Secrecy, privacy and providing meaningful details to engage the reader. Musings to myself about my lack of understanding the social graces.
Privacy seems to have a good cachet. Secrecy's cachet depends on the situation. Meaningful details can become too much information. First, too much information for the reader then secondly, too much information for the safety, security and privacy of the writer. As has been said, privacy allows one to safely hold unconventional opinions. It also allows one to more more safely change one's mind.
Put a smile on your face, speak less and listen more is a good recipe for that all important good first impression. Put people at their ease. It is harder for someone to tell that you might be different. It is harder for them to instantly judge you. A public persona is both difficult to live up to and to live down. People feel very strongly they know you. You have never even met them.
Why do people listen to other people? Why are some people so good at having people listen to them? One person speaks strongly, decidedly and many people are intrigued. Another person speaks in a similar manner and people find them too strongly opinionated, with their opinion always being the only correct one. If, as is said, people reciprocate behaviour shown to them, or follow the golden and silver rules, then listening to others at some point might induce them to listen to you. Telling people what they want to hear is also good for listening. “Maybe you are not as smart as CNN keeps telling you you are,” is only a good recipe for the iconoclasts and “shock jockeys” amongst the social influencers of any age? It does not seem to be an easy career choice, especially if the iconoclast lacks social charm and culturally-appropriate good manners.