Is Blogging Back?

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I've seen a few older blogs mention this sentiment and for myself, I have been writign on my own domain since 2005. I am excited about all the attention that seems to be focused on owning one's own content and the disatisfaction with social media. My only complaint is that I wish that these older blogs supported IndieWeb technologies like Webmentions. Webmention is a simple way to notify anyother website when you mention it on your site. And for the receiving website's perspective, it's a way to request notifications when other sites mention it.

CJ Chilvers linked to the article referenced above and added a bit about what form of blogging works:

I’ve been thinking about this in my own life and career for the past month and I think I’ve come up with a theory: one is a business model, one is a life model.

I've done both long form and link-style short posts. I enjoy them both.

When I first started this web site I used affiliate links to generate just enough revenue to cover my hosting cost. My posts were not focused on revenue generation. I didn't go out of my way to increase click rates etc. but the blog thrived. For a while. Then traffic declined. It's never returned to it's former. I could blame it on the switch to social media but it could also be that my content is not high quality.

Either way, I am hoping the pendulum swings back toward blogging and the decentralized web.

Photo by Christopher Skor on Unsplash.

Defending Internet Freedom through Decentralization

Defending Internet Freedom through Decentralization: Back to the Future? by The Center for Civic Media & The Digital Currency Initiative MIT Media Lab, August 2017. Chelsea Barabas, Neha Narula, Ethan Zuckerman (dci.mit.edu)

In this report, we explore two important ways structurally decentralized systems could help address the risks of mega-platform consolidation: First, these systems can help users directly publish and discover content directly, without intermediaries, and thus without censorship. All of the systems we evaluate advertise censorship-resistance as a major benefit. Second, these systems could indirectly enable greater competition and user choice, by lowering the barrier to entry for new platforms. As it stands, it is difficult for users to switch between platforms (they must recreate all their data when moving to a new service) and most mega-platforms do not interoperate, so switching means leaving behind your social network. Some systems we evaluate directly address the issues of data portability and interoperability in an effort to support greater competition.

This research report is fascinating.

IndieWeb WordPress Feedback

IndieWeb WordPress Feedback (gregorlove.com)

I’m upgrading a friend’s WordPress site and decided to go through the IndieWeb’s Getting Started on WordPress page. Here’s some notes as I go through the process, trying to view it through the lens of someone who isn’t already familiar with indieweb terminology.

On wiki pages

I wonder ...

gRegor, I agree with everything you wrote as it is similar to my initial experience with the IndieWeb "Getting Started on WordPress" page. Do you want to work together on fixing this?