Unexpected Popularity
The strangest thing has been happening. Maybe not strange, but certainly unexpected. People have been reading my blog posts. Lots of people. Well, a few. More than in quite some time. Ok, enough with the short sentences because it makes me sound like Donald Trump (on a side note, it will be interesting to see how the new 280 character limit at Twitter effects the style and content of his hyperbolic buffoonery).
I know why I have never garnered an audience in the past – it’s not rocket science. I’ve moved blogging platforms more often than some people have had hot dinners. As soon as any shiny new platform appeared, I landed there – armed with enough archived blog posts to break their database server. I’ve also changed the name of the blog more times than I care to remember – as well as writing under my own name from time to time, which could be argued is either tremendously brave, or tremendously stupid.
I often think of my own posts as forgettable, and my life as mundane – but I’m guessing we all do that. It’s so easy to look at social media, see the highlight reel posted by friends and acquaintances, and subconsciously compare the story we tell against the story told by others. While we know most people present a facade to the outside world, we still get sucked in, or at least I do.
I have a pretty good pair of rose tinted spectacles too. I started blogging around the same time the term was coined. I remember when the majority of those posting their words to the internet were sharing slice-of-life journal entries – listicles, advertorials, and niche online magazines had yet to be dreamed up by marketing morons the world over. I often look back at those early days with a certain fondness. Most of the names from the past have gone, but a few still remain – still sharing their story – still tilting at their own windmills.
Anyway. I often end posts with “anyway” – have you noticed? It’s a pleasant surprise to see people liking and commenting on my posts once again, and of course I’m not really freaking out and thinking “oh crap, now I have to start trying a bit harder at this stuff”. I’ll try to follow back in return (as long as you’re not sharing poetry the Vogons would be proud of), and try to keep up with you too.
Who knows – we might even become unlikely far flung friends.