It’s been about 2 months since I started sharing about 10% of my posts on old-school social media and writing with the intention of showing to an audience of people I know IRL as well as online friends.
The posts are always well received on instagram (although I need to make 2 comments to finish them because instagram sets a limit on characters). I get around 25-45 likes with my 469 followers which is actually pretty astounding, 10% is not bad at all, especially considering 20-30% are probably dead accounts.
The likes aren’t important in themselves but being as I am trying to eventually be able to make a living off my artistic output and find ways to blend my different lives, I am pretty excited about it. More likes means more reach which means more people coming to events, a more ability to connect people and potentially more income streams at some point.
Facebook algorithms have been absolutely shit after the first time (which was very successful) and X isn’t even worth mentioning.
I don’t think things would go nearly as well if I wasn’t curating my best posts and adding some personal photos. My IRL friends are most interested in seeing me and so rather than the crazy AI generated pics I use here, I show myself and my life.
My photos serve as a Trojan horse to get people to check out my blog. They are fun in their own right, but many people would be less willing to check out the content if it didn’t have something they were used to on social media “me posting a funny face in a strange location”. So far I can confirm that at least 5-10 people read the actual blogs. This is because they comment (sometimes in person months later) or they like the comments which is a continuation of the original post, which normally they would never do.
Recently I’ve been practicing the art of presenting myself in my best light without hiding anything or pandering. For a very long time I struggled with the idea of marketing because it always feels like wearing a costume to me. This is because the bottom line is to make money or to grow your influence.
My bottom line is different. Those are important, but more centra is to stay true to my nature and my message, even when it’s not very marketable.
My starting point is the idea I most want to share. From there I think about how I could present the idea in a way that will have the most impact. This isn’t about being loud or crazy (although most of my pictures are pretty silly), or stating something strongly. It’s actually a practice in subtlety.
Most of what I write comes from a dissatisfaction, something I would otherwise complain about, or something that makes me feel stuck.
The goal of writing is to explore the idea from outside of myself, trying not to judge it, and to search for ways to recontextualize it and start telling myself a more empowering story. I try to keep it about me even when I talk about other things. I don’t want to preach at people or tell them what is objectively right or wrong.
So one day I was feeling frustrated about all the time I could have been working towards my dreams but was held back by family or school. And so I wrote something about how hard school was for me and how I am currently still feeling the effects of that in my deeply ingrained habits, and also how I am going about trying to overcome this conditioning.
Another was written when I felt frustrated about the polarized views on a certain conflict. I could see both sides but almost everyone I knew was on one side or the other. I wrote a long piece that didn’t name anyone in particular but explored how fear can lead us to do horrible things. People will read that and some may interpret it as me talking about one side or the other but in reality I’m talking about both.
Whenever I worry about whether it will offend people turn into a debate, I try to be more honest with my own feelings or experience. You can argue about right or wrong but it’s much harder to argue with someone’s experience.
Some people might try to argue with your experience but that gives you a chance to create a deeper understanding or helps you identify the toxic people that you don’t need in your life.
These particular kinds of topics aren’t for everyone, but find the topics you have in common with some of your IRL circle and see if anything you write resonates with them. You might as well write some posts at hive that you can share with your IRL friends and some may not be as eager to click a link off the platform.
That’s ok. You may even find some people asking you about your writing. From there you can share your blog, or you can leave a link in your profile so they can find it. I’ve had many more people inquiring about my work than usual.
Hive continues to be a kind of monetization incentive for coming to the table and putting something out, and a place to meet new people, as well as a chance to participate in the new decentralized future. Posting it to other platforms can increase reach and slowly build that bridge to Hive.
At some point, after I have solidified myself in the community as someone who writes well and have found more people who are genuinely interested, I will write a post about Hive and how it’s been part of my life for 7 years.
Rather than trying to catch people for Hive or trying to make people more interesting in my work, I mostly hope to build a bridge and become more capable of building bridges through increasing my influence, honestly and as part of my own self development.
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