Re: Don't be afraid to comment

Yesterday, Sylvia shared a few thoughts stemming from her post shared on Mastodon:

I'm building a new habit here on Mastodon: instead of liking, I try to reply to at least 3 posts, especially on those that don't have comments yet and I love it.

It's so much more personal! - @sylvia@social.lol

And while I strongly encourage you to read the entirety of her post, she discovered that people who engaged with her fell into two distinct groups:

1. Those who loved the idea and planned to follow suit
2. Those who loved the idea yet doubted people would read their words

Taking a moment to consider, I felt that I fell into that first group - I long for the "days of olde" where social media seemed to be more social than media. And I truly loved the idea - if I were to be honest I'd rather engage with others than be the one to start.

Which, if I moment to go slightly off the rails here, is counter to what I seem to actually do - I post prolifically, yet I reply... uhh... strategically? Yeah, that's what I'm going to go with.

So why am I not replying then?

Probably because if I actually take a full moment to consider, it's that I'm completely uncertain if anyone would care for what I might have to add. Case in point - I originally clicked reply on Silvia's post on mastodon and stared at my screen thinking of the perfect words to type.

Never actually replied. There at least. I eventually convinced myself to reply to her blog post to share that I wanted to add a few thoughts, and well... here you have it.

But it unearthed the real issue - the paralysis of the unknown getting in the way of simply doing.

So maybe it's time I take my own advice (shared yesterday):

If there's something you want to do, or better yet need to do, just do it. Take that step. Take that plunge. Write that story. Sing that song.

Reply to that post.