I have a problem. And it's been going on for ages.
I call it Posting Paralysis. It's chronic.
Posting Paralysis is when I haven't shared any new content on a platform in a while and that absence makes me not want to post. Instead of picking up where I left off and fixing the problem, I continue adding to it. I feel anxious about my break and wonder if my followers will be miffed that I've abandoned them only to return at my own convenience. It puts a lot of pressure on my "return post" to be something good, something worth having waited for.
And it doesn't make sense.
I'm sure there's no one (or nearly no one) on the internet that keeps track of my posts and notices when I suddenly leave. No one is counting the minutes until they see a notification from me again. And certainly no one is judging me for having taken a break from social media or a specific platform, only to return at a later date.
I just need to get over it and stop this mindset.
Part of what makes me feel Posting Paralysis is that I do tend to lose a handful of followers anytime I post after taking an extended break. In my head, I'm thinking "these people all forgot they were following me and now that I've shown up on their feeds, they're ditching me."
When in reality, it's probably either:
"Follow for follow" accounts that noticed I didn't follow them back.
People that used to be interested in my content when they followed me, but have either changed interests or my content has changed and no longer aligns with what they want to see.
And those two groups are people I'd rather not have following me anyway since they won't be engaging with anything I post! So in reality, posting after a break and shooing those folks away is doing my engagement rate a favor in the long run -- even if it's a bit alarming seeing my followers count suddenly drop.
When I really circle back to the root of the issue, it's shame. I have a fear of being judged for not posting consistently. I'm embarrassed that I'm not able to crank out content daily like so many other creators seem to be able to do so effortlessly. I'm worried that the next post I share will flop and lose me a bunch of followers.
I'm taking the whole content creation thing a little too seriously (in a bad way) instead of just letting my ideas and personality shine. I'm overanalyzing to optimize for growth and the numbers, when I should be building community and creating things that make me happy and help others.
Especially now that I have a few people I know in real life that follow my "influencer" accounts, I find I'm censoring myself to avoid embarrassment. Trying to be an influencer is still pretty taboo/cringe and I let it get to me.
The people that I've shared these accounts with all know what my end goal is and that I am, in fact, trying to grow and become a full-time content creator. It doesn't make sense that now that they've decided to support and follow me, I'm suddenly holding back and feeling shy about sharing "influencer-y" content. The cat's already out of the bag!
This all is just a reminder to myself that it's really not that serious. No one, including the people I know in real life, is judging me or cares that much about what I'm sharing. The purpose of my accounts is to inspire others to get outdoors more and give them valuable information about how to do so safely and with regard for the environment.
That's way more important than my temporary fear of sharing something that will flop or be perceived as silly or cringe.
I'm currently in a state of Posting Paralysis on Instagram (stories and feed posts) that I'm working on getting out of. This daily writing challenge has made it obvious that I don't have a problem sharing my inner thoughts and hitting "publish," so I can transfer that ease into my other platforms.
The nice thing is that once the ball starts rolling, it's easy to keep in motion. That momentum I love to talk about applies heavily here, so Posting Paralysis is a temporary problem. It's only the initial hurdle of that first post, then letting it keep flowing from there.
If you've experienced Posting Paralysis or are experiencing it right now, let's be posting buddies and both hit publish on something new today. You've got this.
Thank you so much for being here and I'll see you again tomorrow.
Happy adventuring,
A
Comments