I Went Viral With 465K views and 10M Impressions!
I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing.
I went viral. I wrote a story about a strange situation surrounding the singer Kelly Price’s missing persons investigation. Well, let’s take a step back. Hi, I am a writer. I write here on Medium, Vocal Media, and NewsBreak.
I saw all of the posts on here talking about writers were seeing success with NewsBreak. Apparently, I missed the wave because, by the time I signed up for NewsBreak, they weren’t paying writers a set fee for stories any longer.
That said, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. You read that right. My one little article has gotten 10 MILLION impressions and 456 THOUSAND in page views, and I have no idea why, or even how the payment for this will work.
I went viral before I had my ten articles, and I am a little bitter about it because I don’t know if all of these views will count towards me getting paid.
I didn’t advertise this story. I don’t even know why it went THIS big. But besides not knowing if I will be paid for it, going viral was a big…let down? Well, I can’t say that. I felt like I was the shit for a cool 10 minutes and sent the above screenshot to my friends who have “real jobs” and think that I surf Facebook all day.
But, after those 15 minutes of glory, I still feel like an imposter. I didn’t advertise this story. I didn’t share it on social media. I didn’t share it with friends. I don’t know why it got this big.
That’s not even the main reason that I am so upset. NewsBreak has some pretty…vile…readers. They left the most disgusting comments. I witnessed everything from commenters calling Kelly Price (the singer who the story is about) fat and deserving of her struggles, to criticizing things about the article that I didn’t even say or imply.
I am used to trolls, but not at this level. I was a 911 operator for 6.5 looonnggg years. You really can’t hurt my feelings. But when people attack others for no reason, even a celebrity, it boils my blood. I just don't understand these readers. They are incredibly cruel and mean spirited for no reason.
I decided, for the sake of my peace, to not engage. I just told my fiancé that if I try to read the comments on that platform ever again, he is to tackle me and take my computer. I went viral, but I don’t know how the platform works. They are not transparent about what they pay. The only thing I do know is that as of this morning, I am monetized. I’ll see next month what that means financially.
I am going to keep you all posted on my experience with that platform — as much as I can being it’s against rules to disclose what I get paid. Until then, keep going. I am still learning, growing, and writing every day. I am not where I want to be, but I am getting there.
And that is the takeaway that I want you all to have here. Some of the people that have a one-off good month, or a few viral stories don’t know what the hell they are doing either. I just happen to let you know that. Stop thinking you are alone in your confusion. I assure you, you’re not!
Welp, that’s all. I went viral and I don’t know what the hell I am doing, but I am going to write anyway until I figure this out. Happy writing and thank you again for reading my rant.
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About the Creator
Sherrell Writes
I am a new freelancer who is documenting her journey for others that feel like they have no idea what they're doing.
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