Read on Twitter
I see a lot of guys posting about lack of engagement on Social Media.
I look at it like playing music live. The audience shares their opinion of your work by their level of participation. They like it, they dance, approach the stage, they're smiling. Song ends, they applaud.
I look at it like playing music live. The audience shares their opinion of your work by their level of participation. They like it, they dance, approach the stage, they're smiling. Song ends, they applaud.
If they don't like what you're playing? Crickets.
I'm not certain social media numbers, engagement, comments, and reactions map to that same audience reaction model, but my background as a struggling musician definitely conditioned me to think so.
I'm not certain social media numbers, engagement, comments, and reactions map to that same audience reaction model, but my background as a struggling musician definitely conditioned me to think so.
You have to evaluate the audience. Are they the right audience for your work? Then you evaluate their reaction.
Did they like it? The crowd lets you know. Even if they don't engage, they're telling you something.
**EVEN IF THEY DON'T ENGAGE, THEY'RE TELLING YOU SOMETHING.
Did they like it? The crowd lets you know. Even if they don't engage, they're telling you something.
**EVEN IF THEY DON'T ENGAGE, THEY'RE TELLING YOU SOMETHING.
And then, you evaluate the work. If your work isn't getting the engagement you're after, is it the audience?
Is it the work?
Is it the work?
Wayyyy back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I drew my first strip - Croaker's Gorge. It was my first strip to get rejected by all the syndicates, and once there was an internet, I posted it online myself, and it was my first work to be ignored by a mass audience.
There are good lessons to be learned from that. Evaluate the work. With the benefit of time, I can see the strip's problems:
It wasn't that funny.
It didn't have a hook.
It was innocuous and didn't argue for its existence.
A good conclusion to draw would be to work on all that.
It wasn't that funny.
It didn't have a hook.
It was innocuous and didn't argue for its existence.
A good conclusion to draw would be to work on all that.
The bad lessons would be to decide the audience didn't know anything. "The crowd is a terrible editor" they say, but that's pretty cynical toward your would-be audience.
Careful. You can start thinking people are a bunch of yokels that don't know what they want.
Careful. You can start thinking people are a bunch of yokels that don't know what they want.
People know when they're being entertained. If you're trying to entertain them, pay attention to whether you are doing that or not.
And if not, it may not be that people are dumb and just aren't getting it.
It may be.
But it is more likely you have work to do on your craft.
And if not, it may not be that people are dumb and just aren't getting it.
It may be.
But it is more likely you have work to do on your craft.
"My work doesn't resonate with the audience" is the wrong lesson.
"THAT work doesn't resonate with the audience" is more accurate.
"How can I do this better?" is the question. And it's probably the ideation, not the execution.
Take the L. Regroup. Try something else.
"THAT work doesn't resonate with the audience" is more accurate.
"How can I do this better?" is the question. And it's probably the ideation, not the execution.
Take the L. Regroup. Try something else.
