Protocols and platforms
Why I'm struggling to share on platforms
Over the past few years, I’ve learned to deal with my impostor syndrome on all but one front – showing my work. I just can’t seem to get out of my own head and put myself out there. At the same time, I watch and learn as everyone in my network celebrates their labours of love. It really is inspiring.
I can’t seem to brave platforms that remind me how many eyes there are. Funnily, I tend to be most comfortable when I convince myself that none of them are looking at me.
Platforms (not just LinkedIn) feel unnatural to me because of their scale. The dizzying speed and volume of people, work and responses to all of it. The rules of the platform that might change overnight, deciding what stays visible or not. Things that can be taken out of context. Reactions and judgements that can fly at breakneck speed.
Not that any of this has happened to me, because I haven’t shared much over the last few years. And the longer I’ve stayed away, the more I’ve turned to stone. When I see platforms inevitably get on the path to enshittification I’m even more convinced that I need something more enduring and flexible.
That said, I’ve also realised the immense value of getting some visibility on one’s own work, however imperfect or polished it may be, and the invaluable feedback that comes with it. To make this garden more visible, I’ve added an RSS feed, so that my posts are visible in a reader of your choice. This to me, is a resilient way of existing on a web that is built on protocols and not platforms.
With this, I hope to teach myself that not all attention could be bad, and feedback will nourish my own thoughts too.
