Sunday morning. One of the rare days I can sleep to my heart's content. Needless to say, I was the last one to get out of the bed. I walked downstairs with eyes half-closed, put on my e-gadgets at the charging corner, and turned on the phone. It's become a habit of mine to check Jian Shu notifications first thing in the morning. Something hit me. My latest post was rejected by the Front Page.
I was utterly speechless.
It was a post about a pen case I designed with pride and a full week of late night work at the storage room/design studio/sewing table. Word count over 2K. Okay, I am not saying effort always turns into accomplishment. But (now here comes the big "but"), this is something so original that no one has ever thought of, a pen case that closes on its own, cleverly concealed in a shiny pink wrapper in the shape of a piece of hard candy. The normal (and only) pen cases you see are usually a rectangular base piece with multiple loops where you insert the pens into. Compared to these simple designs, It's safe to say mine is a work of ultimate cuteness with one-of-a-kind mechanism for the best user experience. For one, you don't need to insert your pens one by one after use. You just line them up on the main piece and close the top and bottom flaps. Then, with one simple press you will trigger the snap bracelet hidden underneath the main piece and it rolls into a perfect piece of candy. When you unroll it open, all the pens are still lined up the way they were.
Oh well, just like a proud parent, I can go on and on about how great my kids are all day long. However this is not the main point of this post, although this WAS what upset me the most at that moment, so upset that I lost some sleep last night questioning my flaw. The point is to find out the reason behind this rejection.
I am by no means criticizing the taste of the editors who are in charge of reviewing thousands of posts with unthinkable diligence day in and day out. In fact, there have been multiple instances where I wrote to the editors who responded quickly by rescinding the rejection and putting my post back on to the Front Page. I have full appreciation for their hard work. It's never easy to read though so many posts and still maintain a clear standard.
I do, however, have a humble wish that Jianshu will remain a platform that inspires originality and promotes a nurturing environment where writers can grow to their full potential.
When I started with Jian Shu a little over a year ago, the tag line was “找回文字的力量”. I had just finished a short (and unpolished) story and was thirsting for a place to show the world how great it was (just like this pen case design). After some internet search I found Jian Shu, a writing and blogging app that stated itself as a platform for sharing original literature. Besides a clean UI that is very pleasing to read and write with, I also found countless writers whose knowledge and telant about different topics are so profound that it made me hard to follow their thoughts. There were also those who worked so hard at what they wanted to achieve that I could only imagine the late nights and weekends they spend learning and perfecting their skills while I was watching TV or surfing the internet.
I fell in love with Jian Shu right away. If I couldn't be that good, at least I could have a chance to appreciate how good others are and pick their brain, so I thought.
Overtime I, too, have collected some fans and likes with posts mostly about food, cooking and my craft works. I am pretty self-conscious when it comes to reading my own work, as I know my writing is far from being readable. However surprising it might be, many of the posts I submitted were accepted by the Front Page. Due to the time difference, I normally received notifications during night time. After each submission, I often found myself going downstairs to check my phone in the middle of the night, just to see how many likes and fans came through. As I wrote more and more, I soon became used to being accepted by the Front Page, although there was little improvement in my writing. Little did I know that I had become this spoiled kid who takes everything for granted instead of earning the right.
Perhaps another proof of my deficiency is the fact that the more fans I have, the fewer my posts are being read. Now, there IS a difference between being seen and being visible. Anything can go unnoticed if you are not paying attention or it doesn't look interesting enough, even if it is right under your nose. Likewise, just being on Front Page doesn't mean people are gonna read it.
In an attempt to deny my poor writing, I blamed it on the demographic of the users. Younger people need guidance, advice, direction, answers, facts, data, etc. What can I offer them? I don't know how to write Ji Tang. For the few occasions that I've tried, they all turned to another direction and became something else before I knew it. I am not a subject matter expert, and if I do know something, it was far too shallow to share. Besides a few different aspects and life experiences that come with age, the only thing I can show off is probably my love for arts and craft.
