befriend through numbers
Inspired by Becky's Writing for Joy, Not Numbers.
You can do both things: write for joy and numbers. With how reality comprises infinite inherent numbers, how can reacting and adapting based on your most valuable numbers bring joy to your world and beyond?
Better SEO. Having your virtual space indexed by Google. More traffic, visitors, and clicks. Numeric improvements like these can increase the probability of having new friends find your space in the first place. Celebrate newly opened doors for them to "find actual value in your writing". Who knows how much flourishing just one more friend can bring for your space, let alone for your life? Now scale that up to 10, 100, or even 1000 friends. By rules of thumb like the 1% rule, "1000 visits or likes rather than 10" can be the decider of whether someone connects with you or not.
Explaining how beneficial larger numbers can be reminds me of this excerpt from Hottublog's Pricing your work which applies well beyond pricing:
In theory, you can price your work however you want, but in practice you need true fans for that. Which makes me think of that famous idea about “1,000 true fans.” When you have a stable base of true fans, it really can be easier because they’ll support you consistently.
Should your true fans make any commitment to you, you can return their favor too. Find, appreciate, showcase, and collaborate with them and their spaces how you see fit.
Becky concluded her post with this belief:
And if nobody taps that upvote button, what difference does it make? Absolutely none at all.
Yet, she countered it well with her prior paragraph:
Yes, I do like knowing people are reading my posts, but I don't give two hoots if google indexes me or not, and a single upvote on a post feels far more meaningful than a triple-digit number. One individual person who liked what I had to say enough to give a gentle upvote and move on with their day always makes me smile.
Her smile from an upvote shows one of the many differences someone else's quick finger tap or mouse click can make. Valuing a single upvote more than larger magnitudes of visitors and views shows how certain kinds of numbers mean more to her than others. You too can rank the importance of numbers you write for and appreciate. Can changing the frame with which you look at numbers through transform them into friend finders, joy bringers, and relationship builders?