The Micro.blog experience and a few thoughts on the open web (Beardy Guy Musings)
I write this and mull it over from the perspective of a creator and as a longer-term user of the “old web”. I have, at least, a basic grasp of the ideal (and importance of) the open web, ownership and access. I write it as someone frustrated with the nastiness of the business practices of the corporate entities that own the big social media as well as the lack of moderation on those sites making them potentially dangerous places. But even amongst the relatively tech fluent (and likely, financially affluent) community of tech/apple oriented users that I follow on Twitter, there is little impulse to move to alternatives such as Micro.blog or Mastodon. I’ve seen evidence of an almost complete lack of interest.
As one of those "old web" guys who has been blogging for almost two decades, I understand this anguish over the open web. I've seen the rise and fall of alternative like app.net and despite what others may think, micro.blog's success isn't ensured. The lack of diversity, both cultural and economic, is perhaps why the "relatively tech fluent (and likely, financially affluent) community of tech/apple oriented users" ignore micro.blog. It's one of the reasons why, despite having backed the Kickstarter project, I chose to let my hosted micro.blog lapse and use micro.blog more like Twitter. Both are free but Twitter is less of an echo chamber.
I visit micro.blog only a few times a month now. The discovery feed is boring.
I've documented my issues with micro.blog in several blog posts. I don't expect anything to change in the near term.Community Norms?Thoughts on micro.blogMicro.blog and IndieWebYou Can't Start the Revolution from the Web Country ClubGoing Full Indie
Others have voiced similar complaints.Why I'm leaving Micro.blogPhoneBoy abandons micro.blog
I prefer the approach advocated by the IndieWeb and have also written about the issue of discovery for independent blogs who don't use social media.Share:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading...Related