Medium Has So Many Angry Articles And They’re Mostly Useless
In 2020 I used to average 100,000 views on the videos I published.
I was a popular vlogger in the Philippines and had a Facebook page with half a million likes. Can you imagine that for a second?
Half a million likes.
I lived there for a few years and normally made videos about “happy stuff” like why I loved living there and the redeeming qualities of their culture.
But over time I grew angry.
I got upset with their government, toxic traits of their culture, and more.
Eventually I took it upon myself to talk about them. I had a big audience. It was my moral duty to give a voice to those who were voiceless, right?
Wrong.
Instead of welcoming new points of view, Filipinos started sending me messages like:
- UNFOLLOWED YOU TOM.
- STAY OUT OF POLITICS!
- THIS AMERICAN DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT
- GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY
I don’t really know what I expected.
It was dumb of me to think that Filipinos would want to listen to a foreigner telling them about their problems.
I swear on all things holy that I had the best intentions. Ironically, even though I had their best interests at heart, the toxicity in the comments was too much for me and I’ve given up on trying to make an impact there.
This is dark for a writer to say, but I think the more we talk about what’s actually important, the less impact we actually have.
Writing Angry Only Polarizes Your Audience
There’s lots of very talented writers on Medium. But some of them write so god damn angry all the time that it’s insufferable.
Like, yeah, I get it. The world’s doomed, Bitcoin sucks, self-help bros are cringe and men, in general, are the scourge of the earth.
We get it.
When I read shit like this I only wonder one thing..
How many minds did you change?
Not how many people did you effect. Not how many people clapped for or viewed your article.
How many minds did you change?
That’s the most important part, right? Changing minds? Making sure your messages of how masculinity can be toxic falls on the right ears in such a way that it actually makes them want to change?
Not galvanize them against you?
The people who agreed with us before they read our article will agree with us afterwards and the people who didn’t agree with us before will hate us.
Cool.
So nothing changed.
“Our people” are still our people and “them” are still them.
What are we doing here, then?
Why are we here?
Are we writing articles dripping in anger because we want things to change? Or are we doing it because we’re angry and we don’t want to be angry alone?
I just don’t see the actual utility in angry articles.
They could have all the views and claps in the world. I don’t care. There’s lots of crazy people on this planet who believe a lot of crazy things.
Alex Jones had millions of listeners all around the world.
The More Important The Message, The Less It Actually Matters
When we write something important, our articles matter less.
I found that true with my videos, too.
The more I spoke about important stuff, the less I was listened to by people who held opposing views.
Even though the topics were important, my actual videos stopped mattering because I wasn’t inciting change in the minds of those on the other side.
And that’s because it’s damn hard to do that.
It’s one of the hardest things in the world to change someone’s mind with an article or a video.
It requires a level of tact and patience that these writers refuse to cultivate.
Furthermore, it requires a different goal than these writers tend to have.
Not to get retribution on a group of people and “expose” them for the idiots that they are.
But to change their damn minds.
Writing for retribution changes nothing.
Writing to change minds makes what we write actually matter.
Sadly there’s not a lot of articles or videos that actually matter anymore.
It’s all doomsday porn designed to divide, not change minds.
What a waste.
