Dan Gillmor

A lot of us moved our blogging to places like Twitter, because it was convenient and easier to be seen.

If this meltdown leads people to going back to their blogs, or at least learning the essential downside of centralization, that will be a positive outcome.

Nov 18, 2022 at 6:53amMastodon Twitter Crossposter
Show threadChris PirilloNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor ...the pendulum swings both ways. What's old is new again.
Show threadDan GillmorNov 18, 2022
@ChrisPirillo We need to make it good again!
Show threadaddieNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor HARD AGREE
Show threadChris PirilloNov 18, 2022
@EposVox @dangillmor ...the question really isn't where we go from here. The question is whether or not we'll make the same mistake again.
Show threadaddieNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor @ChrisPirillo ownership and segmentation is the future. And the past. But should have been the present. Or something
Show threadSilversaltyNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor
I still check my RSS feed reader. One I currently use is Inoreader.
Show threadRui BorgesNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor ah! Was having the same thoughts here. A more breathable landscape.
Show threadJosé Gustavo MartinsNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor it'll pass. Too much work for so little reward.
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Nov 18, 2022
@dangillmor some of us never left our blogs!
Show threadDan GillmorNov 18, 2022
@mmasnick Thank goodness...
Show threademptywheelNov 18, 2022
@mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios and I sidle up to the old people's bar for a talk about how we had to walk up hill through the snow both ways.
Show threadenbrownNov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios WE TEXTED IN OUR TWEETS
Show threadJeffrey VagleNov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios
Show threadmathewNov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios First they called it microblogging... and then they damn well took over the place, darn' it!
Show threadbmazNov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios I would personally like to thank you for this geezer toot/tweet/whatever, because I never otherwise would have known that Digby and Atrios were on Mastodon due to the fact Mastodon's search function is effectively useless.
Show threadBrad FriedmanDec 18, 2022
@bmaz @emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios Any empty stools left at the bar for one more geezer?
Show threadCBMNYCNov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios such a 2007 flashback!
Show threadpacanukeha❎Nov 18, 2022
@emptywheel @mmasnick @dangillmor @digby @Atrios I miss Billmon
Show threadMark Ramsey ♿📺📽️🎙️⚽🌮☕Nov 18, 2022
@mmasnick @dangillmor I never did😉
Show threadMichael VealeNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor also, blogs are on the fediverse e.g. https://writefreely.org/ , or the activitypub plugin for Wordpress instances. so people can follow them on Mastodon etc.
WriteFreely

Minimalist, federated, self-hosted blogging platform.

WriteFreely
Show threadAndreas StreimNov 18, 2022
@mikarv @dangillmor I migrated my little blog from Wordpress to Hugo (static site generator), so I will have to find a way to integrate ActivityPub.
Show threadYvonne Aburrow 🌻Nov 18, 2022

@dangillmor ha! I never stopped blogging!

I moved blogging instances a few times (including leaving Patheos when they got taken over by an unsavoury corporation) but I never stopped.

Show threadneoNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor Now we just need RSS feeds and Feed Readers to make a serious comeback
Show threadHowlin’ HobbitNov 18, 2022

@dangillmor

I do most of my “long form” writing in the blog section of my Ko-Fi site. then I toss the post links around to places like here, and folk can read them if they want.

I *think* a person can “follow” the blog bits without needing to be one of my sponsors. again, if they want.

Show threadJohn AllisonNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor I'm thankful for #feedly, at least I can leverage RSS where possible.
Show threadAris TeonNov 18, 2022

@dangillmor I've kept blogging and never understood why people would willingly give up their power and hand it over to a consolidated oligopoly of tech giants out of convenience.

Especially because people's voices were silenced by for-profit algorithms and competition with accounts spending money on promoting themselves. It was a completely broken system.

Show threadColin DevroeNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor agree
Show threadJulienUhligNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor a new beginning!
Show threadRagnell the Mildly UnpleasantNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor I still feel like I need to spin down a bit to go back to blogging, but it would be nice to go back to blogs and feed readers.
Show threadJeroen BaertNov 18, 2022
@dangillmor This! And also: provide RSS feeds for your blog!
Show threadThe Book of KelsNov 18, 2022

@dangillmor

Convenience always carries a price. The price is not advertised up front.

Show threadJulie WebgirlNov 20, 2022

@dangillmor I think we can do both here via #ActivityPub which makes your blog it's own instance. I've started experimenting and will be blogging about it AS the experiment. Handy, that.

Edited: fixed Hub to Pub

Show threadDan GillmorNov 21, 2022
@juliewebgirl Yes, some real indie-web stuff happening here.
Show threadJulie WebgirlNov 21, 2022
@dangillmor It was always supposed to have been "my data, my website, my server". Then third party money-grubbing... yeah anyway. I have opinions lol
Show threadDS-Tech Media ✅Nov 21, 2022
@dangillmor But why the exodus from Twitter? Because of Elon Musk? What has he done to make it terrible? Before he bought Twitter I saw some of the most depraved messages imaginable. Particularly people who refused the vaccine, and died of Covid. So many people celebrating their deaths. I've seen a lot online, but that stays with me.
Show threadDan GillmorNov 21, 2022
@drown The initial exodus (I still have an account there) is all about him. He strikes me as a sociopath. If there's a widespread exodus it'll be due to an accumulation of issues that ruin the product, which haven't happened yet.
Show threadDS-Tech Media ✅Nov 22, 2022
@dangillmor I don't doubt that he's a sociopath. He's a billionaire. In my opinion he's a fraud too, and takes credit for the work of many other people. He plays into being a "rocket scientist", and takes credit for the work at Tesla. However, he bought the company who made the breakthroughs, and then made them agree to NDA's before rewriting it's history.
That being said though, Twitter was selectively & arbitrarily enforcing it's TOS, and censoring on behalf of governments.
Show threadDan GillmorNov 22, 2022
@drown If you think Twitter won't continue censoring on behalf of governments, you haven't been paying attention. Musk has explicitly said he will follow local laws including the most repressive ones.
Show threadDS-Tech Media ✅Nov 25, 2022
@dangillmor I realize they play along in foreign nations.But in the USA there should be no need to as there are no laws on speech. Twitter censored the New York Post, the nation's oldest paper when they did a story on the son of the president. They did this for political reasons. It would fall under election interference If it were the same story with Trump's son as the subject being suppressed by so many social media sites. Under Musk there shouldn't be censorship based on political biases.
Show threadKaroliDec 19, 2022
@dangillmor 100% agree
Show threadChris PirilloDec 19, 2022
@karoli @dangillmor ...in many ways, Mastodon is pretty darn close. At this time, we might not be able to export posts (but that could very well change at some point). It feels more like a blog in the sense that there's mobility, or the potential for a custom domain.