Followers and Fans on Internet Communities
on writing, responding, remembering and such
I wanted to take a second, while it is on my mind, to share a few insights about followers and fans in our online communities. This also relates to being a follower and a fan, not just having followers and fans. Because that’s the thing: it’s a relationship. It is a give and take. It is a community.
First some wishes, then some realities:
Wish One: I wish we were notified when every single one of our favorite writer’s or creatives put out something new.
Wish Two: I wish we had hours and hours to read and like and share and fangirl and highlight and respond.
Reality One: We might see some, but not all. We might see the same people every time, or we might see a random assortment that may include new people to fan and follow.
Reality Two: We don’t. We just don’t. We can’t. It’s awful!
These wishes and realities sort of get to my point: How can we be remembered by our fans and followers and how can we remember those we fan and follow?
Some tips:
- Search for them. This is a thing we can easily do. But it does involve remembering to do it. And it does involve remembering everyone’s names. Which might not be everyone’s strong suit ahem, me, at times.
- Engage with them when they engage with you, immediately if possible. If you see someone pop up in your notifications that you haven’t read in a while, head over, see what’s new. Engaging in a loop fashion can help everyone know hey, I care, I see you, I am thinking of you, I love your work, and thank you, thank you, thank you at the same time.
- Read and respond as often as you can, with feeling and detail when you can, or briefly when you just have to spend your time working on other more boring work, parenting, cooking, reading or writing. Checking in a bit and letting those you want to hear more from know you are still around, cheering and supporting them, is always a good thing to do.
- Realize everyone is doing the same thing in these spaces, aka we are all writing, creating, and we are all reading, consuming. If you don’t hear from someone in a while and you want to know what they think of your recent poem or article, reach out to them! You know where to find them!
These spaces and places where we get to share our art and our voice online are rare. They are rare and they are few. Finding ways to make them community spaces, truly, where art is valued and where talent is appreciated, involves more than just the likes, shares, highlights, and rapid fire social media bursts we are all sort of expected to do to be seen, heard, liked, shared.
I love the views, the reads. I love the likes and claps. I love the shares. But what I really love is when people recognize what I am trying to do with my work. The feeling of being an artist. A poet. A writer. That’s not something you can really give to yourself, all on your own. Yes, it is for us, it comes from within. Yes, as Rilke said, we have to need this art, we have to be driven, passionately, to write no matter what. And many of us are. It is not a game or for show. It is not a let’s see what happens.
Writers write because we have to and because we want to.
So, this is all to say in this world of notifications and updates and emails and blurbs, find ways to keep track of your favorite writers and creators. They will appreciate it, I know.
Jenny Justice is a mom, Sociology instructor, and writer. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. She has been recognized as a Top Writer on Medium in Poetry, Parenting, Reading, Education, Books, Racism, Feminism and Climate Change, so far.
