This Fall marks my 28th year of creating online content.
I started as a web developer in the 1990s - maintaining a personal website along with professional responsibilities.
I maintained a haphazard resource for job seekers in the 2000s along with a work website.
In parallel, I completed studies & published papers about some of them.
My online presence & research publications were consistent in one way - no one ever really commented on either of them.
With the advent of social media & my research career, I became more systematic in curating my personal and professional online presence.
Why?
Because social media made it easier for users to find, share, celebrate, & criticize content.
The criticism made me nervous.
But.
Having helped create the online ecosystem, I wasn’t ready to walk away from it.
What to do?
I became a content creator - first on Twitter, then Facebook, & now LinkedIn.
On Twitter, I hit 10k followers & abandoned it. The spirit was volatile & mean.
On FB, I shared my personal & professional life to a defined community for ten years. I received (literally) millions of online likes & caught (literally) offline heat for being too transparent and prolific.
I forked content 11 months ago.
On LinkedIn, I share my candid, mostly positive views on academic life. I write for an undefined community.
Now people comment.
So what does it feel like? To have strangers read & comment on your thoughts?
First, I’ve been surprised that my stories about academic life have garnered attention.
I didn’t think people would pay attention to my vignettes esp. as they include prescriptive content.
Second, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the many public and private comments that I’ve received.
I expected negative comments (& I get them) - I didn’t expect the many positive comments.
Third, this experience differs from paper publication.
Rarely, do people say to you, I loved your paper. Nor, for that matter, do they tell you how your work helps them.
Direct feedback changes how you see your words.
Fourth, I feel a responsibility to be purposeful & to do no harm.
I am acutely aware that my posts can shape how people approach situations - exacerbating my social awkwardness at times! (It really is me, not you!).
I am also acutely aware when others are not - making me privately judgy! (Yes, you can say it with a spoonful of sugar!).
Fifth, creating responsible, conscience driven, daily content has made me more self-aware.
I write about what comes to mind, when I wake up, on my morning walk or during my day, there is more to celebrate than I realized & more to address!
Positive thinking has power.
Finally, I remain a Boy Scout.
Each week, I am asked how I will monetize posts.
I have no interest.
My posts are how I give back to the community. That anyone reads them, is compensation enough.
Thanks for reading. I hope you will forgive the self-indulgent post.
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