19th August 2018
This blog is dedicated to anyone who produces content online with reference to the Autistic Spectrum. Whether that content be blogging, vlogging, websites, audio, graphical, something else or a combination of one or more of these things. It does not matter if your platform of choice is YouTube, Vimeo, WordPress, a personal website, something else or just postings on social media such as Twitter. The content matters to Autistic people. It helps us. It makes us feel that we are not alone and it makes us part of a community. Therefore I think of content as a gift, given by the creator. And creating content online has many factors.
Firstly, it can be difficult to keep a consistent flow of content coming over a period of time. As a blog writer I want to write a regular weekly blog that is enjoyable and relevant to the reader. I do have periods where I struggle to think of a topic to write about. Then there are other times when I might have several things that I want to discuss and voice my opinions on. I often wonder if all online creators have these thoughts? Do they worry that they might not be able to get an enjoyable subject for their audience this week? Who knows, but regular YouTube posters seem to have a constant flow of great work that I admire and it amazes me how they keep coming up with such awesome videos. The same with bloggers who seem to write about subjects that I would never think of relating to Autism.
Secondly, a person’s time is used in producing online content. It takes me approximately an hour to write a blog and post it online. To be fair, normally I have the blog pre-written in my head during the week and then I commit it to paper, sorry – screen, at the weekend. An hour in a week is not a significant amount of time and for me this works just fine. I do also spend time creating other content though, that does require a bit more time.
Video producers must take longer to produce their content. I am amazed at the quality of some of the material that is produced and you can tell that it is not something just thrown together quickly. The actual filming of footage and editing seems like a long process and when you consider that some people post one or two vlogs a week, it is a big commitment. As a viewer of online content I try and stay mindful of the fact that time and effort has gone into whatever I am viewing or reading, for my enjoyment and that I am grateful for it.
Thirdly, the audience. Every creator of content wants their work to be viewed and enjoyed. They want to help others, tell their stories, inform, advise, assist, share their opinions, make contact with others and to produce. In order for this to happen though they need to reach an audience. After all, if there was no-one watching, reading and viewing then what would be the point? It is immensely rewarding to know that your work has viewed by somebody, even if that is just one person. I try not to worry about numbers personally – I like to think if just a single person enjoys a blog, gets help from it or it makes them think in a different way, then the time creating the blog is one hundred percent worth it.
Finally, the reception of the audience. I have written many blogs on many subjects and I never know how well they will be received. On average I get approximately 10 views per post but every once in a while a blog really seems to get a load of views, 30 or more. The thing that amuses me though is my lack of ability to predict if a subject will get a low or high response. I have written blogs that I think will get a high response but then do not, and vice versa, with smaller topics getting more. If I get just a single reader though, I count that as a success. To think that somebody has read what I have to say makes me feel good about myself.
So what happens if I get no readers? Well I still get positivity from the blog, it helps me to voice my thoughts and feelings, kind of like a personal diary. When planning content for publishing online it does help to think about how the viewer will receive it. Some topics can be controversial and although you want to talk about this, you need to be considerate of the thoughts and feelings of others. It can be a tricky task at times.
So to conclude, it is amazing to be able to be a creator and it’s amazing at the amount of people out there in the Autistic community producing great work. The time and effort that is put into this is fun, enjoyable and important to build up the online Autistic group, so a big thank you to all those out there adding their wares to this. Good job.