Tom WalkerNov 13, 2022

There was once a dream of a decentralised web.

As recently as a decade ago we had a still very active blogosphere, connected via blogrolls and RSS. Specialised web forums were still mainstream and messenger apps could largely interoperate.

Centralised social media slowly ate that dream. It had plenty of positives, but it pulled more and more people away from the open web and into corporate walled gardens.

Some people kept the dream of decentralisation alive. And now you are here.

Show threadLinkmeister
@tomw Some blogs still exist.
Nov 14, 2022 at 12:20amWeb
Show threadTom WalkerNov 14, 2022
@Linkmeister Yes, lots! But there's less of a "blogosphere" scene around it than there was. A lot of people have moved to writing on centralised platforms, first Medium and then most recently Substack
Show threadLinkmeisterNov 14, 2022
@tomw Yeah, my blogroll is probably half dead links (some literally; this summer I deleted three blogs of people who've died in the last few years).
Show threadTom WalkerNov 14, 2022
@Linkmeister I ran a UK political left blogroll thing for years, but yeah link rot set in badly until it wasn't really worth it any more, there were only a few blogs on it that were still active. (It had auto post to birdsite too but they banned it a few years ago)
Show threadLinkmeisterNov 14, 2022
@tomw Maybe there'll be a resurgence. I used to be an everyday blogger but over the past four years it's been more like once every six months as FB ate up blogs.