i could write ‘listicles’ and increase my clickthroughs by 100% (it’s not that difficult because only about 4 people do currently)…

i could spam the link to my posts at 3 or 4 different times throughout the day to maximize exposure…

i could hashtag bomb my posts with any and every word—real or otherwise—that’s remotely related to the content within…

i could co-op a trending topic to inject myself into timelines where i don’t belong…

i could include a tangentially relevant stock photo to grab your attention as you skim along dozens of other links…

I could write in sentence case, very easily I might add with this serving as an example, if I were to so choose (my style choices are mine, and employed for a reason)…

i could follow people on twitter or instagram or facebook with no intention of ever reading anything they post simply for the fact that it would gain me more followers…

i could beg and plead anyone and everyone to like, share, subscribe, touch butts—whatever it is that gets kids these days to ‘generate buzz’…

i could write in a proper essay form with an intro paragraph, three to five main points, with a summary paragraph at the end and spend 1000 words saying what would have otherwise been more easily said in just 250…

i could do any or all of those things if i wanted to, but i don’t. i don’t because i respect you all too much. you visit this site for a reason, and because of that i believe you deserve the best from me—all of me: self-deprecation, bad jokes, lowercase lettering and all. and if i have to resort to cheap tricks or prey on your psychological wiring to get you to click or take notice or grow my readership through deception, then i’m not producing the best content that i can be.

that’s not fair to you.

so thank you, sincerely, for clicking this link and any links past or future that i post. i hope you find my thoughts and ideas and opinions worthwhile. i know that if any of my ideas ever spread, it’s because people like you found value in them and decided on your own without poking or prodding or cajoling to share them with others.

and that certainty of knowing is worth more to me than any number of fake internet points a turing machine can count.