I believe that discovery—the odds that someone else will find and appreciate our body of work— is fueled by our innate desire for connection. That our desire to be “discovered” and all of the effort dumped into becoming more discoverable is, in reality, a hedge against simply being ignored. That we’d sooner happily cast aside our sense of creativity and the entire concept of digital-well being than shout into the void and continually bear the weight of its silence.
Thankfully, the numerous yet, unambiguous mechanisms that fuel discovery can essentially be separated into two distinct categories. Either an audience discovers you, or you discover an audience. The first form of discovery is what we’re all becoming more used to. When an audience discovers you, they typically do so thanks to the systems in place working to support the platform on which you’ve shared your work. The second form of discovery happens when you choose to find the sort of people who may appreciate whatever it is you’re making. Instead of relying on the reach of an algorithm you take matters into your own hands and start talking about or showing people the project or artifact you’ve been working on.
What’s important to realize though, is that both forms of discovery require a toll to be paid. The first form, where an audience discovers you, the toll is typically their time and attention. The second form, where you discover an audience, the toll is typically your time and intention. One seems easier but comes at a steep cost. The other forbids us from approaching the easy path, but allows us to mindfully discover audience of people who care for and support our work.
While taking the reigns and owning the burdensome responsibility of discovering an audience is certainly the more difficult, futile, or even quixotic option, the alternative is a path forged by Silicon Valley laced with nihilism and addiction.
I’m starting to believe that if you want to simultaneously build an audience and hold concern for their digital well being, the only way to do so is to abandon the considerations of our digital curators, make the best work we can, and learn how to tell others about whatever we’re offering.