Well said. I would add, it’s also helpful to think about the distinction between writing and publishing. Assume you’ve already done all the work of writing down something you’ve been thinking about: What are your motivations for publishing it? Are you trying to make it easy for people you already know and care about to see it (and respond to it)? Are you trying to help people you don’t know but think/hope will value it find it? Or (at the other end of the spectrum) are you trying to get it in front of anyone at all, regardless of what they get from it, in the hopes that they decide to share it and help it go viral?

(Incidentally, I have an easier time publishing responses to other people’s stories, because I can often do so in good faith that they will mean something to at least one person. And that’s enough.)