Who are you? Where are you (virtually)?

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on January 1, 2020). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Now that I’m (once again) working on resurrecting my regular blogging here (as opposed to walled gardens like Facebook), and as I’ve opened comments up again, I’d love to know if people are actually stopping by (either directly or through RSS/newsreaders) and paying attention to my rambling—and I’d love to know if any of you have blogs or webspaces of your own outside of Facebook so I can keep up with what you post!

So, please feel free to leave a comment (or, if you’d prefer, ping @djwudi on Twitter, or go old-school and email me) and let me know who you are and what blogs, website(s), podcasts, or other projects you have going on that I can add to my reading list!

And if you’re also looking for ways to expand your world outside of Facebook and the like, may I recommend setting up a blog of your own somewhere? You can post whatever you want, you own the content, and you don’t have to worry about algorithms keeping your stuff from being shown to people who want to see it.

A really easy way to get started that I have been using in conjunction with this site for a while now and can recommend is micro.blog. It lives in a space somewhere between Twitter and more full-featured systems like WordPress, which makes it a perfect way to get set up blogging. It’s inexpensive ($5/month or $50/year for them to host your blog, or free if you can connect it to an externally hosted blog–such as a free basic WordPress.com blog), and has a nice community of users. More information on micro.blog is available on their help pages.

Or if you’re just looking for ways to read what you want to read without depending on Facebook’s algorithms to surface things, I’d like to suggest an RSS newsreader such as NetNewsWire (for macOS, iOS coming soon) or FeedBin (web-based). Just tell the newsreader what sources (websites, blogs, news sites, etc.) you want to read, and they take care of the rest. Newsreaders have been how I’ve read most of my daily news for years now, and it’s a far nicer experience than having to go to each individual website to see what’s new.

Whoever you are and however and wherever you exist online, howdy! Glad you stopped by!

4 thoughts on “Who are you? Where are you (virtually)?”

  1. Long-time reader, infrequent writer. ;) Been following you for a while, I’d say. Looking forward to seeing your refreshed presence develop through 2020 and beyond!

  2. Yes, I follow the links from Twitter. I have an infrequently updated Livejournal under krblack and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to restart Star Trek: Relive the Majesty! as a WordPress site.

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