@lori@jlroberson@Green_Footballs Is it really true that no one reads #blogs any more? My social media timelines are full of people posting teasers and links to long-form stuff they've written.
As a teenage girl in Verona, Italy once said, "A blog by any other name still ain't a tweet."
If you’re a blogger (of any kind, not just a sex blogger), reply with one of your favourite posts/a post that you think is especially’you.’ Could be something you really enjoyed writing, something you’re especially proud of, one you poured your heart into, whatever.
New Fogknife post about “Black Narcissus" (1947). I liked it! Among other things, was struck by how much it reminded me of the FMV video game "Immortality" (2022). https://fogknife.com/2023-07-04-black-narcissus.html
Qué tiempos los de la #bollosfera y los del libro «¿De otro planeta? Miradas cotidianas desde el Universo Blog», que allá por 2006 recogía textos de blogs escritos por lesbianas
Fue la primera antología de #blogs que se publicó en España, así en general. Y también fue el primer libro que edité yo, lo cual para mí es más importante.
Aprovechando el día que es, dejo por aquí el link para descargarlo gratis, en PDF y EPUB.
Así que de un blog fui saltando a otro y entonces se me ocurrió o recogí, en realidad, una idea que circulaba por aquella «bollosfera» y que era recopilar en un libro lo mejor de aquellos #blogs. Así que me puse manos a la obra y de allí salió el libro «¿De otro planeta?».
Aquello empezó a tener trascendencia y de repente me querían entrevistar en varios sitios, pero había un problema y es que yo todavía no les había contado a mis padres (ni a casi nadie, fuera del entorno blog) «lo mío».
Before I talk about my odd little niche WordPress projects, what are some of your blogs or personal projects, WordPress or otherwise? If you comment and link to them here, I'll definitely check them out! I like to see people's projects, what they've made and what they continue to work on. The fediverse has been really cool for seeing a lot of that. I'm also interested in how long we're able to keep passion projects going amidst the crazy chaos of life. It can be tough! But writing and making things is always super rewarding, as well-- at least it has been for me.
I think I've always liked writing, I like music and that's basically mostly or all writing. At least it is for the lyrics of the vaguely rock type stuff I usually end up making. I write a lot of lyrics, short little bits, phrases. But for longer pieces, I've always liked the ease of writing and reading blogs and digital journals. I'm not one for writing in physical journals. I do like reading physical books, but for writing, but I prefer to type.
Over the years, I've had the chance to experiment with different forms and styles of blogs, just as I've liked to do when designing websites. That was the initial appeal of microblogs like Twitter, things like Livejournal before it, and the huge appeal of WordPress, which of course you can use for short OR long form writing.
I first started playing around with WordPress back around 2008. It was different back then! If you had a free plan, you could change the name of your blog to whatever you wanted as much as you wanted (something they don't allow anymore but was super useful if you needed to rebrand) etc, and all kinds of other differences (no block editor back then, either, obviously!)
I do still have a blog running from back then. It's called space. time. tech. (https://spacetimetech.wordpress.com). The topics I wrote about on the blog are probably obvious from its title. I've been (pretty infrequently) updating that one for 15 years this year. Wow.
The second oldest blog I still run I've mentioned here before. It's called Animated TV Blog (https://animatedtvblog.wordpress.com), and again, as its name fairly obviously suggests, I write about my favorite cartoons. I started Animated TV Blog in 2010 and it's been a blast, even just doing the infrequent updates. And I've been doing it for 13 years this year- another really long-running blog I've been able to maintain somehow (you gotta love the content!) I had a pretty active linked Twitter account too that I ran alongside ATB (back when Twitter was just microblogging, and not a fascist wasteland) for many years. Again, I believe the key to good blog writing is picking a topic or topics that you really love-- something you're really passionate about (not just a fad or a passing interest). That way, you'll be more likely to continue to want to write on the blog. At least it worked for me, in the case of ATB!
