Studying The Internet Taught Me This One Epic Life Lesson

How would you feel if I told you you were a Lurker

We’ve all been on the internet before. You’re on the internet right now. Reading this blog post and others like it.

Maybe you’re on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe X.

Every once in a while you go down a rabbit hole, traversing from one post to the next. You might interact with one every once in a while. Maybe you even comment on something eventually or make a post of your own.

If you’re like me I lay awake a night thinking about all of the world's problems that don’t matter.

What’s the perfect ratio of honey to mustard in honey mustard? 🤔

Moving on to more important things. There’s this phenomenon that pops up on the internet and in online communities called the 90-9-1 rule.

Basically, it pairs down to this.

90% of people on the Internet are Lurkers, they observe but don’t really participate.

9% of the people on the internet will Interact with posts and might post themselves.

1% of people on the Internet create an overwhelming majority of the content there.

Now you might be thinking who cares? I will say that I probably fall into the 9%. Although, it’d be nice to creep towards the 1%.

Why would I want that you might ask? Should I want that? Should you want that?

I don’t know, but here’s the way that I look at it. There are 2 things that I’m conscious of.

First, I can make more of an impact in my own little corner of the internet.

If 90% of the people on the internet are doing nothing. I barely have to do anything to enter the top 10%

Top 10% in the world baby!!! 🥳

Now, I won’t be quitting my job to become an influencer or a full-time writer.

But, maybe I post some things that I consider hobbies more and try to interact with an online community more.

Key word: Community

I want to build a give-and-take. I want to learn and share. Find new things, and support new people!

The second thing is to take everything with a grain of salt. 1% of people make the majority of the content.

That’s a massive responsibility for 1% of people.

It’s also highly radicalizing there’s no way that the 1% is properly representing 99% of the population.

I’m not saying down with the 1% 😂

I’m just saying if you’re feeling underrepresented or alienated on the internet, it might be because someone like you isn’t creating content for people like you.

This brings me back to my original set of questions.

Why would I want to creep towards the 1%? Should I want that? Should you want that?

I think I do want that. I want to provide content for someone who may get some brevity from something that I have to say.

Maybe it’s no one, but maybe it's not. Maybe something you have to say changes someone's worldview.

Regardless be active, and be creative.

Don’t just be a lurker.

I hope that you enjoyed this article! If you did please hold down the applause button as long as you can 👏🏽 (Really! Hold it! 😉)! Leave a comment to let me know your thoughts! Share with a friend or colleague! If you’d like to hear more from me please follow! Finally, please buy me a beer to keep me motivated! It all means the world to me! Cheers!

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