Fleeting Attention
My very first manager ever recently left the organization I work for and I honestly couldn’t be more happy for her. It’s so interesting that even though we spend 40 hours each week around our coworkers, we are really just side characters in their main storyline.
I can only speak for myself, but I think my main storyline consists mainly of my husband and my dogs since they are the people I spend the majority of my time with. Then the recurring side characters include family and extended family, and then friends. Most of those characters understand who and how I am as a person whereas coworkers, bosses, doctors, and aestheticians really only get surface level connections.
At any given time, we never know what the home life of those around us is like. That’s why it’s incredibly important to always give people grace. People might be struggling to stay positive or doing the best they can, but because we don’t have the context behind their entire story, we might try to judge them using only 25% of the picture.
Social media is very similar in that regard. We often hear that Instagram is a highlight reel for someone’s life, but do we really accept that fact? That every beautiful picture or stunning pose is just a crafted piece of content meant to engage and garner likes and attention? Or do we just mindlessly scroll and assume we know people and their plights just from pictures posted on an imaginary timeline?
People’s lives are constantly in motion, just like yours. There’s never a moment in time when we aren’t growing or changing so to put that constraint on others is a little ingenuine.
Content creators on YouTube are always complaining that they aren’t allowed to take breaks from the platform whenever they are going through things since the masses are ever hungry for a life update, a vlog, a vacation prep, or any other trending video concept. I can only imagine how hurtful some of the comments are, especially on platforms that don’t require users to show their identity.
Anonymity tends to breed the worst in humans sometimes.
However, as someone who works a full time job along with a side passion project that’s a labor of love, I think it’s incredibly important to remember that while popularity alone is great, the attention span of the masses is fleeting. That’s why having momentum and striking while the iron is hot is so important in business.
People flat out forget. They forget to go back and click that link you posted on your Instagram story. They forget to text or email you back. They forget to like, comment, and subscribe before clicking away from your YouTube video.
There’s a reason why great marketing has an element of keeping things front and center. And no, it’s NOT just to be annoying.
There are some YouTube content creators that have decent sized channels that could be closer to 1 million subs if they would upload more consistently. Taking months off the platform can shadowban you quicker than you think. Even just repurposing content that you’ve already made or showing one tidbit of your day will go the distance for keeping a channel progressing and helping you stay relevant.
Most beauty and lifestyle influencers fall into the trap of not treating social media as a business. At the end of the day, if it’s paying your bills and allowing you to live the lifestyle you want, it’s important to do everything you can to stay relevant in the algorithm and with your audience. While it’s tricky figuring out how to do more, be more, and still make time for yourself, setting boundaries such as working hours, outsourcing certain tasks, and always having a list of ideas can help provide more structure.
The one thing that has helped me the most with consistently blogging is keeping a running list of possible writing topics handy. Everytime I think of an idea, no matter how big or small, I write it down. While I may not write about it immediately, whenever I’m at a low point creatively, I have something I can refer back to that will help me write when I need to. That way, I stay on schedule and never have to worry about accidentally skipping a day.
Signed,
Jessica Marie
