It’s been a couple of years since I took the leap and decided to control my online content, and to separate from the big social media companies. I did this for several reasons: keeping up with my mental health, ownership of my content, and curating my own online experiences.
My research led me to the Indieweb and Micro.Blog.
I’m documenting this in the hopes that it will be useful to someone interested in Micro.Blog, especially if they want to cross-post to other sites like Mastodon and Bluesky.
The principles of the Indieweb really spoke to me, and since I had an interest in relearning basic web development, it was the perfect time to adopt some of these principles. I’m far from being an expert in how the plumbing works, and I couldn’t carry a conversation about things like JSON, ActivityPub, etc. I know it’s important and I’m satisfied with the level of knowledge of how it all works.
I’d always liked the idea of microblogging, and while Twitter scratched that itch, it was never fully satisfying. I never warmed up to it, and I was a user early enough to see what Twitter became over the years. Every now and then I check in on the Birdsite, and I’m so glad that I moved on.
After looking into sites like Ghost and Substack, Micro.Blog ultimately won me over. With Micro.Blog’s help, I was able to create my own blog, host it through Micro.Blog, integrate my own domain name, and create my own content. I wanted the option to post both short and long form blog posts and that’s exactly what I set up.
I’ve always been shy, and even though I found it easier to engage with people online when the internet was young, with the rise of social media, I got more reclusive. I felt pressure to respond to posts that mentioned me, as well as in a timely fashion. I’ve always had a busy life, and I always felt guilty (or shy) about responding late, or not responding at all.
There was also something so unattractive about how social media changed the overall online experience, but I couldn’t pull myself away. Things had changed from the days of Geocities and the message board and chat rooms of the 90s, but I didn’t want to miss out. I felt obligated to keep up to date with social media, even though I got no satisfaction out of it.
Finding Micro.Blog and Mastodon changed that perspective for me.
In Micro.Blog I discovered people of different talents posting their slices of life from their corners of the world. If there’s conversation to be had, it is civil, even when there’s a disagreement.
Mastodon is perfect for my obsessive scifi fandoms, and there’s a great writing community. The politics is kept to a minimum and I see all of the geeky content that I’d prefer to see.
I let time pass to allow Bluesky to be more developed, and I discovered that many of my favorite scifi authors and preferred people from Twitter have taken to Bluesky.
The thought of posting to three separate platforms was daunting. Recently I enabled Micro.Blog cross-posting to Mastodon and Bluesky, and its made a world of difference. I can post to Micro.Blog, thus contributing to my overall blogging timeline, while at the same time posting to Mastodon and Bluesky. The best part: I can post and reply separately to either platform.
Also, I don’t feel the same pressures using these platforms as I did with Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I can read and reply on my own time without stress.
Overall, I’m glad that I found Micro.Blog, and I’m glad for the work involved in building the site for people to write blogs of varying length, as well as engage in a like-minded community. I’m also thankful for the groundwork of the Indieweb community.
My slice of the internet is small, but at least it’s mine.
