On not going viral

I used to measure a post by how far it spread. A big number felt like proof that the writing was good. It was not. It was mostly proof that the writing was loud.

Now I would rather reach ten people who read to the end than ten thousand who saw the first line and moved on. The small number is the honest one.

Not going viral has freed me to write about things that matter to almost no one. Those turn out to be the posts I am proudest of, and the ones a few people actually remember.