I saw this blog post by David Wertheimer linked on kottke.org and it inspired me to write this.
I have been blogging for 10+ years now. This blog has been around in one iteration or another since 2010. The oldest posts on this iteration are from 2013 when I decided I needed a fresh start. I’ve also been blogging before that, first on blogger.com and for a while I also blogged on Tumblr. I’ve been fascinated with blogging ever since I first found out about the concept.
In my honest opinion blogging feels like the truest embodiment of the open web and over the last decade it feels like the open web has been ravaged by corporate greed, malfeasance and what Cory Doctorow calls “enshittification“.
Despite all of this I feel a general optimism about the state of the open web and what blogging can do to bolster it. I’ve been falling back in love with blogging and long running blogs like kottke.org and newer subscription funded sites like 404 Media, Aftermath, and Remap Radio are responsible for this resurgent love for the medium.
I am glad that journalists are coming out of the smoldering embers of the media industry and building platforms of their own. I am glad the WordPress project is still going strong. I am glad to see the fediverse continue to be a thriving place. I am glad that despite corporate encroachment from the likes of Spotify and the advertising industry, podcasting continues to thrive.
The closed web is dying. The open web is not and is fully prepared to embrace y’all with open arms. So dust off that blog, build that website, record that podcast, make that fediverse account. Let’s build the web we want to see.