They Are Gone

My daily viewing patterns are back to normal.  

The gigantic bump was related to comments I left on a Substack or two in September.  I lurk there under Ashleigh at the Burrow; there's a link associated with my penname.  Readers of the post who dug deeper into the comments (often, as everywhere, as interesting as the main content itself) would have found my sentences.  

Then Sister forwarded my Disney post to her mailing list of thousands, encouraging them to read it and spread the word.  The bump continued.  It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.  

People seem to have read back a few weeks.  Some seem to have continued reading for a while.  Then, in October, most of them disappeared.  Just like that, they vanished.  I am a victim of the algorithm.  The Substack posts which bore my comments are no longer boosted on the site.  

I've done the same thing to others.  I've enjoyed a comment, clicked through to learn about the writer, and, on occasion, delved deeper.  Sometimes I like a post or a comment.  I'm happy to do it for those who care about such things.  I know how it feels when strangers like your work.

But now I wonder about those I've stumbled across and since forgotten.  Do they miss me?  Did they have a similar lovely encounter with the wider world, only to be left, bereft, after a time?

I'll never know.