Recently, I read a blog post by Jack Steiner entitled Do People Really See You? It’s an insightful read about being there when it’s important to be, and what it means to follow through on your promised actions.
The post, like many others of Jack’s, really resonated with me, and I left a comment, which I’d like to share below.
Hey there Jack,
I remember when I was eight years old, and asking my schoolteacher a lot of questions. Like, a LOT. He said to me, “Boy, don’t you know children should be seen and not heard?”
I retorted, “Well, how will we learn?”
He answered, “By remaining quiet and not asking questions. Now, silence!”
He sent a note home with me to advise my parents I was trouble. My grandfather was looking after me for a few days, as my folks were on a small vacation (yes, kids weren’t allowed, fun…).
My grandfather was furious. But not at me.
Next day, he came to my school and collared the teacher in front of the whole class. He pointed at us kids, sat on our chairs, and told the teacher, very calmly,
“See these children? THEY are YOUR teacher. You are old, and set in your ways. They are the future, and full of wisdom we need to allow. Don’t dare tell any of these children to never ask questions again. I pay your wages. Earn them, or you will lose them.”
I’ve never forgotten that. I think he’d like your take on who really sees us and which ones we should care about.
Thanks for the thoughtful read, mate, and making me recall a major learning point in my life.
The reason I wanted to share the comment was to show you what content should do when it’s at its purest form – the kind of pure blogging I’ve been talking about for the last few weeks and months.
Think about it for a moment:
- When was the last time you read a blog post that carried you to a distant but treasured memory?
- When was the last time you wrote a blog post that inspired that action?
We talk a lot about social proof being a sign of a successful blog – shares that make our work seem popular, followers that make us feel popular, subscribers that make us feel popular.
And while they’re all metrics that can help deliver the goals we want to achieve, the real gold of this thing called blogging is the experience we give our readers.
At least, it should be.
So let’s make a promise to each other. Let’s concentrate on finding the content that moves us, and share/subscribe to that.
Blogging – pure blogging – should be about opening up and inviting others in to share an experience. But it needs help to find the audience it deserves.
Let’s get to work.
This piece was originally published as “Pure Blogging and the Experience We Give Our Readers” on Dannybrown.me
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