Social media is a double-edged sword, isn’t it? It’s sort of fun to be a voyeur and see what others are up to, meet new people we might not meet in real life otherwise, as well as share what’s happening in our own lives.
However, there’s also the dark downside: other people’s opinions, negativity and trolls. And celebs definitely get thrown their fair share of shade on social media. (Maybe paranormal stars even more than, but at least equal to, politicians and the news media.)
There were a lot of great questions to come out of the press conference call that Travel Channel stars Amy Bruni, Cindy Kaza, Katrina Weidman and Chelsea Laden had to promote their Comic-Con@Home panel “Wonder Women: Superstars of Paranormal.” There were so many, in fact, I’ve been breaking it up into parts.
So far I’ve covered who they said their female paranormal role models are and the myths they debunked about women in the paranormal. Now let’s find out what they had to say when asked about their thoughts on social media and its effects on them and the paranormal field.
The Question
Linda White from Crooked Llama asked:
Hi, ladies. First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. Some great questions so far. My question involves social media. And I was wondering do you feel that it has helped or hindered progress in the paranormal field? And speaking to comments, how would you handle comments from, say, a skeptic? And I’ve seen multitudes–unsavory comments sometimes–and how you would handle those as well. Has it impacted you on a personal level?
The Answers
Katrina Weidman
Sorry, this Katrina.
Cindy Kaza
(Inaudible)–.
Katrina Weidman
–Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Cindy–.
Cindy Kaza
–Okay, sorry. Yeah, yeah, that’s a great question. You know, I’ve really tried to make it a point with social media to not–like, for example, with Twitter, I do the posts I need to do. But, I don’t read through every tweet because I need to protect myself, you know, emotionally. So, I don’t engage in that, and I try to not let it get to me. I mean, granted, I’m a medium. There are skeptics. There are people that hate what I do. It’s par for the course. It’s expected. It’s part of the territory. But, I really try to just stay in my lane and not engage and not that sort of, you know, stuff because I think if you let it get to you or you engage it too much, then it becomes overwhelming. But, I do feel like, in general, social media has been great for the field of mediumship because people are able to, you know, post videos of their work, and I’m able to access people that do all different kinds of things in the field like trance mediumship or psychometry or remote viewing. I mean, there’s a lot of access, and the community is growing. So, I guess, all in all, I think it’s great. As far as social media negativity goes, that’s just what it is. It’s the world we live in. And I suggest for anybody going into the field that’s in the public eye to just not engage it.
Katrina Weidman
This is Katrina. And I love this question, number one, because it’s so, so important and such a very huge part of our lives today. And, you know, as far as–has it hurt or helped the paranormal–I think it’s both. But, I think in media, in general–so, the positive side about it is that, you know, it’s exposing more people to this field. It’s making it less taboo. It’s inspiring people to get involved. And maybe that, you know, seven year old who’s watching these shows today in 20 years will come up with some sort of device that can help the field or a theory that can move the field forward. And I think that’s really exciting. And the negative side of it, I think, that I have seen, since I’ve been in the media side of the field is that it just sometimes gives a very limited–a limited picture of what it is that we actually do. So, you know, people don’t always see–I mean, you don’t see a full investigation, actually, on television. You know, you see parts of it. You don’t hear every conversation we have. So, I think sometimes it paints a picture that it’s really easy work. And it’s like the complete opposite. I don’t know for all the other ladies. But, you know, I’ve been injured. I’ve been sick. I’ve been–oh gosh. It’s just very tiring work. And you’re also working in something that’s not proven, which makes it all that much more difficult. As far as the negative side of social media, how to handle that. For me, I am a very sensitive person. So, I have no problem taking a break from social media if I need to, and I do that quite often just to kind of collect myself so I can, you know, be me and go through the world without being sad. But, I think the other part of that that you asked about the skeptics, personally, I love talking to skeptics. And I want to point them in any kind of constructive conversation. You, of course, have people that are just very negative and will not hear out any other thought but their own. But, people who just really want to engage in discussion–that’s–I’m all about that. And I think something for me personally that’s maybe not very well known is that I think I lean more towards the skeptical side. And, you know, even if you’re a 100 percent believer, there’s no other answer for all the stuff that happens, you need the skeptics because, again, nothing in this field is proven. So, how do we move the field forward? It’s by having those discussions and exploring all possibilities.
Amy Bruni
Yeah. This is Amy. I love this question. I loved your answer, Katrina. You know, it’s so funny because social media, to me, has–I have like a love-hate relationship with. The reality is I wouldn’t be where I am today without social media. Years ago, the way I started down this path–I was part of a paranormal team, doing my own thing. And I met Jason and Grant from Ghosthunters on Myspace, which tells you how long ago that was. But, without that, you know–without that introduction, without that online community of the paranormal and me feeling comfortable talking to people about the paranormal at that point, I would not be where I am today. But, the flip side of that is now, you know, fast forward to 2020 and, you know, social media is a huge part of, you know, promoting what we do, and it’s given people still like these kind of opportunities to meet likeminded people. There’s a lot of private Facebook groups and things that I think, you know, have really, especially right now, when people can’t see each other face to face, have made people so comfortable just talking about the paranormal because it was, for the longest time, looked at as kind of such a taboo subject. But, it does open yourself up to a lot of negativity. And I’ve personally really struggled with that. It’s hard for me, and I–Adam and I always make this observation, you know, why social media tends to attract a lot more negative comments than his. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman or because I’m a mom. I don’t understand it. But, it does. Everyone feels the need to kind of weigh in on everything that I do, which is strange. But, as far as skeptics, I–like Katrina, I do enjoy talking to rational skeptics who actually want to have the conversation. But, there are some people that just come at it and talk to you as though what you do is so ridiculous and don’t realize, you know, how much heart and soul and work you have put into it. And I’ve just long learned that I just–I don’t have to prove myself to anybody. It’s not my job to prove the existence of the paranormal to someone who will never believe it exists no matter what I present to them. And so, I’ve long been able to just kind of see those people right away and pass them by. But, if anyone wants to engage in like a respectful, you know, space, then I’m absolutely open to it.
Chelsea Laden
And this is Chelsea. And I agree with what everyone else is saying. You know, this is such an important and relevant topic for so many reasons. No matter what you are doing, even when you are not on a TV show, you’ll have people with a disagreement. You’ll come across people who have disagreements, people, you know, who are not fans of you, skeptics who immediately shut you down before conversation and people who are straight-up having a bad day, honestly. It has really taken me time to adapt to this platform. I’m the newest into the social media shark tank, and there are really–there’s really so much going on out there. There’s so many good things going on. There’s communities being built, friendships that are being made. You know, and then, there’s that one person who might say something, you know, out of just negativity or is just being mean. And I personally just try to disconnect from it, just disengage from that energy, like the negative energy because it’s really not helping anyone, whether you feed into it or you read it, or you dwell on it. I’ve been down that path, and it doesn’t get you very far. But, I do think, overall, social media, you know, like Amy was saying, especially in a time where everyone feels so disconnected and so distant, it really is a good thing when it’s used appropriately and when it’s used with consideration of other people.
Check-In
Are you on social media or do you try to socially distance yourself from its and its pitfalls/downfalls? Or maybe it’s some combo thereof?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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