After conducting all manner of covert experiments in recent days and weeks - driven by a creeping disdain for the continued and increasingly brazen commoditisation of readers by the major online publishing platforms - I’ve pulled the trigger on a somewhat seismic change.
My personal journal - recently called “Recursive Words” - is leaving Substack. I’ve paid for a year’s worth of hosting at Ghost, and have migrated this years posts over. I’ve also migrated my wonderful subscribers - if you were receiving emails before, you’ll still receive them. You don’t have to do anything.
In recent months I’ve received quite a bit of feedback from readers that Substack was increasingly doing the hard sell on them - pushing to install an app, then filling that app with unwanted content, and subsequently lighting their phone up with notifications. It doesn’t help that Substack has become popular among the celebrity crowd - who have legions of agents monetising everything they say and do. Their orbits are incredibly destructive.
In many ways I find myself tilting at the blogging platforms as Don Quixote might have. I could self-host Ghost if I wanted to. That they have a hosted service, for a fee, means you are not subject to any spam. All you’ll get on the internet is my words, and all you’ll get in your email is my words. It’s that simple. That’s why I’ve done it.
You’ll notice in the new blog that you can become a member - all this means is your email address is stored so you’ll receive an update when I publish anything. It also means you can comment. When you login to the blog, it will ask for your email address - then email you a link that logs you in. No passwords. Once you’re logged in, you can comment. It’s as simple as that. Your email address is never given out, shared, or exposed.
I like simple things.
It will surprise nobody that I tried out Wordpress (again), Squarespace, and Wix en-route to deciding on a platform. I have opinions on all of them, should anybody ask. In truth, I had wished both Squarespace and Wix had been better than they turned out - but here we are. I even tried Jekyll out a few weeks ago (a lunchtime I won’t get back in a hurry).
Anyway.
I’ll stop waffling on - blog posts about blogging and online publishing platforms are insufferable at the best of times. Let’s just say “I’ve moved house”, and leave it at that.
Did I tell you I bought a Nintendo Switch? I have a little guy living in Animal Crossing now. My other half reliably informs me that I need to put more effort in. He’s still living in a tent, and sleeping on a camp bed. He’s also going to be in debt to Tom Nook for the term of his natural life.