Good writing isn't always engaging

aka. "engagement" is a poor metric of quality and the algorithm programers know this, but quality isn't really their goal.

I’ll keep this short.

Good writing prompts contemplation. Not necessarily “engagement.”

That’s the gist. But, allow me to expound:

We all know the feeling. You put time and effort into crafting a quality post for one or more of the social medias, only to be met with crickets.

Twenty likes. Maybe a little more. Four comments, one of which is an emoji. No shares. No saves.

Why does the algorithm hate you?

Well, 1) the algorithm has no feelings. It’s not alive. But the people who program it, very much are. And 2) their goal in said programming is to keep people on their app. That’s it. If your post helps keep people scroll hole, they are cool with it. If it doesn’t, they aren’t gonna help push it.

So how do they decide?

Engagement.

We live in the day and age of rage bait. I will not go into detail on that due to the fact that it only leads to me feeling frustrated. Probably you too. But rage is still engaging. There are other tactics as well. Reactions and retorts. Reposts. Etc. Yet the common thread, is they all lead you to keep scrolling.

Yet, may I remind you, there is something far more valuable.

Contemplation.

At least in my eyes.

See, I want to write things that I have thought out. Those topics that I have been mulling for at least the day. And I want to encourage others to think deeply as well. Or maybe not so deeply. No, now that I type it out loud, I want to make them pause.

Pause, because something I said caught within them. Pause to lightly chew upon that thought. To lower their phone and turn toward a window. To smile. To be inspired, or maybe chuckle.

I want to push into motion the gears between their ears. To shift them from the flick of the thumb to a flicker of thought.

And the apps? Well, this isn’t exactly something they find appealing.

After all, if I write something that makes someone stop and think, that means they have stopped. Gasp!

And so, they silently bury it.

It’s not exactly intentional. After all, a computer program has no intentions. It is simply following the stream of ones and zeros that has been ordered within it.

Yet I am.

Intensional, that is.

Yes, that is what I hope to be. A good tactic for writing books. But less effective on the socials.

And so, for the moment, I pour my words (how ever little the quantity might be) into my books. My novels. My sloooooowly brewing non-fiction piece. Yes, those are the places where intensional words have great value.

So if you have noticed your posts having less and less reach as of late. Well… maybe it’s because you write good things. Intentional things. Things that cause the reader to pause… and contemplate.

Keep going, friend. Those are very good things to write.

Sarah J.

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p.s. I haven’t been posting much on any of my author platforms. Mostly because we’re building a house. While we live it in. Yes, it’s a bit chaotic. And I do post about that from time to time. So if you want to snoop around my unfinished house via insta, you can find it at Sarah at the Wildernod. Note: the posts on that account are not contemplative, even though I just empounded about that above. Sorry. It’s just me, rambling about my house. Just so we’re clear. Lol!

K, bye.