The Difficulties of Writing Regularly Online
What should I actually write online? I wrestle with this question regularly, and that is part of why I do not produce a great deal of regular content on this website. I decided to write this post because perhaps you share some of my concerns, and perhaps it will encourage you to hear someone else verbalize them. These are some of the reasons I do not produce more regular content.
Someone else has already said it better. There are millions of people writing on just about any popular topic at any given time. Therefore, I often find that my thoughts on a particular topic are not all that original, and some people are more eloquent than I am. If someone else had essentially made the point I intended to make, then I need to consider what value I am adding. If that person did not do a great job on it, perhaps I could do better. If that person did a great job, I am more apt to share what was already written.
The Internet is forever haunting us. I am not afraid of standing by my convictions. However, the Internet has a way of coming back to bite you. A few days ago, a friend of mine posted on his Facebook how he had made an assumption about a past situation, posted about it, and ultimately realized he was wrong. I admire his willingness to own up to his errors. I would try to handle my errors in the same way. The problem is that the Internet does not forget, even if you apologize. Even if you apologize, but is often not good enough in our cancel culture. That causes me only to want to write something that I am absolutely convinced I will believe for the remainder of my life. As I said, I am willing to defend my convictions, but I want to make sure that my convictions are sure enough before I vocalize them. The Internet is not a secret place to explore and consider out loud.
Hot takes are not my style. Interesting things happen all the time, and commentary has to come out immediately, or else the event drifts into the past. The other day, I started writing some commentary on The University of Austin. My chief concern with this endeavor was that a power-packed Board of Advisors is essentially good for marketing but not necessarily good for education, and we should not jump on the bandwagon immediately. It might be amazing, but I would not immediately assume it would be amazing even with some luminaries on the website. I never published the article because I wanted to think more about this endeavor as its mission is something that I support, and I wanted to make sure I struck the right tone. Honestly, that event is in the past now, so I probably never put out the article. Before I say something serious, to refer to the previous point, I want to make sure I have thought it out, but then the time has passed, so it is not particularly relevant.
There is little charity online. It seems to be the case that whatever you say will be interpreted in the absolute worst possible light most of the time. As I was sitting at Bible study tonight, I was grateful to have a group of friends I can talk to and understand that I am imperfect. Everything might not come out perfectly all the time. In that context, I think they are taking the best interpretation of what I say, and I am grateful for that. The Internet does not work that way. If there is a way to twist anything into something perverted, you can be sure it will be done gleefully if you are anyone of any reputation. It away, I am grateful that I do not have a major platform for that reason. There are not very many people that I know of who are out to actively discredit my work. That being said, if I ever was blessed enough to have a large platform, you can be sure that everything I have ever written online will be combed through and picked apart. As I said, I stand by my convictions. I am not afraid of that. However, I am also self-aware enough to know I am far from perfect.
I know this is a short list, but I regularly wrestle with these topics. My philosophy of writing online has started to become a lot more like Treebeard describing Entish, “It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.” Like I wrote in my last newsletter, I am planning to start getting back in the fight on topics that matter. However, I need to be highly intentional about how I do that, and that does not lend itself to frequent posting.