I confess that I have little interest in social media. It’s not so much my dislike of comparison culture and FOMO (fear of missing out); or decreased face-to-face interactions; or the spread of misinformation; or cyberbullying and online harassment; or negative mental health effects; or addiction and time-wasting – are you catching my drift; I’m not a champion of social media – rather, I continually find myself unsatisfied because I want to know more.

The limited 2,200 characters that Instagram permits are a teaser. It’s a hint at the depth and potential authentic experience that a person is sharing, and all I can think to say at the end of an engaging post is, "Wait, that’s it?" I want to tell exciting content creators, "No, you have more to say. You can’t possibly stop now."

This month in Studio Potter's issue, "Expanded," I’ve coaxed authors to do just that. The 2,200 character limit – about two-and-a-half paragraphs – has been expanded to 2,200 words. The stories that deserve more time and more thought are the ones that drove my pursuit of quality storytelling. The artist who claims, "They are just cups," gets the platform to expand on how powerful and profound a cup can be. The community builders who know "craftsman" means something deeper, something interconnected and communal, are given the space to explore the "responsibility to present one’s best work in a spirit of social consciousness, to honor the traditions of the craft, and to pass that knowledge on." The emerging creative (and wonderfully philosophical thinker) who provides us with this month’s FREE article gets the opportunity to expand on a one-minute video that went viral. And the computer czars who created online social and visual ceramic platforms that predate modern web browsers speak on their newest social media projects.

I welcome you to explore the expanded articles in this month’s issue.