Contradiction

Robot or Human?


My numbers at the moment aren't bad despite not promoting anything for weeks and writing mostly just throwaway pieces or bringing internal worries to the site. If I still had access to ads (currently removed due to not being able to verify I'm human because I can't afford any approved ID), I'd still be making enough money to buy a coffee every few weeks (but wouldn't on account of needing that money for other things).

It leaves me pondering if that many people actually stumble upon my site through Google. Or are there that many people subscribing to the site through a feed? Or do I have that many loyal readers who check out my stuff daily without any prompt from social media postings?

Or is it all bots? Is my site the hangout for AI beasties? That freaks me out. I hate to think that my whole validation that people still read me is crawlers that don't have a pulse.

Even if it isn't bots, it isn't anyone super engaged with my site. I rarely get comments. I never get shares. My pleas for donations, if my work is something a reader wants to see continue, get ignored.

Of course, the counter is I haven't really written much inspiring stuff recently. My pop culture is non-existent, and I have even slowed down on AuDHD pieces. But it wasn't happening when those things existed anyway.

It freaks me out that almost all my audience could be R2-D2's cousins or being sent here from Skynet.

My hope is it is actual humans that just don't engage too often. I can work with that. I can foster that; I can learn to create things that engage and inspire them. They can also eventually support me if I create things they want to keep on enjoying and seeing.

Please. Please mostly be human. If not, I'll just have to find a way to bring the living back.

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