The Reason I Stopped Scrolling

,

Let me guess:

You’re wondering why some random guy is writing to you.

I had the same reaction when I stumbled across a piece that began with my name.

And my brain did a full-on cartoon explosion.

“What the...how the...dang that’s cool!”

The writer used a little-known personalization tag that made people feel like they were being spoken to directly.

I thought it was incredibly clever, so naturally I wanted to try it myself!

Admittedly, I’ve scrolled by a lot of articles. But seeing something addressed to me personally?

That stopped me dead in my tracks.

“What kind of sorcery is this?”

But the more I thought about it, the less I cared about the trick itself.

What intrigued me was my reaction to it.

Why did something so simple make me stop scrolling?

Maybe your reaction wasn’t exactly the same as mine.

But something about this got your attention too.

We probably have a few other things in common.

For starters, you’re likely a fellow writer.

For seconders, we both enjoy reading.

And for thirdsties, well, we’re both homo sapiens.

See? We’re bonding already. :)

________________________________

There’s a ton of quality content floating around that never gets noticed.

People write with passion. They pour their heart into a post. They hit ‘publish’ and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And waiiiiiiiiiit.

A day goes by. Two days.

A week. A month.

CRICKETS.

I’ve been there multiple times.

I’ve even deleted a couple of recent posts that had cricket poo all over ‘em.

One of them felt a little too personal after re-reading it. It probably belonged in a journal more than on Substack.

But there was more to it than that.

The truth is, in the moment, I was feeling a little raw and hoped I’d be seen.

Maybe that’s why the article I saw landed differently.

Not just because it was cool. But I think also because it felt personal.

Maybe that’s what most of us want?

Just some proof that there’s another humanoid on the other side of the screen.

That’s something I always appreciate when it happens in The Cave.

Is there an article you’ve written that meant a lot to you, but seemed to vaporize into the abyss?

I’d love to read it.

-Mike Riley

Catching a Rockies game in Denver with my son Evan - June 2026