Imperfect

support underrated people

Inspired by Ashton's Please, support underrated.

I support Ashton's call to action: support underrated people. With how their traction can require consistency, captivation, and connections, your support can catalyze their growth. Give their work a reaction or a reply. Send them a nice email, guestbook entry, comment, or direct message. Share their work with someone you suspect would find it interesting.

No matter whether the people you deem underrated are niche or mainstream, they have lessons to teach us all. Think of the reciprocity between beginners and experts, teachers and students, and mentors and mentees.

While it seems like too few people get discovered relative to the population, be careful about diminishing viral actors and their rise to prominence. Practicing attention capture from both producer and consumer sides is important, no matter the alignment of your intentions. Without someone's attention, how does hidden talent get noticed?

Ashton makes a good point about how frequently people admit to scrolling on this part of the Internet. That perceived drain can be put to good use. How can your scrolling mine and appraise hidden gems instead of gifting your brainpower to the feeds you scroll through?

Trending ideas in one space can be seen as hidden gems in another. One man's drama is another man's comedy. The more you broaden your scale, presence, and understanding, the more attention you can circulate without worrying about what appears to be localized popularity contests.

You can go beyond just bookmarking or linking to works you found enjoyable. Remix said works in public to make your Internet even more dense, digressive, and appreciative of you helping people (including yourself).

Want to reach out? Connect with me however you prefer: