Jason McFadden

Something happened on the internet again. A guy who likes to tweak his blog theme totally switched platforms, moving from one host to another in haste and inadvertently breaking some links. And it’s basically Elon Musk's fault. WordPress gets some blame too. Let me explain.

A Micro.blogger is born

Elon Musk bought Twitter and started wrecking it. So many people fled to Mastodon; conversation started happening there. The zeitgeist was Mastodon to the social-media rescue. It has promise since it’s – based on IndieWeb principles – decentralized. All this compelled the geek in me to try social media again.

In turn, I was reminded of Micro.blog because it, too, is IndieWeb friendly and social. Which would be better, Mastodon or Micro.blog? I was thinking of each one as social platforms. Mastodon is more Twitter-like – both a good and bad thing. But then, looking more into Micro.blog, I was slapped sober; it’s more…blog-like!

While I wanted to try Indie Social Media, I kind of needed a better blog host than old-fashioned Blogger. Due to the WordPress disruption last year, I had moved from WordPress to Blogger, which was nostalgic if nothing else. And though I’m fond of it – despite Google – Blogger is like the walking dead.

Realizing Micro.blog is both decentralized social media and a blog platform, my brain was electrified into action. I saw Micro.blog in a new light; as host, it could be my new blogging home! It’s modern, has a credible reputation, and is built on a firm IndieWeb foundation. The cherry on top is that my blog could automatically cross-post to the Micro.blog social timeline. Why hadn’t I joined before?

Faster than a growing 16-year old can inhale a pizza, I was whisked off my feet from Blogger; a Micro.blogger was born. I moved my domain name before I imported any previous posts. Permalinks? Yes…until I broke them. It’s a small price to pay; no worries. I also readily paid for a monthly subscription – sign me up, take my money! – and then, so impressed by the service, I bought a whole year of hosting at once. I’m all in.

A microblogger is born

This change in blog hosts caused another change; the way I blog. Not only was a Micro.blogger born, a microblogger was born.

You see, my custom for years was to only publish long-form posts – articles with a title like the one you’re now reading. And when I had a Twitter account, I Tweeted short stuff like links, quotes, or microposts. But now that I can totally do that on Micro.blog in addition to traditional blogging, I find myself liberated in sharing with the world, free to publish both short and long posts, no longer bound by a quantity of words; quality matters most.

With this newfound freedom, I’m now embracing the idea and practice of mixing microposts with, uh, “macro” posts on my blog; it’s like a whole other level of blogging for me. Let’s say you took the best of Tweets and the best of Medium articles and combined them in a single feed; that’s a Micro.blog blog.

It’s great because sometimes I only have a few words to say about something and can now freely share that; I don’t have to wax verbose just to create a long article. Simple status updates are welcome here. Yet I’m also not limited to only 280 character text snippets; when the muse impels, my words can flow like Niagara Falls.

I think the mix works well. If nothing else, it certainly accomplishes what Micro.blog founder, Manton Reece, aimed for: people blogging more often. I’m now posting at least once a day, whereas I used to post about three times a week.

So this blogger upgraded. Now I’m also a microblogger.

And thanks to what’s dubbed the “Fediverse” (think Blogosphere), I don’t have to choose between Micro.blog or Mastodon. Basically, one can feed into the other, so with my Micro.blog account, I also have a Mastodon profile - no instance required. Bonus! But all this…is for another post.

Note: This post exceeds 280 characters by several thousand. No problem.

What do you think?

✉️ Reply by email

✴️ Follow on Micro.blog

I’ve been checking out Mastodon lately — decentralized social media — which led me to rediscovering a related site/platform called Micro.blog. I had briefly tried it out a few years ago but didn’t need it alongside my WordPress blog (and Twitter profile). But now, things are different.

Mastodon is a social media service/software/platform, like Twitter. You only post short texts, a.k.a microblog posts, like a comment or a status update. The aim is to chit-chat with others in a sort of open conversation about whatever. It’s like equal parts of sharing a thought on your mind and checking the thoughts of others. You can just as easily comment on someone’s post as you can simply comment in your own new post.

Micro.blog is a blogging service/platform. It hosts stand-alone blogs that can have either short or long posts. It’s like traditional blogging — something I happen to enjoy. But it adds a timeline/feed for all micro.blog posts, whether short or long. It favors short posts; not sure what that says about quality versus quantity though:

“…Micro.blog is focused on short posts because we think it encourages people to write more often…” Micro.blog help center

Those are the big picture overviews of each service, as far as I understand them. I’m still trying to wrap my head around each one, learning how they overlap or interact. Mastodon and Micro.blog are indieweb compliant. So they feature strong benefits of avoiding centralized for-profit social media or blogging services. Yet it’s hard for me to decide which I might like to use, if any.

On one hand, I left social media. But it was the big publicly-traded commercial juggernauts of Twitter and Facebook. You know, the kind that prioritizes profits over people by maximizing user-engagement, typically via algorithm-pushed negativity. And on the other hand, I’m still a social creature like my fellow humans and have some attraction to “joining the conversation” on the interwebs with its netizens.

“Micro.blog is a blogging platform with a social engagement component. We have a timeline where you can follow and interact with other bloggers. Sometimes it feels like Twitter, because of the timeline, mentions, and conversations.” Micro.blog help center

The weird thing is how Micro.blog seems to combine blogging with social media. In my mind, it’s similar to the WordPress Reader, which is a feed — a reverse chrono timeline — of blogs you choose to follow (with a few suggestions). It lets you like and comment too. But since all WordPress blog posts are big/long, the Reader is more like looking at an RSS reader for news articles. In contrast, looking at the Micro.blog timeline shows you lots of short posts or status updates, like Twitter, where you can also interact with commenting and such.

Though hesitant, I’m thinking about using both Micro.blog and Mastodon. The possibilities are intriguing, but I know part of the reason is they’re different from my current blogging setup; they’re shiny new tech things to try out. For now, I’m trying out Micro.blog. One step at a time.

What’s your take?

Reply by email.

As Twitter implodes, there remains the elephant in the room: social media persists. The elephant’s cousin — Mastodon — proves it. Well, sort of. As social creatures, people are going to connect online, one way or the other. At first, I heard about various Twitter alternatives, but Mastodon seems to keep rising to the top. Though I doubt I’ll join, I’m interested in that it’s “federated,” kind of like email.

I can’t get into the technical stuff because it’s mostly over my head. I’ve read a few articles about it, but Glenn Fleishman’s recent piece strikes the loudest chord. It relates how Mastodon works similar to email. Due to this and the fact it also looks and feels much like Twitter helps spark my interest.

I am, after all, a social creature who favors text over photos or videos when “connecting” with my fellow humans. And I miss the old days of original Twitter with its simple restriction of 140 characters per Tweet. And of course, like Twitter of yore, Mastodon is labeled a “microblogging” platform. Anything like blogging gets my attention.

Another feature of Mastodon that is most intriguing to me: a plain ol’ feed that’s in reverse chronological order and shows only people you follow — no ads, no sponsored posts, no algorithm amplification. That sounds so quaint or elementary, yet it also sounds so refreshing in its straightforward simplicity.

So I’m learning more and will keep an eye on the pachyderm in the room. Maybe it will grow more popular or powerful and fulfill a promise like that of the early internet or the modern Indieweb, such that people can directly interact quickly and easily online without the problems of web 2.0 social media. Maybe we’ll see a shift away from centralized and commercialized platforms like Facebook.

While I don’t like social media as run by billionaires — Musk and Zuckerberg — Mastodon might be different enough to be worth joining. Like email, maybe Mastodon has enough old-school wisdom to last well into the future.

Final note: I’ve been off Facebook, Twitter, etc, since April ’22. I currently only use social-cataloging site, Grouvee, for gaming stuff (it’s like Goodreads but for games), along with its forum.

Have you considered Mastodon?

Reply by email.

A new article for the new year, this one from the Verge about bringing back personal blogging. How could I NOT comment on this one!? The idea is simple: since social media has devolved in recent years, proving to be less than ideal, and since people remain social, then the collective cyber culture should once again embrace the benefits of blogging. To that, yes. A resounding one indeed.

“In the beginning, there were blogs, and they were the original social web. We built community. We found our people. We wrote personally. We wrote frequently. We self-policed, and we linked to each other so that newbies could discover new and good blogs. I want to go back there.” — Monique Judge

Those of us who were online “back in the day” remember blogging in its heyday and can thus return to it with ready understanding while also being fueled by nostalgia. It’d be like going home.

But what about “digital natives” from Gen Z who never experienced life before Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat? I think their image/video-centric online nature would find text-based blogging too much to tackle. They might even wonder how one can feasibly type a 500-word post via smartphone keyboard (spoiler alert: use a laptop keyboard).

Despite potential friction between old-school blogging and the up-and-coming generation of web surfers, I have high hopes for a return of the blogosphere and think it’s worth promoting. If traditional bloggers like myself want to help a new wave of bloggers find their footing, maybe we simply inundate the web with blog posts about blogging and its benefits, causing such topics to rise in the ranks of Google searches.

For some, blogging never really went away. Instead, it simply became forgotten, neglected, or ignored as the attention of many was distracted by the shiny new social media networks, which admittedly did make posting stuff online easier and quicker than ever. You might recall that Twitter, at first, was labeled as a “micro-blogging” service.

Side note: though I’ve used different blogging platforms over the years and have also had several different social media services, there’s one site I never joined: Tumblr. I mention it because, unlike the defunct other social media places, Tumblr seems to have retained most of its features and appeal over time, despite some changes. It might be worth promoting.

Bonus note: Blogger began in 1999 and — get this — still exists today! I’m blogging on it right now.

If Gen. Z finds blogging too archaic, they might instead find Tumblr more accessible.

In any case, I’m all for blogging and the blogosphere. And if enough new young people flock to it, blogging might benefit, evolving for the better with a renaissance.

Do you think blogging stands a chance of seeing a second golden age?

A quick update for the blog. My site www.jasonmcfadden.com now has an official new blog name, “Fully Rendered.” It’s also now sporting a dark theme.

After migrating from Jason Journals at WordPress to Blogger, I had named my new blog jasonmcfadden to match the domain name and keep things simple. And being unsure what direction my post content would go, I made the blog minimal and mostly white. It was clean, maybe too spartan, and the header image — the site URL — felt a bit lacking.

Before. Light theme.

After. Dark theme.

With my new blog name and header, I’ve added a custom graphic. It’s a pixel art profile image of an RPG character I made using RPG Maker MZ (which, by the way, runs on my M1 MacBook Air, no problems).

Here’s my explanation for the new blog name:

“Fully Rendered” originally came from a phrase I repeated ad infinitum when exclaiming how Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo was developed using pre-rendered 3D computer graphics. The name eventually became my gaming avatar pseudonym. It stands for both modern video gaming and computing technology.

Previously, at Jason Journals, my blogging focused on mobile computing and video gaming. Once again, that’s my focus. It’s fun to geek out on my hobbies and interests.

What do you think of the new look and feel?

One of my favorite bloggers is computer scientist Cal Newport. I found this great quote on a podcast (at 50:42) from 2019 wherein he discussed his then recent book, Digital Minimalism. The context here is Cal’s apt distinction between the social-internet and social-media:

“When you go back out to the wild social internet, it’s such a better experience. And so this is why I’ve been a blogger for a long time. I think the blogosphere, though weirder and harder to navigate is, for example, a much better repository of expression and information than, say, Facebook or Twitter is.”

This resonated with me of course; I’m a blogger on Blogger and still enjoy the blogosphere (e.g. WordPress Reader). I don’t use social media anymore and don’t miss it. And I’ve written about this before, saying The Web Itself Is The Social Network.

Though engaging, algorithmically curated silos — like the Facebook Newsfeed — are inferior to the wide open web where individual blogs once flourished. Outside of social media, many people enjoy the web’s data as the internet-backbone serves up info via mobile apps. And beyond that, most people click links no further than one Google search result deep. But it’s a privilege to surf the social internet from site to site and page to page, bookmarking, copying URLs, or commenting on someone’s specialized blog.

As Newport points out, it’s a bit harder for some people to navigate the web to its fullest, discovering new sites and blogs via ubiquitous hyperlinks. But I’d say sowing the extra effort is well worth the abundant harvest of uniquely expressive blogs, deeply informative websites, and utilitarian web apps. Staying within the confines of a limited feed strips the web, and the web surfer, of a rich internet experience.

Would you rather give up the open web or social media?

After several years of blogging on WordPress, I’m leaving to blog on one of the first and oldest platforms: Blogger. But with its ancient internet age and Google’s propensity to cancel products/services, why would anyone in their right mind choose Blogger in 2022? Because in my case, it’s not the mind.

My mind chose WordPress; my heart chooses Blogger.

Back in 2017, WordPress wasn’t my first platform of choice. I actually chose Blogger first and, at the last minute, changed my mind. I picked the most logical choice (thanks, brain), the CMS that was more viable, popular, and had greater potential.

Today, I think WordPress remains the more rational choice over Blogger. In fact, during the plan/pricing upheaval this past April/May, although I was preparing to leave WordPress for Blogger, I again choseWordPress. And as it turns out, WordPress reverted from its radical new plans to the previous tiered offerings.

So why leave now for Blogger?

The Catalysts

In late May, when I re-chose WordPress and cut off Blogger, I was resolute and settled in. Forget Blogger, it’s in the past; unpack my bags and keep moving forward with WordPress.

But something happened.

While reading the book, Biblical Minimalism, I checked to see if there was a website for it. I typed the search terms into DuckDuckGo and — whoa — www.biblicalminimalism.com has a site on Blogger with posts as recent as August 2022!

I found a current blog hosted by Blogger on a topic I like.

That hit me.

I realized Blogger, to this day, is alive, active, and I could be there too. In fact, had I ultimately chosen Blogger in 2017, I could have been blogging there for the past 5 years.

Next thing I know, my fingers were on auto-pilot, migrating all my Jason Journals posts over to Blogger at a rapid pace. I resumed the process I had started back in April amidst the WordPress uncertainty. I was primed. So when I realized my heart was still with Blogger, I just went with it! Risk accepted.

“…’cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore…”

Some Reasons

Nostalgia

Sure, Blogger is ancient. But the platform’s “oldness” is part of the attraction for me. I blogged there first; I’ve got nostalgia fuel.

Availability

Yes, Google could kill Blogger at any moment. But I figure that even if Google decides to sunset it, the company would most likely give advance notice, probably a year before final shut-down. I could enjoy Blogger while it lasts, having time to migrate back to WordPress or switch to something else like Ghost.

I also figure that since Google has had plenty of opportunity to end Blogger — like during the deconstruction of Google+ — yet after all these years still hasn’t, then maybe Blogger is here to stay.

Simplicity, Flexibility, Affordability

The biggest reason why I choose Blogger is the same as before: it’s simple.

Four Reasons Why I Chose Blogger - February 7, 2017

Blogger as a platform is all I need, nothing more. It’s minimal and enough. It’s also flexible and “free.” I can edit the HTML if I wish, and it costs no money.

The fact that Google owns Blogger doesn’t bother me. Google has stewarded it well enough all these years. And since I frequent YouTube that’s owned by Google, why not also enjoy Blogger?

Text-based

Since 2018, WordPress has been increasingly block-based. But at Blogger, I can work with text in a WYSIWYG editor for posts and pages. Love it. No more blocks, thank you.

Is this a crazy move? Did you use Blogger back in the day?

Hello, readers. A monumental shift is afoot at Jason Journals, announcing both a new name and home for the blog. Though it’s the end of an era, it’s also the beginning of another.

Jason Journals has been steadily going since 2017. Blogging about any topic, rather than a niche, has helped me post regularly for several years. That’s not changing. I’m just switching platforms.

What’s the new blog name?

jasonmcfadden

What will the blog be about?

The same as Jason Journals: anything.

That said, I’ve been de-emphasizing computing and gaming and re-focusing on minimalism, simplicity, and reading. So I’m writing more about less, but I’ll still cover previous topics. I might share personal stuff too.

Overall, I’m still Jason and still “journaling.” Essentially, my blog isn’t changing much. It’s partly why the new name is simply jasonmcfadden. Like Jason Journals, it’s my personal blog.

Where’s the new blog home?

Blogger

What’s happening to Jason Journals on WordPress?

• I’ll leave it static/dormant for now and at some point remove the custom URL.

• The contact email for Jason Journals is replaced by the one for jasonmcfadden

• All Jason Journals WordPress posts have been migrated to jasonmcfadden on Blogger

• You can subscribe to jasonmcfadden posts via the feed in a reader

• You can follow jasonmcfadden via the Blogger widget

• You can comment on my posts at Blogger

• You can email me to chat about jasonmcfadden posts

1. Progress To Less - September 29, 2022
2. Screen Addiction Harms Relationships - September 26, 2022
3. The Batman Review - September 24, 2022
4. iPhone Less - September 23, 2022

I hope to see you at jasonmcfadden and look forward to this next endeavor.

I’m really not sure where to begin with this. Last week, I read two new emails from WordPress announcing its latest moves in the perplexing plan upheaval of 2022. After months of plan changes, flip-flopping from radical reduction to compromising capitulation, now the newly introduced plans have already been axed. Their short-lived reign was quickly usurped by none other than the former plans, fully reinstated. What’s old is new again.

While elated to see the old plans make a triumphant return, I also feel whiplashed. And though I was deeply troubled to lose the plans back in early April, I’m now somewhat concerned for those who adopted the new “Pro” plan only to see it so soon vanished.

Before, there were four paid plans to choose from beyond the free option. They were all replaced by a single paid plan. After much outcry against the titanic shift, WordPress promised to continue altering the deal for the better. So then a new middle plan was introduced in May called, “Starter.” Along with these new plans, there were to be introduced à la carte add-ons.

Honestly, that’s a lot of plan disruption to track. And now with the latest plot twist, the pendulum has swung almost completely back to where it began with the former plans! There are also new add-on options. It’s all a bit confusing at this point. My guess is that WordPress, after much tweaking, finally decided it might as well just reinstate what worked best before.

Whatever the causes or goals, I’m very happy to see the old plans return. I was accustomed to them, so their familiarity brings comfort to this blogger. I love the affordable tiers. And it’s great to see that my “Personal” plan is no longer labeled “legacy;” it’s returned to legit status.

There are à la carte options to sweeten the deal. As of now, I see only three though, and one of them, Ad-removal, doesn’t apply to my “Personal” plan as the feature is already included. The other two options, Custom CSS and Premium Themes, are nice. But at $2 extra per month each, that would make my $4/mo plan become $8/mo. At that price point, I’d just upgrade to the “Premium” plan for the same cost. But I have the option to choose one add-on and pay $6/mo. Not too bad.

And while the add-ons are available for my Personal plan, the email marketing positions them as though only intended for “Free” sites, letting them gain a few key features at little cost, with the ability to easily move to a paid plan. Of course, a free site with paid add-ons might as well be a paid plan.Add on options to your free site. Or your paid site.

So in the end, as WordPress has swung back to the former plans, I’m relieved, happy, and…cautious. With so much upheaval since April, I just feel a twinge of unsettlement, for lack of a better word. I feel it for myself, knowing now that at any moment, WordPress can radically disrupt what I rely on. And I feel it for those who bought into the new Pro plan but now have suddenly had it pulled back so soon. I wouldn’t blame them for feeling like it was a bait-n-switch.

I don’t envy WordPress as it may find itself in a difficult position, trying to please most users most of the time. I imagine however hard it tries, there will always be a subset of upset, a group of displeased customers. I was in that boat for a couple months and nearly jumped ship. So I guess I want to give WP the benefit of the doubt, trusting they’re trying to fulfill business obligations and meet customer demand.

Google is sunsetting…something. The headline of course grabbed me, and it gave me a new thought. Since Google is somewhat infamous for frequently killing off products and services, I often wonder why or how Blogger is still alive.

Following April’s announcements of the new Free and Pro plans, WordPress has announced the Starter plan. And as projected in a forum message, WordPress slotted the plan at a price point between the others at $5/mo, which is one-third the cost of the Pro tier at $15/mo. Albeit plans still require an annual rather than monthly payment. That said, the Starter price is much more within the realm of the former Personal and Premium plans ($4 and $8 respectively). But are the features comparable to those former plans? And how does the Starter plan stack against the Pro level?

I was excited to see the announcement in my inbox, “WordPress has already set its new middle plan!” A forum message said it was coming soon, but I didn’t expect it this soon. Good work, WordPress!

At first glance, the Starter plan is off to a good start, featuring:

Over the past few weeks, I shared a handful of posts expressing unease towards WordPress. My bags were packed; I was ready to move away. It started with the surprising and sudden plan upheaval in early April, which soured me. Stuck in a rut, feeling unsettled, I sought firm blogging ground. Many other bloggers reasonably felt likewise. But for my part, I think I let negativity taint my view a bit much, seeing WordPress only through the opposite of rose-colored glasses. My view was all thorns and no rose. That’s now changed.

A few things happened this week that turned the tide

(Note: Originally posted at WordPress)

One day after reading a lot about the IndieWeb and other bloggers’ adventures, I was refreshed with the optimism of the Open Web, Open Source software, and the like. WordPress is part of that. I also saw positive examples of blogs reflecting said virtues. And I found more services that work well with WordPress, like Buy me a Coffee, which is now on my About page.

“We believe in democratizing publishing and the freedoms that come with open source.”

There’s a disturbance in the force of WordPress; I’ve sensed it.

And now my inner disquiet has been further stirred. An article caught my attention, citing a report that indicates declining WordPress market share for the first time ever, which is apparently caused by performance issues, increased complexity, and a lengthy yet unfinished release of the Full Site Editor.

These problems struck me.

Complexity - Less about blogging, more about website building

The issues seem somewhat speculative, but based on the numerous comments in the article, there’s some consensus about the Gutenberg/FSE long roll-out being a problem along with increased platform complexity overall. And based on my own experience with the Full Site Editor and other changes to the platform in the past few years, I have to agree.

I’ve had a growing sense that WordPress has been evolving from a simple publishing platform to a full-fledged website builder. So instead of a focus on getting text-based articles online, WordPress has prioritized getting entire websites online. Where bloggers once shared their thoughts, now entrepreneurs sell their products. Being all things to all people is a burdensome load.

This adds complexity; I’ve certainly experienced it in the newer block widgets under site customization; I prefer the now “legacy” widgets. And I’m only using the default WordPress.com, ignoring plugins.

The Jason McFadden blog is now using Buy Me a Coffee!
There are a few links and buttons on the blog to make supporting the blog easy. Look for the big orange button in the sidebar or see the button on the About page.

I kindly ask for a donation of just $1 to support the blog. My goal is to simply earn $20 a year - that’s it! - to pay for the blog’s domain and mailbox.

Please show your generous support.

Beyond $20…then there’s more coffee.

I don’t blog about coffee, but I often blog with coffee.

