The Parlor has been doing a bit of digging. Kinda. Before we get started, here, I tend to alternate between "the Parlor" and "I". That can be very confusing, can't it? Many creators do this alternating between referring to themselves in the third-person and simply as "I" in the first-person. Not everyone likes this, though, and I've seen some viewers rail at other content creators to "STOP THAT!!! YER NUTS!!!"
In the early years of the website, which launched in 2008, I, like a lot of website owners, would refer to myself as the Webmistress. However, terms like that--Webmistress, Webmaster--aren't just relatively antiquated these days, but might even come across as a bit too...suggestive...especially considering which author's work the Parlor discusses!
Okay, okay...I'll only use that term on the pages of the Parlor that discuss the Sleeping Beauty series, Exit to Eden and other erotica written by Anne Rice.
But for the rest of the pages of the Parlor, it gets tricky when I make these posts. I just tend to go back and forth between "the Parlor" and I, which can get confusing. One reason behind "the Parlor" has to do with the fact that in the last year, any content of mine that is related to Come Into My Parlor, anything I do online that is for the website is done separately from other things, such as my personal online presence. This helps me make sure there is no redundancy, no confusion, and that there is always transparency.
So, while I figure out how best to address the third versus first-person, know that "the Parlor" and "I" are both me talking. And I tend to talk a loooot...
The Parlor's New Avatar
Now to the matters at hand:
The Parlor Specials section is being reorganized to be a little more streamlined. This is where topics are discussed that are not strictly Mayfair Witches, Anne Rice or even Vampire Chronicles-related, but might inform the discussion of those topics in small ways. And it gives me an excuse to discuss other things I am deeply interested in without cluttering the main topic of the Parlor too much.
As stated before, the Parlor has hit the Pause button on social media for the time being, the only exceptions being YouTube and the Parlor's blog feed on Blogspot (which you're reading on right now). At some point in the future, that could change, but for now, the main website is where it's at, and where Parlor guests seem to prefer to go.
The Parlor has not completely closed its social media, though, but you won't see a lot of action over there for now. In time, if there is interest, social media could possibly be a go. Redundancy is really not something that is a good idea--meaning the same content across several different platforms--and is something social media platforms tend to frown upon, if I understand correctly.
As I said, the only social media exception at this time, really, is YouTube. This is because YouTube is not strictly social media. It is broader in scope--a video sharing site, yes, but also a search engine in and of itself. There are literally BILLIONS of users, and probably videos on YouTube. No one is kidding when they describe YouTube as the world's second largest search engine/video host/happy place...
YouTube is also a very user-driven platform. That is true. And despite the sheer volume of what goes on there, YouTube still is not interested in disorganized content. If there is one thing YouTube is...infamous...for, it is its mysterious hieroglyphic coding generally referred to as the "algorithm". And there is no Rosetta Stone to help translate whatever code is in the algorithm.
There is one thing I learned after who knows how many research "deep dives". YouTube's algorithm, many have noticed, can be confused. By users.
What?
What I mean by that is, when someone sets up a channel on YouTube and begins uploading, if the channel is set up for a specific topic, the content uploads will be about that specific topic. This mysterious algorithm learns that this topic is what the channel and content are about. If the content creator then uploads content that is NOT about that specific topic, this mysterious algorithm will get confused. It doesn't know what to do with this upload that isn't about the specific topic of the rest of the channel and its content.
There is so much more to this, as there always is when it comes to YouTube's infernally mysterious algorithm. For now, though, let's see what this looks like by a little something new on the Parlor.
Come Into My Parlor's YouTube channel is specifically for content I create in video format for the main website. The content includes video displays of the 3D model project of the Mayfair house in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series--Anne Rice's former home at 1239 First Street in New Orleans. It includes character animations of the Mayfair Witches created with the help of AI technology. It includes some graphics here and there. Some of the Parlor's YouTube content is also embedded in pages of the main website.
However, none of the content on the Parlor's YouTube channel should include content unrelated to that topic. If I upload content that is specifically about some of the things found in the Parlor Specials section of the main website, that algorithm doohickey will likely be very confused. It will ask something like this: "WHY is there a video of a 3D model animated about a fictional cemetery in Rhode Island that has NOTHING to do with the Mayfair Witches, the Vampire Chronicles or Anne Rice?!"
Solution: Digital Dollhouse.
I had the space to create a second YouTube channel that is specifically for creations of mine that are NOT related to the topic of discussion on Come Into My Parlor. This is something content creators do in order to keep their content organized and free of redundancy. It helps the viewer to know that if they go to the Parlor's main channel, the content they find there will be about the Mayfair Witches, or related--the Vampire Chronicles and Anne Rice, for example.
But if they go to the new, additional channel that is NOT about those things, they will not see content about those things. Because the Parlor Specials section includes a great deal about a particular novel and its very unique approach to storytelling, the Digital Dollhouse channel is meant to compliment that section by showing video graphics made based upon that novel and its approach to illustrated novels that could conceivably become graphic novels.
I anticipate that not everything shown on Digital Dollhouse will solely focus on that particular collection of creations. There are other creations to show.
The Parlor's main channel does have a section that hasn't really been used much--the community tab. This, I believe, can be put to use by sharing uploads on Digital Dollhouse there. From the shared content, users can click on the name of the channel to see other uploads on it directly.
Digital Dollhouse is owned by Come Into My Parlor and has the same email address: comeintomyparlor1995@gmail.com
There has been a request for more ghosts in the cemetery, so I think I'll trot on over there and resume the haunting of the cemetery...