I was shocked the other day to see that my Three Poems I Hang On My Wall post got a full circle. I think the community really does direct the success (or not) of 'self-promotional' posts. If the post inspires discussion or the community likes the content, they will share. I have other blog posts that have one dot (probably, some even with none). There is a part of me that sometimes wants to feel guilty over self-promotion and putting up posts to my blog. What saves me from that is a combination of factors, which vary widely, but one of them is definitely the community support I have received here, from users like you, lil, and humanodon and thenewgreen and others. I'm glad that people enjoy my original content - or in honesty, they enjoy some of it. If I didn't have hubski to post to, my audience would be even more limited. I'm not making any money off my blog; it's just what I want to do, "when I grow up." I want to be a writer and the only way to succeed is both by writing, and by getting others to read your work. Tags I think really help. For instance the #poetry tag is quite a success, in my opinion. I haven't followed #writebetterdamnit but it might be worthwhile. I really enjoy the original content I get to see, both on Hubski and because of Hubski. I'm really grateful for this post, mk, and I'm loving this discussion.
Thanks. Creators spearhead cultural change. Our core mission for Hubski is to enable people to have quality discussions about what interests them. IMO there is no reason why the products of individuals should be excluded. Likely the most important ideas are to be found there first.
The great thing about the internet is that it's not a broadcast medium—when you put something out there, you get something else back. Books used to be viewed as these canonical artifacts—what was written was absolute truth. But now, when something is published, it's just the start of a conversation. This is why I love your policy—you have a community of intelligent people who take the time to digest and thoughtfully discuss big ideas. If these big ideas take the form of a long Hubski post, or a link to a blog, the difference is entirely semantic.