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silveradept[The December Days theme this year is "Things I Used To Fully Believe About Myself." Some of these things might be familiar, some of them might be things you still believe about yourself, and some of them may be painful and traumatic for you based on your own beliefs and memories. The nice thing about text is that you can step away from it at any point and I won't know.]
#29: "Nobody Wants To Hear What I'm Talking About."
The RNG has a real sense of humor, I see, in that it left one nearly to the end that would probably have been better set at the beginning. It's the "screaming into the void" post, the one where, having been talking to all of you all throughout this, and occasionally getting comments back, I despair that nobody is our there listening to me.
There is something to the part where the democratization of communications equipment, the presence of a worldwide network of interconnected computers that can store stuff that's recorded, and the presence of all kinds of tools and standards that help people create and distribute their thoughts and works, in text, audio, or video, means a whole lot more people are able to communicate and broadcast themselves. So it's not just that we've gone from three networks to four networks, and then from there to cable and satellite delivery with all the channels that were possible with the pay TV subscription. It's that now, not only is everyone potentially able to individually curate their subscriptions, it's that everyone is potentially their own broadcast channel. So long as there's a device to record it, a server somewhere that can store it, and enough bandwidth to share it, each person is potentially their own media empire, and can choose how they want to distribute their material, and whether they want to do so for free or for subscription. And whether they're doing it because they're fans and want to create, because they want to make social connections through wit, charm, and introspection, or because they really do want to try and make enough to live on by doing what they're doing. Everyone has a voice, and everyone chooses what voices they want to listen to. Trying to be heard in that kind of environment is a situation where you're going to need some serious amplification if you want to get to even a small fraction of the world around you. Which usually requires getting the assistance of corporate money, or managing to ride a wave of virality that, despite the assurances of various corporations and others, can't be bottled or replicated easily. So, for the most part, kind of like what we were talking about in #17 and #21, we're in a situation where most people aren't going to achieve any kind of widespread fame or notoriety. Some do, and some of them do make enough to make it work as a career or a side hustle. But for the most part, this is something that people will do for a very limited audience, if any audience at all.
Which brings us back toward the initial statement. After all, the odds are against the idea that there will be anyone who is interested in the specific thing that I have to say at any given time. And yet, we manage great feats of roleplay, and sharing works, and being social on our platforms, all without necessarily having personally known each other before. Maybe it's one of those "humans pack-bond with anything" kinds of situations, since we're pretty good about making small talk, or advertising ourselves and our spaces as "hey, if you're the kind of being that's interested in this activity, or talking about these kinds of things, then you'll find a nice place here." And then expanding outward from a group of friends who know each other into more formal structures and bigger plans until we've created cons and podcast networks and YouTube channels and some of us are now writing traditionally published novels, scripts, and the rest. So there's got to be something more than simply random chance involved in getting people toward something they would find interesting.
Not that I'm doing those things that are meant to be advertising as such. I don't have a video channel, I don't have a brand, I don't broadcast myself and crosspost to everything I have, trying to funnel everyone to a single spot that holds all the content. I'm not jumping on every new social media platform to establish my brand and funnel them toward wherever it is that I have established my most effective monetization base. And I'm not trying to do things that will help me build a subscriber base and wield influence and set trends all across the universe. So why should I be worried about whether or not there's someone out there on the other end of the shouting into the void? It's not like I desperately need to have it happen for my livelihood.
Other than the potential for connection, and the deep kinds of connection that are actual social relationships, rather than the parasocial ones that are mediated by time, fame, and consumption of products. Even if I've basically given up on the idea of fame, fortune, and a place in the history books, I still like the idea of people actually wanting to come around and interact with me, or otherwise make time in their lives, probably asynchronously, to read what's happening on one or another platform. And I'm doing it the strangest way to make friends and influence people, by not having a message, by journaling about things like insecurities and small things in life, and also not having children and not posting all that many pictures about the pets that I have and have had. And not doing it on the platforms where the people from my physical life might be, who might be interested in such things. So I'm really setting myself up for the worst kind of situations for finding an audience.
That said, I seem to have done okay all the same. That, and at a certain point, after you've done it enough, it's not about trying to build an audience. It's about doing the thing for yourself. Or doing the assignment for the person that you've matched with, and if it turns out to be resonant with others, well, that's fantastic, and we should all be pretty happy about it. Dumping an entire batch of things is for myself, for synthesis, and if other people find it useful, that's great, and we should be happy. And there's a certain amount of putting stuff out there in the void that sometimes means people will find you because their friend recommended you and you seem cool, or because you participate in various communities and challenges, and you seem cool, or because they were looking for something and they came across your page, and that seems pretty cool. And sometimes even the people you meet in meatspace end up being people that you can share socials with, and that's cool. There's a lot of ways to connect, and only some of them are the kind where it's because you post to your blog about things. So, I'd have to say there is at least one person (me) who is interested in what I have to say, and that's really the only person that I can be sure about having an interest in what I have to say. Everybody else, if they're interested that's pretty cool, but I really shouldn't be chasing everyone else's approval for all the things that I make. That's what'll turn me into a brand, or an attempted influencer, or some other thing that will do its very best to make me sorry that I made the attempt to sacrifice what I like doing for what I think I should be doing.
