Machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the original

Writing That Evaporates

Contents

I don't much care for writing that evaporates. What I mean by that is writing with these traits:

  1. Even the person who wrote it forgets what it was about once it's posted.
  2. It doesn't connect to any of their other writing. Sometimes their other writing even contradicts it.
  3. It has a short lifespan. Interest drops off exponentially from the moment it goes up.

A lot of people are attempting a post a day on Threads or LinkedIn these days, and that kind of writing tends to evaporate. It's less about the content than about the nature of the platform. The algorithm boosts a post only right after it goes up, and after that it barely surfaces in anyone's feed. So people get used to a shoot-and-forget rhythm: post often, then forget. I don't like that instant feel.

For writing to stay alive instead of evaporating, the pieces have to connect to each other. In a Digital Garden, where writing links to other writing, it's easy to keep a piece alive. I think that's why the idea appeals to me.

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