What If We Went Back to Blogs?
There has been a lot of talk about the post-platform internet after the destruction of Twitter and nostalgia for the olden days of the internet after the death of Heather Armstrong.
I do miss the old days of blogging. It was like sitting on someone’s front porch, hearing about their day. And then walking down the street and sitting on a different front porch and hearing about another person’s day. We visited each other’s sites and held conversations in the comment section. It was slow content. You read fewer thoughts, but you connected with them more.
And then, one day, most people decided to abandon their homes on the internet and rent Facebook or Twitter apartments where they could visit each other easily. They didn’t have the bloggy front porch for long conversations, so they mostly stopped happening. But you could keep up with many people all at once in your feed.
And then, the landlord sold the buildings, and new owner changed things. Or the landlord stayed, but the residents started learning disturbing things about their living space.
So what if we returned to our homes on the internet? What if that is the next step in a post-platform world? What if we went back to blogs?
6 comments
That would be AMAZING. I love the bloggy front porch, even if I’ve been a bit of a shut-in for a few weeks!
Yes please
It’s already happening, and it’s now called Substack, lol. I’ve seen many writers announce they’re starting Substacks, specifically as a saner and more expansive alternative to the toxicity on Twitter. What goes around comes around…!
I miss the bloggy days. Many blogs have switched to influencer platforms full of articles like “The 10 Best Ways to Blah Blah”. Although I miss that front porch, I’m one of those who moved away from it, mostly due to privacy concerns , but I appreciate people like you and Loribeth who are hanging in there.
My reading has very much slowed down lately. I don’t know if it’s my schedule or something else, but I can’t keep up the way I used to. But I’d still like to see the resurgence of blogs.
I would love it if we all returned to blogs! I really do miss everyone and wonder where and how everyone is. I loved Twitter but left it in 2016, my Facebook is strictly work colleagues and very edited as a result. I love watching TikTok but I’m not comfortable posting. Blogging really was the best and a great way to really document our own lives too.