"Why is nobody reblogging my post?" Community Engagement 101
I've seen a lot of complaints on here that introspective or experience-sharing posts and essays don't get a lot of interactions compared to silly short posts, and while part of that is just because most people use social media to look at short-form content, it might also be because you aren't creating an opportunity for others to engage with you!
Reading about others' alterhumanity is great, but most alterhumans use their blogs as a personal journal, not as a collection of other people's experiences, so unless someone really relates to your writing or thinks it's particularly fascinating/beautiful/etc they usually aren't going to be motivated to display it on their own blog. There's also a social taboo around interacting with people's personal posts, so even on social media where the whole point is sharing stuff a lot of people are hesitant about reblogging or commenting on posts about others' experiences when they don't have anything new to add (they shouldn't be! but they are. which creates a problem in this particular community since alterhumanity is deeply personal).
The solution? Invite others to add to your post! That doesn't mean just writing "please comment", though, you have to be a little more specific or nobody is going to know what sort of things to say. Some easy invitations are:
Does anyone else experience this?
I'm looking for advice about...
What are people's opinions on this?
Are there ways I could improve this essay?
Think of it as adding a little writing prompt to your post; the idea is to use your writing as the start of a discussion instead of it just being a piece of paper you've tacked to the wall for people to look at as they walk by. For short posts the prompt can go anywhere, but for longer posts I recommend adding it near the beginning because that will allow people to keep the prompt in mind as they read, which makes it easier to formulate a reply (and it will motivate people to start reading in the first place)! When in doubt the first suggestion of inviting people to share similar experiences is usually your best bet for alterhuman topics, with the added bonus that it'll help you find people who have stuff in common with you.
This isn't a social media marketing strategy, by the way, it's just practical advice for socializing and it also works in real life! Asking questions, especially about other people's experiences and opinions, is how you make genuine connections with others. Otherwise you're just writing in a diary and showing it to people, which is also cool but if your goal is people interacting with you that's not an effective way to socialize.
If you want to talk to people but don't know what to post, you can use this strategy in comments, too! If you ever read a post and think to yourself "I like this, I wish I had something to add" or "this person seems really cool but I don't know how to talk to them", just reblog with a simple question about their post! If someone is posting about themselves in a public space they want engagement, and stuff like "could you tell me more about..." will give both you and them something to talk about. Curiosity is good for everyone!
Do also keep in mind that this is a small and diverse communityā there are simply not a lot of us on here, and of those people not everyone will have anything relevant to say about your post (most therians don't have much to say about fictionkin experiences, for example). Even just five notes is a ton! That's five whole people! I personally consider an alterhuman post popular once it breaches 30-100 notes depending on how niche the subject is. If your brain is trained on typical social media standards you will need to recalibrate your expectations and learn to appreciate that every single like is a real person who both readĀ andĀ enjoyed your post enough to hit a button about it. A whole person you might not even know! Isn't that cool? I think it is, and so should you.
Now back to that first pointā why do other posts get traction even though they don't invite people to interact? Standalone posts that get popular are generally ones that are eitherĀ helpfulĀ (e.g. insightful, resource sharing, advice) orĀ evoke emotionĀ (funny, awe-inspiring, relatable, etc). Those are posts that people want to share around without feeling the need to add anything, but they often take more knowledge and skill to make. On the other hand, posts that get popular due to having a lot of comments are generally eitherĀ controversialĀ (things people have strong opinions on) orĀ collaborativeĀ (things people want to talk about together). Of these post types, collaboration is by far the easiest (and most fun!) way to engage with others onlineā and any post can turn into any of these types at any time, it only takes one comment to get there!
So go out there and start some discussions! Ā And make sure to tag your posts correctly so they reach the right audience :)
