What gets trending on Bear Blog
Yesterday pondscum made a post reviewing the top 50 trending post on Bear Blog's discover feed. Not a bad idea, though they are very blunt and harsh in their critique, and it appears to have been removed from the trending list now. My own post was given a pretty blatant treatment as well:
You're gonna hate this then.
Maybe these kinds of depressive, self-obsessed sentiments get traction out of pity, but if I had to hazard a guess, they're boosted out of solidarity by other people who feel the same way. It is unfortunate that the only piece of work I'll see by many people is a creator complaining about how difficult creating is. I feel I have read this post 100 times on Bearblog, it seems to be a communal libidinal impulse to keep one of these visible at all times to reflect the quiet frustration of artists.
An accurate representation of a community sentiment, but essentially worthless and replaceable by any other.
A public utility product.
I actually pretty much agree, as I was both a little disappointed but not very surprised, that is was that post of mine that ended up getting the trending treatment. In terms of effort behind it, it was definitely in the lower end of things. Blogging about blogging is a popular past-time and often gets many upvotes on Bear Blog, which is understandable as it is something that more people can easily relate to, compared to more niche or topic specific posts.
I think pondscum's assessment that the community has a tendency to keep those type of posts visible, is a correct analysis, and it just happened to be mine yesterday.