iPaulina
Thinking with Christina Cole
Tackling the hard questionsChristina in the VI is interested in the state of politics today. She contributes to the online political discourse from a left-wing standpoint through her blog, which you can check out here. I interviewed her about her blog.
Q: What inspired you to start?
A: My reasons are quite pragmatic and not very inspirational – I’ve finished writing a book and I’m looking for an agent to take it on. You kind of need something to point to, to say “this is my platform, and this is how I’m growing it.” And a blog is a good opportunity to do that.
Q: What do you write about?
A: I write about a lot of things – mostly politics, and that includes cultural politics and commentary, so basically what’s going on in social justice circles and what people are talking about right now, especially young people. I also occasionally write articles about economics and philosophical issues.
Q: What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages that you have encountered when keeping your blog?
A: The advantages are that it’s really enjoyable if you’re someone who enjoys writing about politics. It also means that you can use your voice to talk about issues you’re passionate about. On top of that, you actually learn a lot about subjects you write about, and you can even monetise your blog. The disadvantages are that it’s a lot of work – you have to write weekly articles and promote them on social media platforms, which is time-consuming.
Q: What’s your most controversial article?
A: I’d have to say that it’s my article on cancel culture. In it, I present an argument as to what cancel culture needs to be to be successful, and how the culture of online shaming doesn’t live up to that. Instead, what we see is a kind of moral perversion where the punishment of being cancelled, most of the time, is objectively disproportionate to the actual crime. It would be much fairer to cancel companies—but unfortunately, most people are more interested in the fun of gossiping and ruining an individual’s reputation than in actually doing any kind of social good.
Q: On your blog, your name is Christina Cole. Why did you change your surname?
A: To be honest, this is quite funny. I changed my name because I read a study that says that if you have a name with alliteration, people are more likely to pay attention to you.
Q: What advice do you have for other people thinking about starting their own blog?
A: My advice would be to just do it! Obviously, you would need a website first – I use Wix, which is free and it’s really easy. It’s not too complicated, and you don’t need to be able to code. If you have the time and the interest, just do it. Make a website, start writing, and put yourself out there.
Eppie VI
