On the progression of sharing thoughts online.

The weather has officially changed from hot summer days to chilly fall, and with that, I dust off my keyboard and sit again to write.

I told my husband just the other day, “I must be a seasonal writer.” It seems that every time we walk through this change in the seasons, I find myself thinking about writing and have clearer thoughts that I’d like to put together.

Perhaps it’s the slowing down, the evenings at home, the lack of desire to walk outside my front door and greet the chilly air.

Whatever it is, here I am.

But still, this time with hesitation.

I was thinking back to the days long ago, when we first discovered the fun of snapping images through blurry cameras and sharing them with the rest of the world. It felt exciting, it felt free.

We gave little thought to what we shared. We simply chose a filter - that we somehow felt was an improvement to our poor quality image - typed a short caption to explain, and sent it off to friends who would send their love in return.

The world is different now.

As the owner of an entire Digital Marketing Agency, I understand the deep thoughts that surround a simple post and the cleverly laid out plan to lead others into a desired action by the one who crafted it.

We are not careless anymore. We are not free, perhaps?

Over time, we started to learn the power that was before us, and we started to give thought to polishing.

The crowds grew in number, and it became harder to be seen. What once was a simple image for friends to see has become a fight to make yourself seen by strangers and friends alike.

I once found it life-giving to share my humble thoughts with the hope of offering encouragement to others. But soon everyone had thoughts and opinions that they wanted heard, and I found myself in the masses feeling unqualified and well…tired.

Attention spans have declined, and therefore, the types of content shared on these online spaces have had to adapt. We shorten, we keep it concise. We cut out context because nobody has time for this.

We make it as easy to absorb as possible. We only have a few seconds - what will shock them?

Text no longer can go below the photo, for we won’t take the time. Videos can no longer be slow and beautiful; they must be a quick glance, and the first few seconds must grab attention, or your share will be easily scrolled past.

Perhaps we have left behind something of value? Perhaps we are all now simply okay with being misunderstood, in the hope that someone will be curious enough to give us a follow.

Perhaps we’ve determined that a larger crowd is better than one that understands us.

I recently heard it said, “If it’s something new, it’s probably wrong.” This, of course, was a reference to the book of Ecclesiastes and the repetitive statement that there is nothing new under the sun. Yet here we are - always striving to share the new thought that has yet to be considered. I’ve done it myself.

How often are we wrong? But if the crowd applauds, do we somehow convince ourselves that we are in the right?

I am not prone to short writing. I once had a daily habit of visiting my favorite blogs and reading long posts that were beautifully crafted and led to a pithy point while being surrounded by context.

It sank deeper. It drew me closer to the author. I thought about it for days.

I feel the friendly world I used to enjoy engaging in has become a different land, and I will adjust. I’ll simply share my snapshots, but perhaps I’ll stick to the longer pieces living here.

Few may have time for it, but I will benefit. For as I often tell my husband, I am a better person when I take the time to write.