Member-only story
Wordsmith or Clap-Bot?
Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle
Teenage Sandi is pink with envy.
As a teenager, I wanted to be a writer and have pink hair. Now, both goals are accomplished.
At nineteen, I’d write long letters to my best friend, but I loathed writing birthday cards. Do you write a basic sentiment? A deeply personal message? Any message? For decades, my standard Christmas card scrawl has been “Wishing you all the best for the silly season and new year.” Short comments are HARD. They take way more time than they should. Yes, I realise how ironic it is that, as a writer, I don't like “writing short”.
Facebook encapsulated everything I disliked about writing short. I’d overthink every sentence. So, instead of commenting, I became a serial thumbs-up and run person. (I adore the range of options now 👍❤️🥰😢😳😂😡)
Medium gave me yet another option. The magic highlighter. (I confess I’ve tried to highlight on Facebook way too many times.)
Writing “six-word” only stories really challenged me, but I’ve grown to love them (thanks Mary!) Mostly because I think of them more as wordplay.
But comments? I’ve sat with the comments box open for ages, at times, debating with myself.
- Great photo(boorrring!)
- So true! (But I highlighted the sentence – doesn’t that make the comment redundant?)
On occasion, I silence my inner critic, type the bland comment and move on. I love it when the perfect comment springs to mind.
When assessing the submitted stories each month to find my fabulous six picks, I mostly clap and run after a 30-second read. Sentences that are thoughtful, inspiring, or speak to me get highlighted. Only if a comment springs to mind without angst do I leave one.
Then, I spend time doing important stuff instead of stressing over comments while engaged in internal debate. (If it’s not already obvious, I tend to overthink).
Lately, I’ve been super busy with book layouts (more on that soon!) Other than SWPSC, which are quick reads, I’ve done little on Medium. This combined with my general lack of comments, meant the bots trawling Medium found my behaviour suspicious and “inauthentic.” They flagged my account and revoked my MPP.
I was going to pack my bags and walk away. Mary and Vidya convinced me to try to get a human to review my case. Fortunately, I’m happy to report that once a live human looked at my data, my access to the MPP was restored. 😅
Going forward, I can’t promise that I will comment more. (I get it; comments are great, and everyone loves reading comments) but it’s just not my jam.
And as to how I feel about a bot thinking my activities are inauthentic? Well, that’s a post for another day!
