A Voice in the Void

The posts you see above summarise my experience on Facebook and Twitter, where it seems to me I have failed in my efforts to connect with like-minded individuals. Perhaps it was the reticence of the community in which I found myself, or my own uninterestingness (or even disagreeableness) that thwarted me, but the situation has brought me nolens volens here.

From Resolve to Resignation

A few months ago, I joined SubscribeStar¹, a platform enabling my followers to become, in effect, my benefactors, sponsoring my artistic endeavours through a paid subscription. Although it is primarily a crowdfunding environment, my interest in it was for moral rather than monetary support; a place where I may engage meaningfully with those who value my work.

Now, I have no delusions about my own significance, but I thought I had won at least one person with more than a cursory interest in my pursuits. In this assumption, however, I was proved spectacularly wrong; it soon became clear that the interest of my followers was purely perfunctory; not a rebuke, merely a statement of fact—one I must now wholeheartedly embrace.

A Substitute for the Senseless

Therefore, starting today, I shall invest here what I have hitherto spent on social media, turning my blog and the public timeline of SubscribeStar into social media alternatives. Between the two, the only difference shall be the additional posts for the SubscribeStar paid tiers—fancifully titled “Martins”, “Swifts” and “Swallows”—a feature I hope to bring also to the blog.

If I am to continue posting into the abyss, I may as well do so on a platform as versatile as SubscribeStar (and sans the moral cowardice of its counterparts) in addition to the blog. My first “social” post here then shall be what was the last post on social media², the most fitting timeline inauguration I can conceive, one celebrating the Overberg, the region inspiring my work.

Footnotes