My most recently created WordPress blog isn't updated anymore, but the posts are all still up and viewable. It was called Tech User Today (https://techusertoday.wordpress.com) and it was an experiment to try and make something a little more professional, to try and monetize with affiliate links (there's a lot of competition out there). I ended up taking on a bunch of outside reviews, and it was pretty cool, but it also quickly became overwhelming and not enjoyable. I started that one in 2018 and I stopped writing posts for it around two years later, in 2020.
One last thing I've learned from writing WordPress blogs, always make sure to update and maintain your themes! Older default themes tend to start to look outdated or crappy. Just like any good website, it's best to just make sure you like the look of what you're making, and to remember you can always switch up the look of it- I've definitely done this several times over the last 15 years.
If you read all this, you're awesome. And make sure to comment with your own projects!
I’ve read a few blogs pretty much exhaustively and consider them to be part of the canon of tech, usually covering timeless topics. Two notables are Paul Graham and Joel Spolsky. I also liked David Sacks’ blog on the mechanics and strategy of running a SaaS business....
I'm looking for blogs or online authors that explore the relationship between technology and society/individuals from the lens of philosophy of technology, media studies, or sociology. Any recommendations?
I know of The Convivial Society by Michael Sacasas (active), as well as Real Life Magazine (inactive). Any others?
I've been playing around with the Jetpack app (Android version on my Samsung S21) to write, edit and post to WordPress and I'm REALLY loving it. It's so intuitive-- cool things like when you do a hard return, it makes a new block, and the blocks have arrows to move them up and down, etc. It's wild. It's also really easy to format things, and I'm finding the UI excellent and easy to figure out without much thought at all, which is a total surprise. Should've been using this earlier!
Why do YOU blog? I've been working on a post about my history writing online myself, which is still forthcoming. @tldr asked the question the other day, and @hl has written a cool little piece about it.
My wife and I are big cartoon watchers, which is something we bonded over when we first met. Several years before we met, I had started a cartoon blog just for kicks and to talk about my favorite shows (I still write on it sometimes: https://animatedtvblog.wordpress.com).
When wifey and I first met, we especially bonded over things like The Simpsons, Futurama, Bob's Burgers, and American Dad. We even did a podcast together last year where we recorded and released a new episode every day in October that covered every Treehouse of Horror episode so far, with a segment-by-segment breakdown (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/podcast-of-horror).
My favorite Simpsons episodes change a lot, and I like the later seasons too (including the current one- I've seen every episode of the show to date multiple times 🤣). One of my top favorite episodes is season 12's "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". It's such a bizarre and hilarious episode with so many facets- Homer buying his first computer, starting a website (see the still of 'Homer's Web Page' below), and then being whisked away to a weird island because they think he knows too much.
It also has what might be my favorite chalkboard gag of all time, as Bart is writing 'I will only provide a urine sample when asked'. 🤣🤣
Probably going to be my last blog on MyFigureCollection for a while since I won't be spending a lot of time there. #blogging#blogger#blogs#blog#blogpost
I post about the same topics I toot here but go into more depth over my tech projects, experiences, readings, and ideas. The blog is more of a lab journal than a personal diary.
No stock photos, SEO, marketing, clickbait, ads, or calls to action. Just a — human, no AI — geek sharing what he loves.
I've noticed that my blog posts get much less engagement than they used to. It's entirely possible that my blog posts have just sucked recently. But I'm also wondering if we are seeing a Twitter-like effect that makes people less willing to click away from Mastodon now that the network here is much more robust. #blog#blogs#blogging
A website to randomly explore the IndieWeb. (indieblog.page)
A website that gives you a random post from a personal blog.
Which evergreen tech blogs would you recommend binge-reading?
I’ve read a few blogs pretty much exhaustively and consider them to be part of the canon of tech, usually covering timeless topics. Two notables are Paul Graham and Joel Spolsky. I also liked David Sacks’ blog on the mechanics and strategy of running a SaaS business....
Useful resources [Updated 2023-12-16]
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