After written art had to fight a tough battle for attraction during the first decade of social media, owing to a certain group of writers, it is now on a significant rise. How Instagram and Twitter have offered jumpstarts to careers of authors like Dean Cocozza sets a blueprint for thousands of ambitious writers.

Cocozza started writing lyrics for his music as a teenager. He immediately had to experience that translating art to social media is not as simple as posting whatever his pen put down.

“Anyone who uses the platform with an intent will quickly learn that you only have the glimpse of a moment to catch the viewer’s attention. So the work I shared shifted to be more to the point, often one-liners. Then stuff started to go viral.”

The success and demand for more poems resulted in his first book Zero Dark Thirty, which sold out quickly. Despite the book containing mostly short writings, even said one-liners, Cocozza emphasizes that he doesn’t write for social media. “It was a very personal project resulting from a certain period of time” in his life. There are much bigger things that he works on and plans to get involved in.

Dean Cocozza has brought back emotional depth. In-between monetized (货币化的) content, blatant (明目张胆的) advertising and “perfect lives”, social media holds a spot for a new generation of artists, including literature. Critical thinkers and authentic writers remind the app’s consumers of their emotional human nature. Art galleries and bookstores might have lost a big part of their audience to digital media — but the art itself will always find ways to survive.

In December 2004, as a new professional photographer, I began to work on a project about communities who live on the sea in southeast Asia.

I went out to sea with them regularly. On the morning of 26 December, I was due to set out with a group of six fishermen in a small boat. It was about 8 am, and the sea looked different. The water was totally still. I could tell from the way the fishermen were behaving that something wasn’t right. They seemed to be discussing whether or not we should set off, but the eldest, who operated the boat, gave the go-ahead order.

About 20 minutes later, one of the fishermen pointed to a small white spot far in the distance. It looked like a football. It was getting bigger and bigger very quickly. We had no idea that this was a tsunami wave speeding through the ocean like a tornado (龙卷风).

With a big wave, you would usually try to get as far out as possible into the open sea. The deeper the water, the weaker the wave. But we weren’t far enough out to be safe, nor close enough to the shore to make it back before the wave would hit the land. We were trapped.

When I realized that the fishermen, who were born on the sea, were afraid, I began to feel really scared. At some point the elder took control. No one panicked or screamed. The captain told the six of us where to sit, so we would balance out the boat.

I was sitting on one of the benches in the middle, with my back facing the five-to-seven-meter-high wave. I took hold of my seat firmly, closed my eyes and said goodbye to the world, my family and friends, in my mind.

Suddenly there was a huge noise and a sudden movement. The wave had hit the boat, but in the very second of impact, the incredibly skilled captain got it right. He managed to sail up and on to the wave. Then the boat glided (滑动) from the tip of the wave down behind it, into safe waters. He had saved us all.

Surviving gave me a deep understanding of how short life can be. I’ve been going back to southeast Asia almost every year to thank the people who saved my life.

My father really dislikes my stepfather, Mike, and is always calling him names, saying what a “good-for-nothing” guy he is.

Mike knows about his name-calling because sometimes when my father comes to pick me up, he’ll say inconsiderate things right in front of my stepdad like, “Is what’s-his-name going to pick you up after the game, or am I supposed to bring you home?”

Even though it’s rude that my father doesn’t call Mike by his name, my stepdad doesn’t hold it against my father. “Sure, I’ll pick up BeShawn at 3:30, ” he’ll answer. Nor does Mike make a big deal about my father’s inconsiderate attitude towards him. He lets the comments go.

I asked my stepfather if the way my father treats him bothers or upsets him.“Oh，not really, ” he said. “You don’t always have to be right, as long as you do what’s right.” I like it that Mike is secure with himself. My father’s taunts (嘲弄,奚落)don’t bother Mike because he likes himself. My dad’s opinion of my stepdad doesn’t change the way Mike feels about himself.

I really admire Mike. I especially like how he’s good to my mother. And I really like what a good father he is to me. I appreciate all the things he does for me, like teaching me to throw a fastball and helping me with my homework without becoming impatient like my father does. Mike even volunteered at my school’s carnival (狂欢节)this year. No other stepdads were there.

Though I would never tell my real father that I think my stepfather is one of the nicest guys I know, he is. I’m happy to have Mike as my stepfather. Sometimes, I even call Mike “Dad” because he acts like a dad to me. In my eyes, my stepfather is a really great guy.