Article Stardom

Witnessing one of your published stories (which, frankly, you may not have thought all that much of) consistently rise in viewership, day after day, is an interesting phenomenon.

I tend to incorporate the theme of extraterrestrials in so much of my published work, here on Vocal. So, I would have to liken this phenomenon to seeing a flying saucer wiz across the sky, before attaining exponential vertical speeds. Since it’s not often easy to predict which stories will fare well, when one story does rise beyond expectations — upwards, and onwards, into what could only be described as a sort of article stardom — it almost feels like you’re taking a ride along the curve with it, like a UFO occupant.

What's more, when you take into account the other pinned stories in my collection — many of which, may not even come close to the number that this aforementioned story has somehow garnered (even if these other stories happen to be more liked. Noted, of course, by the number of hearts), it’s worth mentioning it here, at the very least, to give you a glimpse into my own experiences with this platform.

So, what is it about this one particular story that separates it, like wheat from the chaff… like an elaborate crop circle that you just can’t help but stare at, and perhaps wonder, as to why this one is doing so much better than all the others? After all, this particular story in question (and I know the reader may now wish to know which of these stories I’m referring to, but bear with me), hasn’t even been selected for by the Claw:

Who is it that lifts us to the sky?

The claw (x3)

Who doesn't care if we have three eyes

He picks you right up and then you'll rise

What a surprise

- Toy Story: The Musical

The Claw is a reference to the movie Toy Story. But I’m also using it in this context to refer to the Vocal Team, as they are commissioned with the task of selection. In Japan, the claw machine that houses the prizes is called a UFO catcher. The aliens (prizes) in Toy Story are held captive within the machine and are awaiting selection by the Claw.

Be that as it may, this one story of mine, which has amassed a great deal of viewership, hasn’t been selected by the Vocal Team. Even so, it has gone on to gain attention by what could only amount to… its own merit. So, if you’ve ever questioned whether merit still exists, or if some meritocracy has all but taken over almost every aspect of life as we know it, I can now assure you that… merit is still out there; even if at times it may feel like it’s on the very fringe.

Like Voyager 1, your article may be bound to sail through the cosmos indefinitely, forever. Even so, one can argue that in the age of AI, there’s nothing exceptional about attaining such a feat. But what if I told you, the reader, that I didn’t use it? — that I haven’t used it, and will likely never use AI (aside from general research), even if doing so does substantially affect the amount of content that I produce? Though I’m quite guilty of using Grammarly, to be sure, I have yet to allow an algorithm, however elaborate, to decide the content of my work. So, rest assured, this work is entirely a solo effort, thus far. And these efforts have almost caught the eyes of a thousand viewers!

This being said, whilst some of my other stories may have garnered viewers during the initial debut, many of them have been relegated to an archive somewhere... and are all but forgotten. Rarely, if ever, do they get a chance to see a fresh set of eyes again. So, don't feel like it's just you? Even still, you never know what the claw decides.