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Stagnation is the mortal enemy of online content creation. Keeping a big audience isn’t just about doing the same enjoyable thing over and over again, but mixing it up. The more diverse and complex your personality and interests, the more appealing your online persona will be to different viewers.
Variety truly is the spice of digital internet life. That’s why you see YouTube channels regularly re-brand themselves, and popular Twitch Streamers swap to the latest big games on release…and random guys on Medium who used to review a headphone every week expand into gaming peripherals, software, and industry commentary.
When I got started on Medium I meant to write about new music releases, new game releases, fun personal experiences from my own video gaming past — and occasionally review a headphone. However, once I went down the dark road of things that vibrate on your head that make sound, it seemed like that’s all that people wanted. I built a vibrant and dedicated community of folks that ranged from new users to those that told me I was always wrong, and I followed the clicks — even as my follower count struggled and my monetization flatlined.
Once I broke out of the headphone hole and into other things, I started getting actual diversity of readership. I fell into a post-pandemic tech fatigue hole like many…
