Gratitude

Quick thoughts about an (unimpressive) personal best for substack engagement

My previous post about boat songs has gotten the widest engagement of anything I’ve written on substack with 18 likes and comments from 13 separate people. I’m not quite sure about my intentions for writing on substack but, as you can see, I’m not generally attempting to writer for engagement. It’s interesting to think through my reactions.

First, it makes sense that post would do well. I think the list of songs is good, I was happy with the formatting that I arrived at (for each song showing Title —> quote —> my thoughts —> video), and the title asked a simple question to pull people in. The only thing that was surprising is that the musical choices were folky and, in the past, folk music hasn’t generated good engagement.

Second, people suggested all sorts of good songs; I was impressed with what they came up with.

Third, I don’t think that any of the people who were new commenters followed me or subscribed — which is completely okay; there is no obligation or expectation to do so.

Forth, I started writing on substack as a outgrowth of commenting on other people’s posts, and I think of my substack as a small item in a circle made up of people I read and others I recognize from notes. That post definitely traveled outside of the circle, which was surprisingly fun and also not something I would necessarily seek out. It is a sign that whatever substack does to offer discovery can work; once a few people outside my circle liked or commented I think that pushed it farther.

One reason why I say that I wouldn’t aim for that in the future is that I’m not sure how many people read the post (or the other comments) before commenting. In some cases I think they just responded to the question in the headline. Which was fun, I’m glad that happened, but mostly I’m hoping that people will read what I write.

Finally, it gave me a new appreciation for seeing people post small milestones on Notes, because I suspect that many of them, like me, did not start with a goal in mind for what they wanted to achieve, and part of what it is interesting about reaching a milestone is the chance to reflect on, “I wasn’t aiming for this, but it is satisfying to reach it.” I can also see how any writer with more engagement would probably want to turn off e-mail notifications for likes or comments on a post and appreciate being small enough that I still enjoy them.