A Short Story of Short Stories: The Unprecedented Fruition of Online and International Print Publishing Using Facebook as Channel.

Maria C A Cervantes
Mie National University, Mie, Japan
BACKGROUND
The pervasiveness of the negative effects of social media is well known. Excessive use can fuel feelings, among others, of addiction, anxiety, depression, isolation, and fear of missing out. Conversely, various studies have shown being socially connected to others can ease stress, anxiety, and depression, boost self-worth, provide comfort and joy, prevent loneliness, and even add years to one’s life. Notwithstanding, a networking forum is a fertile ground to keep one from losing English as a second language and reap the benefits that it produces.

APPROACH
That the idea of online articles soon dominating over print publications was at first inimical to this author. However, there was a compelling force that had her putting stories down fearing that not doing it will not only lead to the possibility of losing her English in Japan, it might as well obliterate writing, entirely. Creating a social medium account, in this case,Facebook, had to be decisive. It is a matter of choosing its clear positive benefits over the adverse effects and adhering to it. Beginning in 2012, production of short stories of the day-in and day-out of life’s emotions were read from her post on the premier networking site. Articles, anecdotes, information, feelings and events were not hard to come by and flowed freely like the river. What to do with all the stories that accumulated and the following that those stories generated was the next consideration. At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, the perception to have them all gathered and read not just by Facebook friends but for everyone anywhere curious was conceived. In December 2020, the book Emellie Meets Steeler was published in New York, USA.

SUMMARY

The book Emellie Meets Steeler is now the forceful fruition of that online and print publishing. It is catalogued in the Library of Congress, cataloged in the British Library and five other major libraries in the United Kingdom and the National Library of the Philippines. “The book is unprecedented in being the first exclusive collection of real Facebook posts capturing the soul and heart of life. It is the first time ever that authentic posts amassed through the years are gathered, punctiliously sifted and arranged in an accurate manner to correctly evoke eloquence in structuring endearing time stories”(Emellie Meets Steeler.New York, USA. Duran-Duran Publishing LLC.December 2020). When a short story from short stories is realized it serves as a testament to countering the harmful effects of social media into the people’s well-being and now becoming creative in the process.When one is away from home, English writing online, does not only keep the second language intact but also evolves like becoming one’s own. It works to allay the fear of annihilating the only potent process one knows in expressing big feelings, thoughts, and ideas.