I have been reading a lot lately. Not books, but blogs and essays by various writers, and I realised how much I used to like writing when I was posting on LinkedIn.
I was semi-popular on LinkedIn, and it was part of an experiment: “Can an introvert learn to talk to an audience? Can I write clearly?” It did teach me a lot, gave me some really great connections, and exposed me to a side of social media beyond just being a consumer.
While writing on social media was fun, the part I dreaded was seeking validation and building an audience. Well, technically, I was pursuing that too, but it slowly became just another addiction. I was constantly engaging with the audience, sometimes arguing, but most of the time simply validating my own knowledge.
Maybe I was approaching it the wrong way.
Writing is a peaceful exercise. It helps me see myself better. But writing to please others is where the energy drain happens.
What I still need to figure out, though, is how to put my writing online or on social media without getting pulled into brand-building and engagement shenanigans.