I am my Target Audience

I’ve had the idea of a personal blog rolling around in my head for some time now. It started several years ago late at night (when all great ideas are born) as a sort of extension of my Facebook posts. I had this misguided notion that my opinions were valuable that, that people would be interested in reading articles in which I regurgitated stringent ideologies I’d adopted.

I let the idea die out of laziness; I was a college student and the last thing I wanted was another writing assignment. I’m thankful for that laziness.

My interest in writing was later reignited by the discovery of blogging as a business model. I’d fallen in love with the idea of making money on the side during my senior year of college. I tutored and performed odd jobs, and it seemed like blogging would take my side hustle ambitions to the next level.

This time, I actually did it. Not only did I create the blog, but I paid for a domain name and made some posts. Good for me.

I had a grand total of three consistent fans and maybe 50 hits per article with no growth after maybe a month. You’ll never find any of these articles though; I operated under an alias and eventually let my subscription expire. I tried to craft authentic experiences into sales pitches which, as anyone with some degree of integrity knows, is unfulfilling.

I’d like to write with some authenticity this time around. There’s no alias, no business agenda, and no self-validating opinions. I’m not interested in shouting into my own echo chamber.

Friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers alike are welcome to read and comment on my posts, and I can’t help appreciating the idea that I might be offering some value to someone somewhere, but I’m writing for myself this time. I am my target audience.

The objective is to create an archive of thoughts and ideas I randomly have and to hold myself accountable to those ideas. Writing also provides clarity of thought; ideas that make sense in our minds don’t appear flawed until we articulate them into structured logic and embrace feedback. Knowing others are reading my words and that these words may be the first impression some may have of me is vital to my process of critical thinking and expression. Without you, I might as well be writing nonsense into the margins of a notebook.

Whatever audience I have, if any, should not form any expectations. I can almost guarantee I won’t be posting consistently. These posts are for me, and if I stop enjoying the process of writing them, then I’ll stop writing until the desire returns.

I won’t be focusing on any particular subject; my ADHD won’t allow it. One day I might write a societal critique and the next day might be a personal anecdote. You get the idea. Whatever I write, thanks for reading it and for leaving feedback. I may or may not care about that feedback depending on who you are, but it is appreciated regardless.