If you get jealous seeing others' success online, read this (I'm serious)

Here's how to see things in a way that empowers you and your online writing.

Made with MidJourney

Mastery Den, Tuesday Edition, writing in a café in Sofia, 3-min read.

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I often get jealous of people on the Internet who get more likes than me.

I know, it’s pathetic, but it also shows I give a crap about spending time on content that’s actually worth it.

It’s very easy to think that because a post we shared got little engagement, we must suck.

Katelyn’s post about her recent trip to Cancun with her mouse-sized doggy got like eight hundred likes. She must be a better writer than you.

But this is where we need to think objectively and realistically.

The truth is, great writing is frequently met with low interest on social media.

And it’s understanding why this is that helps me to stop taking things personally and continue to write.

• Algorithms are different on different platforms. The exact same posts that have done poorly for me on Twitter have skyrocketed on Medium.

• Many popular writers use engagement pods, which significantly boost their visibility. Many others use ads and paid reposts to further add to the illusion they are effortlessly popular creators (they ain’t).

• You wrote too long and people want short and snappy.

• Your engagement dropped because you went on holiday.

• How long a post takes you to write often has little bearing on its success.

• The topic is not trending right now, or it’s even suppressed.

• Your hook didn’t grab attention. I’ve reposted posts that got no interest with new headers that then went crazy.

• And maybe you’re just starting, while the guys that make you jealous have been grinding for years. They deserve it. You need patience.

Remember, you can reuse old posts. You can tweak small things and see things explode. You can stop worrying about individual posts and focus on the collection you’re building and the skills you’re developing.

Don’t forget that the writers you now admire wrote hundreds of things no one cared for.

You can experiment and create more loosely and be okay that experimental stuff rarely takes off, and that’s fine because you’re growing as a writer, while Mundane Michael posts the same repetitive and safe turd day after day.

You can focus on the beauty of the process instead of putting your well-being in the hands of strangers on a social network.

You can rely less on external indicators of ‘success’ and instead return to understanding yourself and going on gut instinct.

Play the long game, and don’t get caught up in the nightmare of the post-by-post play.

I’ve been disappointed more times than I can remember, but the trend is always positive.

I’m living the dream as a writer.

Keep creating.

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Thanks for reading.

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