A Weblog In 2024

Blogs were cool in the late 90’s,but with the rise of social media we have so many powerful ways to share content that they seem positively old fashioned. Perhaps not so archaic as a .plan file, but the kids aren’t rushing out to make one like they are a TikTok account.

I am connected to people in so many different ways. Discord servers filled without thousands who think gardening is EPIC and support groups for mental health. Special interest Facebook groups for boat building and local politics. The fediverse for yelling at the world about whatever your heart desires.

I’m old enough to have started on dial up BBS systems and have seen many platforms come and go. IRC (which still exists for the dedicated), MySpace (which is apparently back), and uh-oh, I mean, ICQ. Even Google+ which maybe never came, just went.

These have all been great places to share and interact in the moment. They are fast and relevant and suit many aspects of modern life, but they are fleeting. What of the information that you wish to return to? Anyone who has tried to search for a Facebook post from 2012 knows the pain of trying to find something that is no longer relevant to the platform. The algorithm is not on your side. It is quite frankly, tiring.

I am starting to build a boat. A small one to row, using plans from a local designer. It will take me many months, and there are many different people I would like to share this journey with. The one place that I know that information will survive in its most accessable form is here. No accounts or signups required. No special software other than the ubiquitous web browser. Just a simple, static website with no corporate overlords to answer to.

I’ve chosen to use Hugo to build this site. It’s an open source tool that processes simple Markdown files in to a static website. I can write in any text editor, the files are mine, the domain name is mine, and I can move it to any host I choose. It’s a comforting sort of freedom in 2024 where it is not hyperbole that an unhinged billionaire could buy the platform you rely on out from under you.

I’m not so old that I’m comfortable using the word “legacy” just yet, but this is where I will share the things that I wish to endure. The blog format allows me a special kind of informality. Somewhere in-between a social media post and a carefully curated encyclopedia of my life. A place to share thoughts and creations that I wish to be available to all for as long as I desire. Fleeting day to day commentary will stay on the social platform of the time, probably Discord as I write this.

So in a decade or two, when you wish to ask me about something archived here, find me on the social network of the day and send me a link to prompt my memory. I’ll be there, probably still messing around in boats.