Diary

In recent days, I have found myself contemplating social media once again.

My main social media websites are Tumblr and Pillowfort, both of which are incredibly handy when it comes to blogging. I also use Pinterest, however this is just for image sharing and saving. I run my own Neocities website, but that's more of a hobby and not strictly speaking a "social media".

Tumblr and Pillowfort are both at risk of being shut down. Pillowfort is user-funded which is awesome, but it means that if they don't get the funds then the website will have to shut down. Tumblr is currently running on a skeleton crew and has a CEO (Matt Mullenweg) who has multiple court cases against him, two of which are in regards to wage theft and human trafficking! Tumblr is bleeding money and remains forever unprofitable. Matt M has even threatened to shut it down in the past due to user's anger at his involvement in harassing someone and stalking them over on Twitter. However, Tumblr has been likened to a cockroach; it just refuses to die.

Could its death be imminent? Matt M also runs Wordpress, which runs like...40% of the internet. If you've been following the latest news regarding Wordpress, you'll know that Matt M is causing shit with competitors and is facing lawsuits etc.

Now is the time to be looking for social media alternatives. X (Twitter) is NOT an option, especially since it was recently announced that the block system would be changing (for the worse) and that everything you post would be owned by X and fed to their AI learning machine. Many users have flocked the site and have decided to set up shop over on Bluesky, however this is also not an option for me.

With Bluesky, your blocks are public and there is such a thing as "lists" which are also public where you could end up being put on some random persons "block list" for simply interacting with the wrong person or saying the slightly wrong thing. Imagine being put on a list that accuses you of being something you're not and then you suddenly find yourself blocked by everyone in your community etc. Block should NOT be public at all. It only stokes the flames of drama. So yeah, I'll never join up there either.

So, if Pillowfort and Tumblr were to both collapse, where am I to go? I don't know. I think I'll just end up sticking with Pinterest and building my site on Neocities. I am not sure about Dreamwidth. It may prove useful, but I do find it hard to navigate and I don't think too many people use it. I was never a LiveJournal person, so Dreamwidth doesn't feel like "home" to me, but I certainly won't rule it out as a possible place for me to post.

I have set up a diary once more for this website! Going forward, I want my diary to be a space where I can post my thoughts, feelings and experiences in a well-thought-out, long-form structure. For years, I have used microblogging as a way to express myself but now it is time that I get used to writing things out properly and with intention and thought, rather than just mindlessly posting.

I understand that no one may read this diary and that I may be the only person who sees it. This is both scary and also relieving in some way. It also begs the question, "Why write an online diary if no one else is going to really read it or care about your thoughts?". The answer to this question is: "I care". If I can write a diary that I am happy to read back, then it is a successful diary. Why must I write for an audience? Why must my diary be a place people care about? Only I need to care about it. If people wish to read it, they may do so. I won't know if they will or won't as there is no feedback option. No comments, no likes, no share/re-blog. Nothing. Only me and my thoughts. Is that not enough?

My entire website may only be seen by me and one or two other people. Perhaps no one will care about what I have to say or share here. However, I care. I want my diary and my website to be an extension of me; my own little corner of the internet. It needs to be a place that I am proud of and that I am happy to return to time and time again. If I can do that, then it will surely be worth the time and effort. It's also a heck of a lot of fun! Here I am rambling to myself and no one might read my words! Or maybe they will! Who knows! Who cares! I think it takes a certain kind of confidence to create a website and a diary that maybe only its creator might enjoy. If I alone enjoy it, then that is enough for me.

I also wish to take special care in my spelling and grammar in my entries, so I think I will get into the habit of writing my entries on another service such as Google Docs, using Grammarly to check my spelling/grammar and then copy the text over to the diary and code accordingly rather than write directly into the code itself.