Own your own website. Own your mailing list. Own your newsletter. Own your blog and prioritise your RSS feed.

This is the stuff that works in the long term.

Chasing virality on every new shiny platform is a waste of time.

@Daojoan Yup, basically avoid all corporate-sponsored social media and blog sites. We use Wordpress for $99 a year; you can self-host as well. Lots of similar options too.