Too many people forget that contributing to the Internet is a two step process.

A friend of mine posted a discussion of his opinion on the question: "Should everyone write?"
This got me thinking, so I decided to make a blog post out of my answer to this question (not so much a reply to Sai's post anymore).

Should everyone write?

"... yes, everybody should be mentally and physically capable of expressing themselves through a written medium, but not everybody should share their writing."

For a while, I would have been in the same boat with Sai on this one. But in the last couple of years I have noticed the trends in social media, how content on the Internet is shared and viewed by its users; this has changed my mind. Anyone is deserving of criticism for the quality of their content, but I also think that everyone needs a critical look into how they are sharing their content.

If one finds themselves on a blog run by a 16 year old girl who laments about her 16 year old life in pure text speak and has an opinion about it, they have every right to express their opinions, no matter how biting it may be. Why? Because it's the Internet, and this 16 year old girl has decided to share her lamentations on it.

However, if a content creator coming out of this experience and has an opinion about who gets to share their content on the Interwebs, they need to criticize how they are sharing their content every bit as much as they are criticizing the decisions made by the text speak blogger. What is she doing right to get people on her blog? Will your blog also be getting the pageviews that she's getting?

Just today I received a Twitter follow by a small YouTuber in the States. It was clear that he was doing random Twitter follows to bring more people to his content. He's not a big shiny YouTuber with lots of subscribers and connections with super famous YouTubers, and I don't think his videos are amazing or that funny, but he's steadily making his way up there with his efforts on Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr. 

He does commitment and outreach very well, a department in which I have failed throughout my last 5 years of trying to keep up livejournals, blogs and YouTube channels. This is why he's gaining a wider Internet audience in only a year of putting out content, and I won't even after five. 

So, should everyone write?

Yes, everyone write. Everyone should share their content. I think that everybody should seize their opportunity to explore their creative passions and share their ideas, opinions, and stories with the world. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to develop as a person and a content creator, as long as it is approached with an open mind to feedback and possibility. Even if someone's content sucks, they either quit after some time or learn how to improve, but they all have to start somewhere.

To go on a tangent, don't forget that this is the Internet. Don't take everything too seriously. For example, watch the video.

Too many people forget that contributing to the Internet is a two step process. 

1. Create quality content.

2. Promote it with quality shares.

It's especially a shame when only one part is done well, but that is the reality of many content creators.