Harnessing the Power of Social Media

There are many enduring questions. The fast pace of life doesn’t give us a break to take a few steps back and to contemplate on those questions. Wisdom is disappearing from our lives; it is turning into quotes from highly successful people; those that have made it in monetary terms. The thicker their wallet, the greater the wisdom attributed to the hollow words they disseminate.

There are many enduring questions of our times, often without a clear-cut answer. A wise person had once said that living is an art and requires boundless courage. Some of those questions however have definitive answers, for example a recent dilemma that challenges some of the leading intellectuals is whether it is acceptable to punch Nazis in the face. Wisdom teaches us that not only it is acceptable to punch Nazis in the face, but it is an obligation of every decent citizen.

In the gaps of our lives that still belong to us, away from the marching Nazis on the TV screens and their tiki torches, there is a need to connect. A need to reject the hate, division, discrimination and dehumanisation that is engulfing the modern society.

Can anything good ever come out of social media? We haven’t seen much good coming out of it, but that entirely depends on how people use it. The Kintsugi magazine is a project organised and put together through social media, mainly the Mastodon network. 

Kintsugi’s mission is to bring people together. Kintsugi borrows its name from the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery to give it a new lease of life. The philosophy behind this has its roots in the Wabi-Sabi tradition, which sees existence as imperfect, incomplete and impermanent; instilling a sense of appreciation, acceptance and harmony in the way we live and interact with nature and people.

At Kintsugi, we celebrate the diversity of people and ideas. The Kintsugi magazine covers a diverse set of themes and ideas. We celebrate the value of goodness and the broken lines in each one of us, akin to repaired pottery. We believe that everyone has a stake in the world and everyone matters.

Kintsugi magazine is organised and put together through social media, mainly the Mastodon network but now expanding into Twitter and Instagram. The contributors have not met in person or face to face. Our aim here was to show that people can do good and put together something unique and different. We want to encourage others to come forward and do the same.

I first had an idea of publishing a culture magazine in my student days when almost all publications were in print. The cost, my lack of network and multiple other challenges made the project impossible at the time. Today the world is a different place, and we can make it whatever we want it to be. I send my gratitude and commendation to the contributing writers for making this project possible.

We have thus far published two volumes of the Kintsugi Magazine which are available in digital formats of pdf, epub and mobi from our blog.

Many of our readers end up becoming our contributors, which is great because in my view art and culture needs to be accessible. Art and culture is not for an exclusive club of people; it is for everyone.

In our world, where were are on a daily basis dealing with the potential of a nuclear holocaust, genocides perpetrated on defenceless people like the Roghinya and the Yezidis, and where the ruling class are completely out of touch with the struggles of the ordinary people, we need a way to reach catharsis. A way to let out the toxicity, fear of doom, and pessimism. There is no better way than art. Art brings people together across all boundaries and helps them to see one another for what they are; people.

We hope to grow further and bring along more contributors and reach more readers. It is all in the name of bringing people together. The magazine is distributed free of charge. The contributors contribute voluntarily and most of the technical work and digital publishing is done by the editor.

If you haven’t read Kintsugi yet, perhaps this is the time. Join us. Let’s be the change we want to see in the world.