Let’s be honest: You’re not reading this. Well, technically, you are. But statistically speaking, you shouldn’t be. The odds of you making it this far are about as likely as finding an email in your inbox that doesn’t start with “circling back to pick your brain.”
Here’s the brutal truth about writing online in 2025: Nobody reads your blog posts.
The Numbers Are Against You
If you share this article on X or LinkedIn, let’s do a very optimistic “back of the envelope calculation” and see what typically happens.
Visibility: About 10% of your audience will even see the post in their feed. The other 90%? Gone. Lost to the algorithmic void, trapped between cat videos and “thought leader” threads.
Clicks: A strong click-through rate (CTR) on LinkedIn or X is 1-2%. That means for every 1,000 followers, only 10-20 peoplewill click the link.
The Skim & Bounce: Of those precious few who doclick, about 70% will bounce within 15 seconds—meaning they saw the first paragraph, sighed, and went back to scrolling.
Completion Rate: The remaining survivors—the true warriors of the internet—face one final test: actually finishing the article. Based on unverified data, only 20-30% of them will make it to the end. That means 1-2 people per 1,000 followers will fully read this article.
Final Approximate Read-Through Rate: 0.1% to 0.2% of your original audience.
Why Do We Keep Writing?
At this point, you might be asking why even bother. Maybe it’s delusion. Maybe it’s stubborn optimism. Or maybe it’s because of those one or two people who actually finish reading? They’re the only ones who really matter. Because in a world drowning in content, getting one person to truly engage—to pause, think, and maybe even respond—is a victory.
The Ultimate Irritation: The Non-Reading Commenter
But here’s the real kicker—the final insult to any writer’s existence. The comment section.
You know, the one someone replies with a hot take, a smug correction, or an outright criticism—and it’s painfully obvious they didn’t read a single word of the article. They reacted to the headline. Maybe the first sentence. Maybe just the vibe.
These folks will confidently dismiss your argument, misrepresent your points, or demand that you address something you already covered—all without actually engaging with what you wrote. And the worst part? Their comment will likely get more engagement than your actual post.
And sometimes, that’s enough to make a writer consider giving up writing completely
A Tiny Spark in the Void
But sometimes, that one engaged reader is all it takes. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Perhaps your words, buried in digital obscurity today, are quietly kindling a much bigger discussion. The spark may not be instant, but it only takes one ember to start a fire.
So, if you’ve made it this far, congratulations. You’re one of the 0.2%.
And for that, I appreciate you even if no one else will ever see this. (And if you decide to comment without reading, well… I’ll know.)
