Writing for a mixed audience

When you are trying to market something, you are supposed to choose a target audience that you are focused on. I never really saw the need for this with what I do, I don't like to fit in boxes and I'm trying not to fit my audience into one either...

As I am starting to reach more people than before and , I can see how this might make my work a whole lot easier.

I am finding it a bit challenging because of my desire to talk about EVERYTHING that interests me. It’s hard enough to balance lots of different topics, but there’s another layer to it.

Cultural context can be incredibly hard to pick up on, and so speaking to people in Europe, Oceania and the Americas leads to very different cultural references than speaking to people in Africa or in Asia. I have friends in all of these places and I refuse to choose any of them over the rest. You are all my people.

Making all of my work accessible to all the people I feel connected to may not be impossible though. I’m slowly figuring out ways to use different platforms and projects to engage differently and letting people choose which fits them best. For now, Hive seems to be the place where everything is mixed together.

Not every country experiences the same social issues and I’m trying to talk about a variety of things happening in a variety of places. I need to consider carefully when to add cultural context and when not to. Not adding cultural context can lead to certain friends being alienated because they don't know what I'm talking about. Adding too much cultural context can lead to a very wordy article, and it’s boring for those familiar with the context, not to mention extra work.

This isn't just about nationality. I have some friends who are not all that rebellious and are just looking to do what they love. I have other friends who are total anarchists and want revolution. I have left leaning friends and right leaning friends. I do not really feel a need to choose one or the other. You are all my people.

Yesterdays post though, I wonder how it reads to a friend in Africa or Asia. I wrote a kind of response to some of the videos and arguments I saw coming out of Australia on Twitter. It's stuff that most people in Europe and USA can understand because the politics and social situations resemble each other in many ways. Pro vax vs. anti vax, pro lockdown vs. anti lockdown, climate activist vs climate denier, conspiracy theorist vs mainstream media viewer, alt right vs social justice warriors.

These are all different so-called factions that society seems to be being divided into in English speaking and perhaps some European countries. They are words and topics that many people in many countries can understand. But what about other countries? Are these concepts even relevant in Africa?

I think that article would make little sense to a friend in Asia who isn’t very familiar with what’s going on in America or Australia.

These issues aren't all that relevant in Japan, at least not until they are mainstream for so long that they become hard to ignore. Japanese tend to keep their opinions to themselves. Political debate isn't really a thing, and in some ways I prefer it that way. I wish there wasn't so much apathy, but if I have to choose between apathy and hysteria, I choose neither.

Japan didn't have a very strict lockdown. The government made fewer restrictions than in countries like the UK and the US and Australia. There were a few (like a silly 8 pm curfew on shops that made little sense), but people generally just accepted it, and those who didn't want to follow it were fined a tiny fine and didn't complain about it. Some shops made a lot of money staying open when everything else was closed.

So there were rules, but they were so loose and unenforced that people didn't feel very oppressed, and everyone in Japan is so self repressed that they wouldn't talk about it even if they did.

Most people willingly took the vax. Some doubted and didn't. They generally don't talk about it. If they ask you, they are not very quick to get into a debate with you over it. If they think you are wrong, they keep it to themselves.

Is it a more free country? I don't know, that's a tough call. Japan seems to rely on social pressure to resolve as much as possible, and it works as a good deterrent. There isn't much stopping you from going against the grain, other than what other people think. But people know how much of a disaster it can be when they make a big deal out of things or fight against others, and so it's generally something people avoid doing.

If social pressure wasn’t so effective though, I imagine there would be a lot more strict laws.

But anyway, a lot of the topics that are being talked about in my hometown...they're not all that widespread conversation topics in Japan. And so if I wrote for a Japanese audience, I'd have to keep that in mind or risk alienating them. They literally wouldn't understand the article I shared yesterday.

What about my article on non-duality.

That's one that a lot of people everywhere can't relate to, but some people everywhere can. I find my spirituality through experience rather than books or tradition, and that’s something that is still relatively rare. Still I feel a deep connection of faith with people from all kinds of belief systems.

My passion is finding connections and so for me to reject any of the things I’m drawn to could result in me shooting myself in the foot. It may be harder to find a devoted audience and clients but I feel pretty confident that I’m better off just doing what I’m inspired to do.

I understand that this would be a lot easier if I were to spectate my work and my play but I feel so much more energized when I just follow my inspiration.

I would love it if people could keep coming back to check on what I’m doing and skip the content that doesn’t really interest them. Hopefully you still feel eager to come back and check for what I’ve shared tomorrow 😄

In the end, I do everything for curious and open minded people like you.

Thanks for all the support always.

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My work:

📕 Confessions of the Damaged psychedelic spiritual fiction

🎸I + Everything - ambient folky music

🎬Self Help For Trolls - vlog

Confessions of the Damaged 1.1 - Out now!

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Please consider delegating to @crossculture or following our trail 🙂

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