#29: "Nobody Wants To Hear What I'm Talking About."
The RNG has a real sense of humor, I see, in that it left one nearly to the end that would probably have been better set at the beginning. It's the "screaming into the void" post, the one where, having been talking to all of you all throughout this, and occasionally getting comments back, I despair that nobody is our there listening to me.
There is something to the part where the democratization of communications equipment, the presence of a worldwide network of interconnected computers that can store stuff that's recorded, and the presence of all kinds of tools and standards that help people create and distribute their thoughts and works, in text, audio, or video, means a whole lot more people are able to communicate and broadcast themselves. So it's not just that we've gone from three networks to four networks, and then from there to cable and satellite delivery with all the channels that were possible with the pay TV subscription. It's that now, not only is everyone potentially able to individually curate their subscriptions, it's that everyone is potentially their own broadcast channel. So long as there's a device to record it, a server somewhere that can store it, and enough bandwidth to share it, each person is potentially their own media empire, and can choose how they want to distribute their material, and whether they want to do so for free or for subscription. And whether they're doing it because they're fans and want to create, because they want to make social connections through wit, charm, and introspection, or because they really do want to try and make enough to live on by doing what they're doing. Everyone has a voice, and everyone chooses what voices they want to listen to. Trying to be heard in that kind of environment is a situation where you're going to need some serious amplification if you want to get to even a small fraction of the world around you. Which usually requires getting the assistance of corporate money, or managing to ride a wave of virality that, despite the assurances of various corporations and others, can't be bottled or replicated easily. So, for the most part, kind of like what we were talking about in #17 and #21, we're in a situation where most people aren't going to achieve any kind of widespread fame or notoriety. Some do, and some of them do make enough to make it work as a career or a side hustle. But for the most part, this is something that people will do for a very limited audience, if any audience at all.
Which brings us back toward the initial statement. After all, the odds are against the idea that there will be anyone who is interested in the specific thing that I have to say at any given time. And yet, we manage great feats of roleplay, and sharing works, and being social on our platforms, all without necessarily having personally known each other before. Maybe it's one of those "humans pack-bond with anything" kinds of situations, since we're pretty good about making small talk, or advertising ourselves and our spaces as "hey, if you're the kind of being that's interested in this activity, or talking about these kinds of things, then you'll find a nice place here." And then expanding outward from a group of friends who know each other into more formal structures and bigger plans until we've created cons and podcast networks and YouTube channels and some of us are now writing traditionally published novels, scripts, and the rest. So there's got to be something more than simply random chance involved in getting people toward something they would find interesting.
Not that I'm doing those things that are meant to be advertising as such. I don't have a video channel, I don't have a brand, I don't broadcast myself and crosspost to everything I have, trying to funnel everyone to a single spot that holds all the content. I'm not jumping on every new social media platform to establish my brand and funnel them toward wherever it is that I have established my most effective monetization base. And I'm not trying to do things that will help me build a subscriber base and wield influence and set trends all across the universe. So why should I be worried about whether or not there's someone out there on the other end of the shouting into the void? It's not like I desperately need to have it happen for my livelihood.
Other than the potential for connection, and the deep kinds of connection that are actual social relationships, rather than the parasocial ones that are mediated by time, fame, and consumption of products. Even if I've basically given up on the idea of fame, fortune, and a place in the history books, I still like the idea of people actually wanting to come around and interact with me, or otherwise make time in their lives, probably asynchronously, to read what's happening on one or another platform. And I'm doing it the strangest way to make friends and influence people, by not having a message, by journaling about things like insecurities and small things in life, and also not having children and not posting all that many pictures about the pets that I have and have had. And not doing it on the platforms where the people from my physical life might be, who might be interested in such things. So I'm really setting myself up for the worst kind of situations for finding an audience.
That said, I seem to have done okay all the same. That, and at a certain point, after you've done it enough, it's not about trying to build an audience. It's about doing the thing for yourself. Or doing the assignment for the person that you've matched with, and if it turns out to be resonant with others, well, that's fantastic, and we should all be pretty happy about it. Dumping an entire batch of things is for myself, for synthesis, and if other people find it useful, that's great, and we should be happy. And there's a certain amount of putting stuff out there in the void that sometimes means people will find you because their friend recommended you and you seem cool, or because you participate in various communities and challenges, and you seem cool, or because they were looking for something and they came across your page, and that seems pretty cool. And sometimes even the people you meet in meatspace end up being people that you can share socials with, and that's cool. There's a lot of ways to connect, and only some of them are the kind where it's because you post to your blog about things. So, I'd have to say there is at least one person (me) who is interested in what I have to say, and that's really the only person that I can be sure about having an interest in what I have to say. Everybody else, if they're interested that's pretty cool, but I really shouldn't be chasing everyone else's approval for all the things that I make. That's what'll turn me into a brand, or an attempted influencer, or some other thing that will do its very best to make me sorry that I made the attempt to sacrifice what I like doing for what I think I should be doing.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-30 11:09 am (UTC)and occasionally getting comments back, I despair that nobody is our there listening to me.
I'm guilty of not commenting, but I've been following along!
no subject
Date: 2023-12-30 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-30 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-30 05:15 pm (UTC)