What Do The Numbers Mean To You?

In the era of like buttons, follows and social media milestones, I simply cannot imagine being an impressionable kid growing up in a life constantly measured by the number of likes.

However, to a regular Instagram user such as myself who conducts work by way of social media, it’s a completely different story.

So what do the numbers mean to me?

1. The reach can be exponential.

It is possible that I am able to reach out to someone having his morning coffee right now on a cozy couch room in Romania, while another fixes her laptop bag in Oregon on her way to work, and while another reader shares my content from somewhere in Brazil at the same time an IG friend might be walking their dog in Taiwan.

All this happening while I work from my little corner here in Singapore. Now this in itself is something I find very, very fascinating.

2. People are listening.

It’s nice to know that when I share something on social media, someone listens. Whether you have 10 followers or 10,000, it all starts with that 1 sincere and loyal listener.  I don’t advice seeking  and trying to hook followers for its own sake. When I follow others, I do so only for the sincerest reasons.

People can sniff a phony a mile away so always stay real and as authentic as possible, the way you expect others to be in real life. 

3.  It helps foster and build ties.

I might be talkative to people I warm up to but I’m very introverted and keep to myself almost all the time.  Thanks to Instagram, however, businesses now know I exist and are able to reach out to me at all times of the day depending on where they are on the planet.

Through social media, I managed to quietly build stable and thriving work relationships from all around the globe without always needing to be out and about.

4.  It makes many good things possible.

It’s not called the “world wide web” for nothing. By making my presence as an artist online,  the doors are now thrown wide open to an entire universal population accessible by smart phone and computers.

The world, indeed, is wide and a vast web of connections.  Use it only to promote the good in this planet.

We sure could use it.

5.  The rewards go beyond the numbers.

I have also made online friends through Instagram and this blog.  Another good thing to come out of this are personal messages in my email or comments, sharing their own creative struggles and how my own journey helps them them take the first step.

This feedback is something I did not foresee when I began sharing my process online but I am  really grateful people  from all walks of life find something in my work to relate to.

The part I like most about being online is simply finding like-minded souls who I am able to have authentic dialogue with.

And for me, this is really what the numbers are all about.