It is what it is

Just today, I saw a tweet sharing an article I read last year, praising how phenomenal it was. The person who tweeted it had a larger following than mine.

Had I shared the same link publicly, it wouldn't have made much of a difference as it did in his case. He will get praised for being well-read, cool, and interesting. This happens on the internet, specifically Twitter, all the time. I hate it.

A person with a larger number of followers has more access to building their personality in public. Or being known as an interesting person.

Most of them even start that way - sharing everything they read and learn on the internet. Learning in public is what it's called. I feel stupid at times for not getting this memo.

By my own measure and interactions with other people, I am confident that I'm reading some of the really interesting things written on the internet, and otherwise. But it is costing me to not build my personality online.

I am not even afraid of making a fool of myself in public or being thought of as cringe. I am not that self-absorbed or conscious, but it feels like I took too long to grasp the ways of the internet personality building.

I was too busy being a lurker, reading interesting things, and quietly cataloging them. I am wholly unsure if reversing my ways will change the current status, but it might be interesting to try.

This isn't my first time experiencing such competition. But it does feel irritating to learn that something you enjoyed consuming was supposed to be used to build your online aura. Simply enjoying it wasn't enough. It was a personal disservice you brought onto yourself by not oversharing.

But it is what it is.