See, that was where I lost it. Nothing upsets people more than not recognizing what they are most proud of and care about. But here, my creations are at the mercy of the editors to decide how far they can go.
Now that I think of it, this is a truth about life. You simply can not go far if you are not good enough. You will fall. The minute you decide to show others who you are and what you are capable of, you will be subject to criticism from different sources. The problem is, without being visible to a greater population of writers and readers, you can't be seen. When you can't be seen, you simply can't get any feedback. No feedback means you are just talking to yourself, writing your diary in a locked room, or listening to your own echo. Surrendering posts to one person's judgement makes everyone vulnerable to subjective opinions and unclear standards. No matter how capable that person is, it's inevitable that he/she will come across something that's outside of his/her realm. The quality of writers' work should be respected by the judgement of subject matter experts, and then be recognized by showcasing them to a wider reader population. Receiving feedback from these experts would enable writers to better gauge themselves for improvement, instead of getting a simple rejection notification that comes from an unknown source. Like a circular formula in EXCEL that yields no solution, this situation benefits no one and, as frustration builds, will eventually drive users away.
Unless, Jian Shu doesn't care.
The current tag line of Jian Shu is "交流故事，沟通想法". I never read too much into this until now. When it first came out, I simply took it as an effort to increase user interaction, which is key to drawing users in similar writing and blogging apps, so I heard. Soon came various offline activities in different cities and an personalized front page. These, however, wouldn't accomplish the goal long term. Those who come to Jian Shu for social purpose can be easily drawn away when a newer, more attractive app comes along. Without setting Jian Shu apart from others, it will eventually get lost in the litter of copy cats that are born everyday. I am not clear about what Jian Shu is positioning itself as on the market, but I sure hope it's not just a social app where people share posts like a public bulletin board.
After the rejection, I was seriously considering leaving Jian Shu to other platforms that are geared towards craft lovers like myself, or starting my own blog. Of course Jian Shu could care less about a nobody like me. Many Da Shen writers have left Jian Shu as well, or no longer maintain an active presence. I hope it is all for personal reasons, not because their love for Jian Shu has fainte or they've found a place that suits them better.
But I decided to stay, for I believe Jianshu is still a child that needs time to grow, just like writers do.
What it needs is our patience, patience for it to become a place where users find a sense of belonging and confidence for self improvement.
Currently, topic host/editor have an option to provide writers a reason for rejection by writing them a Jian Mail. I've been doing this for my topic all along to all submissions. I've never received feedback from other topics I submitted my post to after rejection. I understand that this is not practical for those popular topics that receives hundreds if not thousands of submissions everyday. What I would greatly appreciate is a mechanism where hosts/editors can quickly rate submissions in lieu of writing feedback, just like teachers grade students' homework in school. This shouldn't put more burden on topic hosts since it is the same process, just one more click than what it does now. So instead of a cold "Accept or Reject", you will also get a 2 star or 4 star rating from someone you know who knows the stuff you are writing about. How awesome is that!
Another key element to this is the topics, which are now hidden after the last version update. We already know that the official topics endorsed by Jian Shu are hosted by various writers whose expertise is acknowledged by many, but submitting posts to them is no easy task. Unless you subscribe to that topic, you will need to know the name to be able to find it on the main page.
The "smart" topic suggestion that pops up after you publish a post often frustrates me, as they disappear if I don't submit right then and there. (If you know a way, make sure to comment at the bottom please!)
In addition to attracting more users, I hope Jian Shu would also consider expanding or consolidating the current official topics. Like the magazines and TV channels under a huge media enterprise, periodic review of the topics for popularity and quality of posts would also help maintain a healthy and viable writing community.
And this, is what I would call "valuable interaction", for both users and Jian Shu.
Well, I better stop here before I expand my wish list further. Greed is no good.