My first Reddit post was a fail.

I tried my first Reddit post just now.  It's a simple meme that I thought was pretty funny, but it looks like no one else agrees.

Here's the meme I posted.  But first, if you don't know about "Good Guy Greg" memes, just know that this photo is often used to say what makes this guy such a good human being.

Please hold your disparaging comments.  With 5 upvotes and 8 downvotes, Reddit has already humbled me into realizing it wasn't that great.  Sigh.  I get it, memes don't just write themselves.

The crazy thing is, I should be embarrassed and thinking about taking it down right now.  But instead, I keep refreshing the page and watching the vote numbers change anyway because it's still fun.  Even though there are so many bad votes.  Great, another reason why I like Reddit.  Dammit. 

On Twitter, I've posted over 100 homemade jokes, but I rarely hear a response to them.  Occasionally I'll get a retweet, or a new follower, but mostly I just feel like I'm hurling words into a dark chasm and never hearing from them again.  Which begs the question, if a tweet posts on an unfollowed Twitter account, does it ever make a sound?

On Facebook, I'll post things that I think are cool, and either be rewarded with lots of likes/comments from within my social network, or I'll hear nothing and assume nobody read that post.  I don't know how I'd feel if people were able to "dislike" my comments, but from my surprising response to the negative Reddit votes, I think I might appreciate it.  It's the same principle as asking if you would want to be told if your significant other had cheated on you.  My answer is always yes I would want to know, because I don't want to be sheltered from knowledge that can help me make better decisions tomorrow.  If people out there dislike my post, they'll dislike it whether I know it or not.  So why not let me grow from it, and realize that the internet isn't a one-way street, and that my words are influencing other people whether in a good way or a bad way.  I think we could also use a little humility when it comes to our websonality.  My internet self is getting something of an ego, and could use a healthy dose of criticism.

My Reddit post has already humbled me to want to be better.  I don't want to keep churning out every bad joke I've ever thought of.  I want something that will please these 8 nay-sayers that don't think I'm good enough for them.  Those 8 people were willing to hear me out, they clicked on my meme and cared enough to vote it down.  But if my content was better, maybe they would have liked it.  And with a readership of 8 people, I already feel like those are better odds than my Twitter account.  And it's way better than asking my mom what she thinks of my meme.  So thanks Reddit, for your unwavering honesty.  I'll try to be better next time.