problem with strangers on the internet consuming my poetry, but with sixty of my Instagram friends following my poetry posts, it has become daunting at times and I feel the need to hide poems or censor content. The main anxiety here is that my poems are about real relationships (past/present) and real inspirations taken from my life. The idea that anyone could access my stories, use them against me or expose me, that kind of vulnerability only terrifies me. Some of the poems I chose to archive were half-baked, but noticeably, I found myself archiving 15 (perfectly poetic) posts before I let friends see the account. The instant feeling of a need to protect what is deeply personal was all-affecting and real for me. Archiving poems has diminished the broadness, the library, and the quantity of my DA content, but I’ve chosen to document it because it was a truthful part of my process. Bartering with my own public persona continues to be a challenge, whilst trying to get support without revealing my identity. I like my art having some anonymity, so I’m still trying to work out how to promote the account for free without using my personal social medias. I’m still going to join online poetry forums and plug it at NSW spoken word nights that are upcoming (where the poetry community is safe for me). Relevant hashtags have only gotten me so far.
It has been difficult managing the demands of two DAs this semester (114 and 241). I find there is pressure to churn content out and to constantly evolve projects. Add two more essay-based subjects in, and it’s been interesting. But, I am grateful that my other DA is poetry-based too. In 241, I am writing essays on spoken word videos from the Button Poetry universe (YouTube). I have resourcefully used both DAs intertwined, and each DA helps the other out. I have promoted my essays for spoken word series on 2000slovepoetry and vice versa. Most recently, using 2000slovepoetry was beneficial for me to reach the audience I wanted for Olivia Gatwood’s Alternate Universe essay.
In establishing content that connects with my audience, the structure of my feedback loop has proved most helpful. Feedback, iterating and producing ensures a cycle that asks questions, gains insight and corrects itself, expanding directly on what the audience wants.
When I can put time into it, I really enjoy sharing my poems that tell the stories of my days and my years. I feel like I have chosen a DA that supports me and gives back. There is so much more spirituality, love, loss, wonder and human-ness to unpack heading into the final DA and beyond – I just need to secure the audience into coming back, sharing, commenting and engaging more, while I continue to post consistent, quality work.
internet kid 