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The Streisand Effect: A phenomenon in which attempting to suppress an item of information attracts even more unwanted attention, thus furthering its dissemination. Coined in 2005, after a 2003 incident in which singer Barbra Streisand attempted to have a picture of her house removed from a public collection of 12,000 images documenting coastal erosion in California. -Wikipedia
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about a celebrity who is trying to keep something private but encounters the Streisand Effect.
Journaling Prompt: Would you ever want to be famous? How much of your privacy would you be willing to give up in the process?
Art Prompt: The price of fame
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about our culture’s obsession with celebrities.
Photo Credit: JCT(Loves)Streisand* on Flickr
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syc·o·phant [sik-uh-fuhnt, -fant, sahy-kuh-] noun
a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.
Writing Prompt: Write a scene, story, or poem using today’s word.
Journaling Prompt: Write about someone you know who is always sucking up.
Art Prompt: Sycophant
Photo Credit: bark on Flickr
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Last week we saw one of today’s most charismatic leaders, Steve Jobs, resigning from the company he built with his riveting way of communicating his vision. But was that charisma, or was it a determined professional who spent hours, unseen, rehearsing his presentations. Almost certainly it was the latter.
The research results suggest that charisma is sometimes an illusion. While managers can establish a reputation as a transformational, charismatic leader in a number of valid ways, managers can also gain the mystique of charisma by veiling how they accomplish what they do, like a stage magician. Prof. Morris, who leads Columbia Business School’s Program on Social Intelligence, elaborated on a point elucidated by this area of research, “Winning in business and political endeavors comes not only from performing well, but also from managing the interpretations that others make of your performance.” – Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Just like Steve Jobs, your writing charisma is based on the back story that only you will see. This is a prompt that encourages you to flesh out your characters and the world in which they live in ways that will never appear in your story.
Journaling Prompt: Write about how you use rehearsal (or don’t) to improve your charisma.
Art Prompt: Charisma
Photo Credit: jimbowen0306 on Flickr
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I knew I was old when I heard these words coming out of my mouth: “When I was a kid, we never would have….” It’s a fact of life, though, that culture shifts from generation to generation. Some of the shifts are good. My grandmother was appalled that JFK, a Catholic, was elected president. Today, I doubt anyone would care. Other shifts are not so good. Here’s what science is finding out about the preteens and what they may be like as adults.
“The rise of fame in preteen television may be one influence in the documented rise of narcissism in our culture,” said the study’s senior author, Patricia M. Greenfield, a UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center @ Los Angeles. “Popular television shows are part of the environment that causes the increased narcissism, but they also reflect the culture. They both reflect it and serve as a powerful socialization force for the next generation.”
The top five values in 2007 were fame, achievement, popularity, image and financial success. In 1997, the top five were community feeling, benevolence (being kind and helping others), image, tradition and self-acceptance. In 2007, benevolence dropped to the 12th spot and community feeling fell to 11th. Financial success went from 12th in 1967 and 1997 to fifth in 2007. -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: How is your character different from the people in the generation that is older than he or she is? Younger?
Journaling Prompt: What are the biggest differences between your parents’ generation and your own?
Art Prompt: Generations
Photo Credit: Helga Weber on Flickr
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