Here are images artist Rekha Ramachandran made for the social media button. Fun fact: one of them was stolen from an art exhibition I put one (last image). These crafted logos make social media look way more beautiful than it is. There is something beautiful but off-putting about seeing images we uses see completely sleek, flat, artificial, have texture, imprecision, and variance. Part of the idea for the aesthetic of the game was to blend the technological and the handmade, as it relates to the story of that is part fantasy part sci-fi, as well as the action of creating a meditational, self-reflective ritual on your phone.  We were really inspired by Sadie Plant's book Zeroes and Ones which details women's history and presentness in crafting technology; from Ada Lovelace likening programming to weaving on a loom, to the current factory workers who do fine detailed work constructing parts of phones, tablets, and computers. Rekha, Julia, and I more explicitly took up this idea in another piece we made together called Live Among Ghosts, the video above. In deconstructing computers, we found hand-made checkmarks, ghostly fingerprints of the uncredited people who made them. Crafting as a process fits into the idea in the game too, something that is gestural, repeated, and brings one into one's body. 

I used to be an avid journaler, which is a self-reflective ritual,  but I've known for a while that I've replaced that action with social media - and it's horrible! For me, journaling isn't just about dumping out feelings, but coming to recognize and understand something. Social media is a dump. Sometimes a connective dump, but for me mostly not. I was doing some very intense PhD exams in January and February so I went off twitter entirely and limited facebook to 5 minutes a day and instagram to 10. I was way way happier! So after my exams I put twitter on 5 minutes a day. You'd be surprised how much you get from 5 more focused minutes, rather than hours (literally hours) of mindless scrolling. But then I figured I should link back in during GDC. It was not good!!! I felt anxious and self-hating and I really wasted so much time. (All normal feelings from GDC itself, but amplified with twitter). 

Now I'm on it again to promote Ritual of the Moon. I'm conflicted though. At my level, which is not twitter famous, does social media really help people buy and play the game? Or do they feel like they're getting it just by seeing images and doing enough support by retweeting it? Is it worth the horrible feelings that come with checking for notifications? Most people I'm connected to on social media are my friends, other game developers, and other academics. That's not going to be a player base. But I really love Ritual of the Moon and I want people to play it! I figure it's better to try than not try. And social media doesn't quiiiite feel like selling my soul, whereas some other forms of marketing do. So here I am!

...Oh, are these #RitualoftheMoonReflectionns my new public journal now? 

13 days until release.