A "Casual Note Analysis" from a Beginner🔰 | Report

Introduction

Good evening🌃
This is Yoshimaru.

Whether you are new here or someone who always leaves likes and comments, thank you for visiting this article.

April 27th marks exactly one year since I started on note.

I usually focus on creative writing and essays, and I am more of a reader than a writer of "note strategy" articles, but this time I have compiled my observations from interacting on note for a year into a report.

I have analyzed things based primarily on the articles I have posted, but I wrote this thinking it might be of some help, especially to beginner creators.

I am still a "beginner" myself, having only been here for a year.
That is precisely why speaking from a beginner's perspective might feel more relatable and easier to read.

I would be happy if you could use this as a reference.

"Three Things You Don't Need"

Looking back on my year so far,I have written down three things that I feel are unnecessary.

I will examine these three points one by one, incorporating my own experiences.

1. Don't be lonely

If you want to be read, a certain amount of interaction is necessary

One of the first things I realized after starting note was the importance of interacting with other creators.

I started out just writing a diary, posting it nonchalantly, but naturally, no one read it. I would occasionally get a "like," but it was almost always in the single digits.

Continuing to do this even with single-digit engagement requires a pretty tough mindset; otherwise, you'll eventually start asking yourself, "What am I even writing this for?" and end up quitting.

I'm the type who values alone time over being in groups (for example, traveling alone or drinking alone at a bar), but regarding note, I feel I've been able to continue this far precisely because I've had a certain level of interaction (I'm grateful to those who always give me likes and comments🍀).

If it's a diary, it might be fine if it's not read, but if the essays, novels, or AI illustrations you've thought about and created don't catch anyone's eye, it's a bit discouraging, isn't it?

However, regarding things like having to join memberships or feeling obligated to comment, people have their own strengths and weaknesses, so there's no need to force yourself to join or comment.

What's important is,if you find a creator you like, keep reading their articles and giving them likes, even if it's irregular.

I try to visit the articles of creators who have liked or commented on my articles as much as possible. Recently, as my follower count has increased, I'm sorry that I can't visit everyone, but I try to visit as many as I can.

If there are creators who want "fans of their own," please try becoming "someone else's fan" first.

2. Don't be greedy

Keep tagging to a minimum

I had never used social media before starting note, so I didn't really understand tagging.

I read an article somewhere that said, "Just add lots of tags so you appear on various people's timelines," so I had been adding over 10 tags per article (of course, I didn't add tags unrelated to the article).

I kept doing that for a long time, but halfway through, I switched to focusing on creative work and started posting short-shorts, and that's when I felt, "Huh?"

When you search by tag, they are displayed in categories like "Popular," "Trending," "New," and "Standard," but as my follower count increased and my number of likes went up, for some reason, my works only ever stayed in the middle of the "Popular" category.

I thought something was strange, and I noticed something when I looked at the tags of top-ranking creators.

That was,that all those creators had "5 or fewer" tags.

After that, I read a sentence in an article by another creator that said, "If you add too many tags, a dispersion function kicks in, and you won't reach the top of the popular list," and I thought, "I see!"

The results of what I have recently put into practice are as follows.

❌️ In the case of 14 tags

⭕️ In the case of 5 tags

By the way, in my case, there wasn't much difference in PV regardless of whether there were many or few tags.
Therefore, it seems that having more tags does not necessarily mean more PV.

I'm not that obsessed with being at the top of the tags, but for creators who think, "I worked so hard on this piece, I want as many people as possible to read it! I want it to be a popular article!", please give this a try.

③ Don't let the ups and downs get to you

A high number of followers or likes doesn't necessarily mean you're superior

When I had around 300 followers, there was a time when I felt a bit jealous about follower counts.

There were events that made me sad, thinking, "In the end, it's a world of numbers...", and for a short period, I was a bit sulky.

However, since reaching my current follower count, I've started to think that while it's better to have more followers and likes, it doesn't necessarily mean you are a particularly superior creator.

In fact, my follower count has exceeded 1,000, but anyone can reach 1,000 if they keep at it, and I wonder if there's really that much value even if it reaches 5,000 or 10,000.

As I continued, I realized thatquality is more important than quantity.

Of course, I understand that a certain quantity is necessary to gain many readers, but once you have a certain number of followers, it comes down to how much high-quality content (easy to read, relatable, interesting) you can deliver.

My quality is still a work in progress, but high-quality articles receive more likes than the follower count would suggest.

Also, I receive notifications for so-called "Congratulatory Boards" every Monday, but there are some mysterious aspects to them.

As you can see by looking at the works below, a strange phenomenon occurs where the work with fewer likes receives a Congratulatory Board (and four of them, at that!), even though the tagging is almost identical.

Even for works posted around the same time, for some reason, I received a Congratulatory Board for the one with fewer likes.

I have been wondering about this for a long time, but I have a theory about why this might be.

Since creators with many followers have an advantage even if their article quality is poor (as they tend to get more likes), I suspect they might be prioritizing giving "Congratulatory Boards" to creators who have a certain level of likes and comments even if they have fewer followers.

I used to receive many Congratulatory Boards, but once I passed 1,000 followers, the opportunities dropped sharply even though my number of likes increased, so my own conclusion is that they prioritize creators with fewer followers (though, of course, there are cases where creators with many more followers than me also receive Congratulatory Boards).

Conclusion

These are just my speculations, so I don't know if they are correct, but I have written down what I have felt, learned, and thought about after doing this for a year.

I would be very happy if this could be of some help to your future writing activities (especially for creators who have just started on Note).

Thank you for reading this far🍀