A Personal Insight into the Downsides of Going Viral
When I thought about what I can write my daily article about, I realised that one thing is very clear: I don’t want this article to go viral!
In some way this seems weird and almost counterintuitive. So I thought it could be interesting to write about it and figure out why I don’t want this to happen.
Here are my 5 top reasons:
1. I do not want to lose focus
Right now, my priority is to write. To practice my craft sure, but most importantly to establish the habit of writing and publishing everyday. This alone is enough and requires all my focus.
Going viral does not help with this goal, it could actually harm it.
Nicolas Cole wrote in his book The Art and Business of Online Writing: “See wether or not you can be consistent. Nothing else matters unless you are writing on a regular basis.”
This is my goal. Nothing else does matter.
2. Find my niche and people
I want to find out what I like to write about and what others find interesting. I don’t want to concern myself with what an algorithm likes. At work I get to worry about algorithms more than enough! Thank you very much.
3. Be free to experiment
To be able to find what I like, I need to experiment. This week, I wrote about running, writing, productivity and listening! I just write and don’t worry about what keywords to use. That might come later in my journey.
If an article would go viral, I would feel the need to double down on that topic. As I’m just starting out, I get the freedom to write what I like.
4. Getting to know my reader
Having only a handful of readers means I can take the time to get to know them.
Do you read what I write? Thank you so much! I want to get to know you. I want to read what you write. Say hi, drop a comment. I love to know more about you.
5. I just want to write
If I was concerned about going viral, I would spend my time researching keywords and editing what I write. More time would be spend on not-writing than on writing. Being ok with having very little views/claps/likes gives me the freedom to just write and only write.
So for now I will just keep my head down and focus on the following items:
- Sharpen My Writing Skills: I want to focus on developing the craft and find my voice.
- Understand My Readers: I want to invest time to genuinely get to know and understand my readers
- Set Achievable Goals: I aim for consistent, high-quality content that resonates with my readers.