11 - re: what's the point of having a low-traffic blog
I came across this post that made me think a little more about why I made the decision to start blogging.
And I think, to echo the same sentiment as this post, it's because I do want to feel like I don't have so many eyes on me for once. My current fandom-related Bluesky is fast approaching 650 followers, and even then I already consider that too many eyes. I don't mind being vulnerable, but sometimes when I post something personal and that gets reposted by some random "vote blue no matter who / #NoKings / etc" white woman with 11k on their following list, that feels like making myself a little TOO vulnerable.
Having that many eyes means I feel this pressure to perform. As an artist whose work does depend on social media a bit, performing is kind of inevitable. But after being on social media for what I'm pretty sure is almost 2 decades now since my teen years on deviantart, I feel really tired of it now at my big age.
This blog gives me breathing room. If people want to respond to what I post, they can, or they can just choose to hit the little upvote button underneath my posts to tell me that they read what I posted and they liked it. I think having that kind of agency for both writer and reader is why I like it here.
Plus I appreciate that I can just e-mail the site dev any time I need clarification on something and expect to get a human answer. I don't know a single thing about indie web or what it entails, but I think that human touch is something I need more of. And if that means less eyes on me - and in turn, more human communication - I'm perfectly fine with having a low traffic blog.
Anyway, Ramadhan Mubarak!