Hey, you!


Yeah, you!


Have you ever wanted to be popular? Be that on PMC, DeviantArt or YouTube.


I’m going to take a punt and say yeah, you have.


Come on, at least at some point.


But becoming popular is such hard work, right? No-one ever seems to hit it big and the popular people seem to have existed since the dawn of time.


Well buckle up, because I’m about to present to you a blog that will quite literally figuratively change your life!


Here we go, the answer to happiness, the internet and everything…

Popular = Bad!

------------------


Okay, maybe I should explain myself a little better here…

Hey guys,

So after, like, a year of not posting anything at all and telling anyone who’ll stop for ten seconds that I don’t play Minecraft anymore, I’m back with another blog post.

This one’s on the subject of popularity and why it isn’t actually something that should be aspired towards, at least not for most people. Kinda ironic given that my last blog was on how to become popular on PMC.


I should probably say at this point that I am not discouraging the production of the great work this community and others produce, don’t worry you’re still allowed to have dreams.


Well, the rationale behind the statement above that I wrote in bold and in a font several sizes larger so that no-one could possibly miss it (because at least one person will, it was ‘Popular = Bad’) can be answered in one of two ways. A very simple way or a long, drawn-out way. As I am a massive procrastinator myself, I am going to waste even more of your life by explaining the long, drawn-out way, also because I lied, there is no simple way. Hopefully this long, boring post is at least vaguely entertaining…


Fine, I’ll put a TL;DR at the end, sheesh.


------------------


Basically, the problem with popularity is that everyone seems to underestimate it. “Piece of cake” they all say. “I make content that is amazeballs and epicsauce, I’ll be 20% more popular in ten seconds flat.” Well that isn’t how the world works.

All them popular guise are always saying how you should always put in 110% effort to every submission if you don’t want to be slaughtered by the internet. And they’re right.


What, you thought I was going to disagree?


But what isn’t said usually is the amount of dedication it takes to be popular. If you guys are anything like me then you’re not creative all the time. Sometimes the ideas flow and sometimes they don’t. Usually they don’t. When you’re popular you have to make them flow.


*Make it flow, make it flow, no social life anymore. Make it flow, make it flow, all your friends think you’re a bore.*


Yes, that line in (failed) italics was obviously a joke to the tune of ‘Let it go’, everyone knows that you’d have to first have friends to bore.


------------------


Popularity is much like a mobile phone contract. Very easy to get into but a nightmare to get out of.

Okay, that’s not wholly accurate. Yes, it’s a pain to become popular. But when you are popular, unless you really don’t care then you can’t just think ‘ermahgerd, too much workz, me no wanna be popz anymore!’ People are wanting more of your stuff bro, can’t just leave ‘em hangin’ like that!

Ever seen those big popular YouTubers? Sparklez, Syndicate, Sky, Stampy. All of ‘em have hundreds of videos that they post regularly (also names that start with an ‘S’, Top tip: have a name that starts with ‘S’). It needs a lot of work to be popular, you can’t just think ‘I’mma have a day off today’. No, no, no! You need to post frequently, or at least make clear when your next project’s going to be so they have something to look forward to. No slacking!

And everything has to be top-notch stuff. That stuff on the popular reel is usually there because it’s a high quality. To prevent internet suicide, for the love of all that is sacred please do not try to maintain popularity on low quality stuff. You may as well take the popular reel and hang yourself with it. People would rather wait (though not too long) for quality than be spammed with crap.


------------------


This is basically the same issue as how not many people seem to realise how much effort it takes to be staff on a server. As an erstwhile Moderator of the late, great, Creation Bay server, I can tell you right now that it’s harder than it looks.


TL;DR


As with all things, this stuff takes dedication. And the reason why popularity maybe isn’t for everyone is that it takes mettle and not everyone has it. It isn’t a one-time thing, you can’t be a one-hit wonder and put the effort in once and then let it slide. Constant. Unending. Effort.

If you’re not prepared to work your socks off for the next however long, then don’t try to be popular as it will bring you only suffering.


------------------


Or just ignore everything I said if you want to, after all, I’m only some nobody from the internet who has no impact on your actual life. What do I know?

Go out there and be popular guys, just keep this in mind.


------------------

Feedback is appreciated. If anyone actually likes this blog then I may produce more in the future.

Later,

- Torm