A thousand likes changed nothing. One friend who changed their mind because of you changed a lot.

Approval and effect feel similar and are not related. A crowd tapping a button has cost itself nothing and moved nowhere, while one person actually revising how they think has done something difficult and slow. Reach is easy to count, which is why it gets mistaken for the thing that matters.

Think about the last time you changed someone’s mind, and what it actually took: usually a long conversation, not a post. This week, spend that kind of attention on one person instead of an audience. The scoreboard will look worse and the result will be better.