Over the past couple of decades, I’ve been using a well-known social media platform both to communicate with friends and to have a platform to publish my thoughts, such as they may be, on a range of topics. “Personal publishing” is the somewhat old-fashioned term. I’ll call the platform “BS,” and you’re free to imagine any real-world referent, either plausible or not.
Unfortunately, the overall business model, algorithms, and activities of BS — and, in fact, of most of the internet — are not in line with my own values, so I am attempting to entirely remove the publishing function from my use of that platform, and to diminish my use of the platform as a communication medium as well.
When I post something to BS, BS gets to decide if what I’ve written is acceptable with regard to its overall policies and goals. For instance, discussions of human sexuality or of problematic attitudes toward race and ethnicity are liable to be removed, but postings originating from Russian troll farms which are invested in destabilizing other societies are welcome, because they generate traffic, clicks, shares, and therefore revenue to BS. BS reserves the right to republish and reuse what I’ve published, without my further consent. BS also implements an undocumented retention policy for the things I’ve published. A retention policy isn’t part of any contractual relationship between BS and me, so if something I’ve posted has disappeared from the site, that’s just too bad for me.
In contrast, I have complete control of the copyrighted content which I’ll publish here, and my writing can be put up or taken down only at my own whim. I own not only the content, but also the hardware platform that this WordPress instance runs on. I have no need to monetize anything. There are no ads here; there are no affiliates; there is no merch. I don’t collect any data for resale, or even to share with any other entity. I didn’t forget to include buttons that link to social media sites; the omission is entirely intended.
Anyone can read the essays I write here, and if you’ll ask me to be vetted for the right to comment, I will initially allow that as well. However, if you don’t play nice, I’ll remove that capability in a heartbeat. I value civility, wit, and intelligence. I do hope to receive from each of you who write and comment here the gift of your unique wit and intelligence. Be not moderate in expressing those strengths! In contrast, however, I don’t hope to find civility; I demand it. It’s a precondition of the community I seek, and that I hope to create here. Welcome!