HOW TO GAME THE LEADERBOARD

As some of you know, I like doing experiments/giveaways with my weekly leaderboard rewards. The most challenging experiment I ever did was looking for accounts with <100 followers last month. I read over 4,000 casts and still didn't meet my initial goal.

@zenshortz is a perfect example of the kind of account I was trying to find. Yesterday, @zenshortz replied to my cast for the first time in /privacy about wearables. This kicked off a thoughtful exchange and sharing his video content, which happened to align with my interests.

I've been posting on Farcaster for just about two months now. I know how it feels to cast into the purple void and to wander uninvited into people's replies, unsure if anyone will respond. A lot of people never did, and that's perfectly okay. Nobody owes anyone their attention.

But when people are willing to take a chance on interacting with you, they can transform your experience on Farcaster in wonderful ways. I've been deeply surprised by the bonds I've formed over a short period here. Each one was sparked by a moment of sincere connection.

I never set out to gain a "following" (still not a goal, probably will never be), and the only "points" I think about here are my internal ones:

- Did I feel good after scrolling?
- Did I learn anything new?
- Did I interact with someone interesting to me?
- Did I find inspiration for my work?
- Did I push myself outside of my comfort zone?

If the answer to any of those questions becomes a no, I'll leave. But I'm still here. I've found "engagement" to be a surprising byproduct of focusing on the joys of learning, experimenting, and connecting. I truly cannot recommend any "strategy" other than that for showing up here.

Now let me put this in another, more urgent way.

This life we get to have is so precious. We cannot know for sure how many years, months, days, hours we have left to live. What we do to fill this unknown amount of time matters. Over an average lifespan, people will spent an estimated 6.5 years of their life scrolling social media.

The last thing I want is for someone to see my account on the leaderboard this week and try to reverse-engineer a formula from it. All it says is what happened to work in this particular week. The algorithm changes all the time because everything here is, delightfully, a grand experiment. Trying to game it is like trying to stand on top of wind.

I've found the only ground you can firmly stand on here in this sufficiently decentralized sandbox is... yourself. If you're a goofball, be a goofball. If you're a grump, be grump. If you're into an esoteric topic that only a few people in the world could possibly be into, be into that.

And if you're not really sure who you are? FAFO. :)

The right way to game any leaderboard that's been created by others, in my opinion, is to play a different game entirely. One that is scored in the depths of your soul. An infinite game. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes" is a saying I often repeat to myself as a reminder.

If this resonated with you, I recommend also reading a reflection I wrote after my initial month on Farcaster. The title of it is "Most People Don't Know How to Be Interesting." It's the first link below.

And if you want to reply here with your honest thoughts, please do. It might be the start of a real connection.

🤍 

#1: First month reflection
https://farcaster.xyz/patriciaxlee.eth/0xb41aa7f2

#2: The <100 experiment
https://farcaster.xyz/patriciaxlee.eth/0x3c68d4e6

#3: My exchange with @zenshortz:
https://farcaster.xyz/zenshortz/0xa2081e60

Comparison is the thief of joy. But benchmarking is essential. 

Don’t copy what others are doing, especially if you are seeing brand new accounts rise in the ranks like rockets. It’s probably artificial amplification.  

Instead, read the below casts that highlight how being yourself is enough. You are enough.

Pi-chi.eth Artist /animeoutcasts
Hosting: /sakura /kyoto /anime-manga /farcasterunion

https://portrait.so/pichi

You know, Pichi, after our conversation yesterday, I noticed an interesting thing: almost all new accounts have the same number of followers, and the average is +- 1,5K. This is alarming for obvious reasons: how does a new account get so many followers? And why is it 1,5K, not 2K, 3K, or 500? I know you can see this by looking at the activity on my account over the past hour or so. Thank you!