I don’t know if it’s this month, things going on in my life, stress…so much stress, or something completely different, but I’ve been in a funk for a while now. And while wandering the internet, I came across this post by Cat Valente that expresses so much of what I’m feeling about Twitter and LJ and having our online communities scattering to the winds…

Stop Talking To Each Other and Start Buying Things.

Does this resonate with anyone else? How do you plan to use the internet if yet another site bites the dust? Do we pay for our own place, such as with a domain, or on Substack or MicroBlog, which, when you come down to it, is still paying to be on a site someone else owns, correct? Do we try one of the new up-and-coming sites? And regardless of which you choose, how do we keep our communities, our much-needed voices against disinformation about so very, very much, our way of being connected, intact? How? Is there an answer?

I thought of starting a Substack, but I don’t have anything to say that I feel anyone would subscribe to, never mind the fact that I don’t subscribe to anyone’s stack because that shit adds up and I’m willing to read what I can for free. Sorry, but life is expensive and I would expect others to feel the same about anything I write. So I’m starting to write here more – which is meant to be for the healing sessions I do but I’ve run out of things to say; I tried Dreamwidth again hoping the desire for old-school LJ-style blogging would draw people to it (doesn’t seem so, though Dreamwidth does not lack users); I use CounterSocial and a couple others but, again, with all of them, my community is still on Twitter (and falling apart faster and faster) and I don’t know if I have have the bandwidth or desire to create a new one because losing the one I have is breaking my heart. It’s just all so very, very sad.

The internet has become so much about talking at people, rather than with, that we’re left feeling lost and adrift and most of us don’t even realize it. Does anyone have an idea how to fix it?

With love,

Pip

©Pip Miller – February 2023

ETA: I can’t believe I forgot to mention one that truly broke my heart: the Firefly OB. Everyone moved to Facebook, which I ultimately couldn’t stand or support, and then a lot moved to Twitter.