fans and critics
Inspired by Brian's conversely, don't blog if you don't want people to read it.
Readers and greeters
It's heartwarming knowing people around the world care about me enough to reach out. They appreciate me, my process, and my sensibilities. They themselves are outliers contributing and creating on their own and in response to others. I appreciate their outsized initiative and the chance to return the favor with every reply and post. Am I doing a good enough job taking initiative myself?
What about when exchanges go wrong? Let's imagine that someone sent me a message as distasteful as what Nik dealt with in Being pro-social on the indie web. The sender's significant expense of time, effort, and resources would show that they care about me quite a bit. You can work that to your advantage. I will caveat that trying to make an example of people on either end might not be the best use of your time nor application of your attention. Agreeing to proportionality, respect for people's time, and a level playing field makes for effective communication. If any issues arise, there's no real obligation to reply either. You could shift your focus to a more receptive target.
I appreciate all the lurkers too. They represent the supermajority of any community. Who knows how (much) they talk about my content in their lives? Who knows how popular they make my work, how many links of mine they have saved, and how many ideas of mine they have remixed? They can do all this and reap all kinds of benefits without needing to tell me about it. Living in a world where this is possible at very little, if any, cost is amazing and perhaps severely underappreciated. You can be more helpful to the world than you may ever know.
Publish linkable works
You should publish what you wouldn't mind being linked to elsewhere. Always expecting the authority over whether someone else on the same platform can link to your content might eventually falter. There's a king here and chances are it isn't you nor I. Help make this platform more interconnected by minimizing inadvertent traps for yourself and others.
You would be surprised at how possible and effective linking is. Visualizing many of my posts (including this one) makes me admit I don't do it enough. You probably don't do it enough either. If only we would pause and look back, so many of our past pieces have insights that carry over into our fresh writing. That scrapes the surface compared to the many inspirations influencing our trajectory through life.
Modifying readership
I can imagine how minimizing network effects like readership and connectivity has its time and place, even with how public online publishing can be. Sometimes, a layer of pseudonymity or obscurity is necessary for your livelihood, well-being, or sanity. Other times, you seek out the intimacy of a trustworthy audience that understands you. Maybe you need time spent in the chamber to build up the courage to speak your truth. This approach has its problems to work through though, like bypassers of sworn secrecy or bad actors spoiling the bunch.
For me, my mind drifts toward how to find the good graces of those who treat you best. While minimizing your readership could help, improving your quantity, readership, and other meaningful numbers can be a good way to get there too. Enough quantity under your belt can help you eventually pivot toward the quality you seek to build upon.
Want to reach out? Connect with me however you prefer:
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yoursimperfect@proton.me
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