Everyone needs their own homestead on the Internet: a place to opine, ponder, share, expound, sermonize, debate, learn, connect, gather feedback, be found, pursue passions, do business, and whatever else keeps you out of trouble (or in it).
But exercising dominion over your personal plot of digital turf requires some effort, and shouldn’t be outsourced to Big Tech, no matter how easy they make it.
As we learn over and over again, the digital landlords have their own interests and will happily sacrifice yours. Whether it is evolving business priorities, algorithmic changes, moderation policies or just a proclivity for making erratic decisions at 3am, being an Internet sharecropper brings needless torment. You must own your own domain and web site as the foundation of your digital existence.
I’ve been amusing myself here since 2005 and the post-Twitter turmoil is motivation to double down. I write to think, share, shitpost, and elicit both feedback and scrutiny of my various theories about the world. I chronicle my obsessions and compulsively pull threads (often long after the point has been made). I surf the hype cycle and am prone to allergic convulsions when confronting BS. That will all continue, even as some other things here change.
Welcome to the latest incarnation of Platformonomics.
New Design
You’ll notice a new design actually optimized for reading. There is less noise – all the sidebar stuff is gone. And the fonts should no longer hurt your eyes.
The new design supports my weekly Platformonomics TGIF newsletter as well as the more traditional (but less frequent) longer posts.
Platformonomics TGIF is a weekly roll-up of links, commentary, updates and occasional snark. The goal is quicker posts that complement my less frequent essays and allow more timely pulling of those pet threads. A lot of what once would have been tweeted now shows up in the newsletter.
Get Updates By Email
You can read it here, or subscribe via RSS, ActivityPub or email. I’ll link to my posts on Twitter until Elon demands money, and cross-post to Blue Sky, LinkedIn and Threads. But the epicenter is right here.
Moving to WordPress.com
In addition to the new design, I’m also moving to the WordPress.com mothership. I’ve run this blog using WordPress software for almost thirteen years, but at another hoster. I’m excited about the boost WordPress.com brings to reliability, security and scalability (bring it Hacker News!). And a full set of integrated services means I don’t have to play Tetris with plug-ins.
My previous hoster has been deteriorating on multiple axes. Down time is way up. Prices are increasing even as quality declines. And what was once high-quality support has been shipped overseas. It is almost like they were bought by private equity. Oh, wait, they were. So I’m following my mantra of “When private equity comes amalgamating, it is time to start migrating”.
I considered Substack, but WordPress can do everything Substack can (sign up to receive my newsletter!) and much more, which both broadens options and preserves optionality. Substack has too narrow an aperture with its focus on email newsletters. I also worry Substack suffers from the classic startup curse of having been force fed too much capital at too high a valuation from VC investors too eager for a quick return. Indigestion kills lots of startups.
Thanks to the folks at Automattic for all the help with the migration.
Future Directions
Beyond writing more, my hope is to drive more interaction with all the fabulous readers of this site. As Twitter continues to deteriorate, I miss the debate, insights, and people calling me on my malarkey that used to happen there. More comments here please! I am exploring other ideas to make this site a better place for discussion and discourse over and above traditional comments.
Any reactions to the new design?
