And the reviews are already coming in:
this may change posting forever
I can't believe I ever doubted that this was a real thing bcj has been planning for months and not just a throwaway joke
like seeing the face of god
A game of filling feeds
they're called posts because after you make them, you never need to think of them again
— Someone, probably
Players: 1+. If multiple people are playing, turns are taken simultaneously
Materials: A six-sided die, A social media account (+ other materials for sub-games)
Duration: Play until you're bored/play until you're no longer bored
Winner: Everyone wins/Nobody wins
Rules
Roll a six-sided die. Play the sub-game corresponding to the result:
One you have completed the sub-game, you can roll again at your leisure.
Thousand Word Essay
Additional Materials: A camera (or any other device that can reproduce an image)
It's time to go outside and explore the world around you. Look down. Look up. Try to notice something you've previously missed or recognize something interesting in something mundane. Once you've taken at least 5 photos, you can return home. Choose at least one and post it to social media (optionally with a punny title and a brief description of either the subject or the process).
Optional Prompts:
- A bug
- A bird
- A flower
- A leaf
- A repeating pattern
- A texture
- A small portion of something bigger
Alternate Modes:
- If you don't want to take a picture, take note of 5 things and then draw or describe one of them. If you are using a different medium, take advantage of it
- e.g., if you're writing what you saw: include what you heard, what you smelled, what you felt. Describe what it was like to notice this thing
- You don't have to go outside! There is something interesting around you right now that is crying out for you to appreciate it
One Year Performance
Additional Materials: A regularly occurring phenomena that you either cannot or steadfastly refuse to influence
It's time to ascribe intent and urgency to something that doesn't care about you and your posts. It's time to commentate a race. A race can be anything you want as long as it matches the following criteria:
- the racers do not know they're racing
- the race should take at least a month
- you can track progress on the race
- you can provide an update on the race every day
Some things that could be racing:
- several construction sites in your neighbourhood
- plants
- to flower
- to fruit
- to grow to a height
- for all their leaves to change colour
- the weather of several cities in the country you live in
- first/last to have a day above/below freezing
- most rainfall in a season
- first to have a full week of sunny days
Create a post announcing the race. The post must make it clear:
- who is racing
- the rules of the race
- preferably, some information about the racers
- it must contain a hashtag that will allow people to easily keep up with the race.
Every day until all racers have completed the race (or can no longer finish the race), you must provide an update that includes:
- the current state of the race
- any new progress in the race
- an interpretation of racer strategy
- the hashtag so people can follow along
Once the race is complete, you must provide final standings for the race. While a race is going on, you may reroll to more bcj-posting as long as it doesn't interfere with the race. If you roll a 3, you may either start an additional race or ignore the result and reroll.
Film Studies
Additional Materials: A movie of your choice and a way to watch it
It's time to enjoy a movie. Any movie you want because they're "four stars pretty much". Here's the thing though, a movie is more fun with a friend.
Ask one or more friend to watch a movie with you. Find a movie that you all want to watch. They probably won't be ready to watch a movie right now so feel free to do more bcj-posting in the mean time (if you roll another 4 you can reroll but also you can never have too many movie nights).
Watching a movie in person with someone is nice but text and voice chat are also great options—whatever works. If you're watching remotely, you could stream in Discord but you also could just agree to press play at the same time. Don't overthink it.
Have a nice time watching a movie with a friend. Talk about the movie. Talk about what you like or don't like. Ask your friend a million dumb questions that are tangentially related to the movie (as long as they aren't annoyed about it). Have a nice chat and basically ignore the movie except when something cool happens. Whatever. Have fun.
After the movie, you don't have to write a post if you don't feel like. You've been been bcj-posting this whole time. But, if you do want to write a post or two, here are some ideas:
- "I love it when a movie is a film"
- "A movie can be anything"
- "They sure don't make movies like they did in [year of movie]"
Or, you could write a bit more. Sell people on the movie. Tell people why you didn't enjoy it as much as you hoped. Ask people if they have any recommendations of similar movies.
The Shoulders of Giants
It's time to riff. There's no point in being on social media if you're not going to be social. Scroll through your feed reading whichever posts catch your attention and faving or sharing as necessary. Stop when you reach a post that is crying out for you to comment on. Maybe it's on a topic you've spent a lot of time thinking about. Maybe you can complement the post with a related anecdote. Maybe there's an overly-elaborate joke you can make. Probably you thought of a dumb pun or spoonerism. Click that reply button and get typing.
Ground Rules:
- If the post is tagged '#cohost meta', it's probably only worth sharing if it contains some vital information people on the site should know or if you've seen a bunch of people acting in the way this post is talking about. If someone you don't follow and don't know is being an asshole make up to one oblique post about it on your public account and up to one complaint post on your private account and move on.
- If the post is tagged '#cohost global feed' then it doesn't need a share or a reply. It's already on the global feed—what more could boosting do?
- ... unless you have a good riff. Then anything goes
- Your riff should be in keeping with the tone of the post and your relationship with the poster.
- Don't make a joke on a post about someone getting fired.
- Don't be overly familiar with someone who doesn't really know you
- Double-check: are you just saying that person's joke back to them?
- Ask yourself: would this reply work better as a comment?
- Have you already riffed on a post by this person recently? Have you already riffed on this very post? Proceed with caution
- Have you seen this post shared onto your feed repeatedly? You can make your riff in a new post instead of a reply. Sorry people who muted that thread.
Ideas for riffing:
- Sometimes words sound like other words
- Sometimes words have other meanings
- Sometimes a riff is just saying that your friend is right/wise/correct
The Deluge
It's time to post. You've got ideas in your head and they're either good enough to share or bad enough you want to get rid of them. It's time to let them loose. Post 2–3 things back to back. They don't have to be related. They don't have to be good.
Tips:
- Some good and reasonable ways to start a post:
- "fucked up that..."
- "Million dollar idea: ..."
- "Big day for..."
- Maybe double check you actually came up with that joke and it isn't just a display name you read a moment ago
- Sometimes words sounds like other words
- Make some sort of bold claim
- then follow up on it
- Invent a guy
- befriend that guy
Shahrazad
It's time to look inwards. Who are you on social media? What impression do you think you give people who only know you online? What impression do you want to give people? What would it take for someone to get in your mindset when posting? Take some time to think on it. Optionally, give yourself a deadline by posting that you'll be unveiling something next week. How hard can it be? You are already you-posting. You have always been you-posting.
Feel free to do more bcj-posting while you're working things out. See what bristles with your own posting style. See what feels natural. Look at the ways that your personality still shines through when posting like bcj. If you roll another 1, ignore it.
Create a post that instructs people on how to post like you, in a medium that suits you. It could be a game, or something that superficially looks like a game, or a css crime, or an airline safety card—anything as long as you do you. It doesn't have to be serious, but you should take the assignment seriously.
Create at least one post following your own method.