…Sip

In the heyday of blogging, and the year (2004) Facebook first launched, Who Let The Blogs Out? was published. Author Biz Stone’s answer was, of course, bloggers, along with the early pioneers of the first blogging platforms. Blogging meant anyone could post anything, since it enabled the masses to publish online and en masse, which coalesced into the blogosphere. I enjoyed reading about blogging, from the view atop its pinnacle and in the rearview following the proliferation of social media.
The book covered both the big picture and the small details about blogging, such as: 

It’s been about a month since WordPress radically altered the deal with new binary plans. Now there’s new word on its plans to introduce a new middle plan between the ‘free’ and ‘pro’ tier, along with other plans in the works.
Closing the comments thread on Pricing Feedback, first opened April 3, WordPress announced under the radar a list of plans regarding their recently changed plan structure:

• We are currently working on launching a new lower-priced plan with a price point in-between the Free plan and the Pro plan.
• Following the launch of this new plan we will be revisiting our discounted pricing in a few regional areas.
• Following that we still plan to launch a series of à la carte individual feature add-ons that can be purchased one-off across our various plans.
• We also plan to experiment with bringing back monthly pricing at some point. 

With WordPress shenanigans in April shaking up my blogging foundation, one alternate platform I’ve been wondering about is good old-fashioned Blogger, where anyone can still create — after 23 years! — a free blogspot domain through Google. But there’s the elephant-in-the-room question: if or when will Google sunset Blogger? I’ve tried to find a definitive answer.

Blogger Buzz

The last direct source for Blogger news was Blogger Buzz at buzz.blogger.com, which now redirects to blogger.googleblog.com. Sadly, nothing new has been posted there since spring 2020. Also, the official @Blogger account on Twitter was taken private long ago and remains silent. The only other current announcements for the platform can be found on Blogger’s official help forum, though the last one was in spring 2021. The Community Forum is still active with support, so that’s a positive.

It’s been over a year since the last news about Blogger. Sure, there’s the saying that, “No news is good news.” But in Google’s case, when there used to be buzz about Blogger, crickets are a nervous sound. Is it the breath-catching silence before a coup de gras? Well, I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion because, as far as I can tell otherwise, Blogger is alive and well after all these years. Eerily quiet, kind of; dead silent maybe; but not dead.

Google for Creators

This week, I found an old book (copyright 2004) about blogging by Biz Stone, who helped create Xanga nearly two decades ago. Amazon was selling the paperback for $5 so I grabbed it.

Through reading it, I hope to find a good bit of blogging history and gain a better idea how the popular weblog and blogosphere were understood and appreciated between blogging’s infancy and adolescence — or its height in the internet zeitgeist.

The book was written around the time Google bought Blogger, so I hope it sheds light on that in some way (my first blog, with Blogger, was circa 2006). And if nothing else, I think it will be worthwhile to absorb some of Biz Stone’s mind about one of my favorite hobbies. 

I’ve mentioned a blogging renaissance before, and I hope this book will spur me further to call for a blogging resurgence. For all of social media’s convenience, I still think most people would be better without it and should rely on good old-fashioned blogging instead. The web itself is the social network.

Do you remember blogging in its heyday?

April started with WordPress.com quietly pushing new unwelcome plans with all-or-nothing pricing. Like many others, I’ve written about it (here and there). Besides causing much consternation, the change also caused me to start seeking another blogging platform just in case — still no word on the new a la carte options said to be coming. I’ve been sampling other services and will share where I’m at thus far. But first, a general word on paying for services.
There’s a notion that paying for an app or service is better than using it for free. One reason is that paying helps ensure the app or service won’t disappear — “free” is not a sustainable business model. For example, I donate money to Wikipedia because I value the free service and don’t want it to go away. Another example, I have long paid for WordPress because it is was a great CMS for blogging.

Somewhere along the way, I mistakenly thought paying for WordPress ensured it would never change, disappear, or regress. I was wrong. Though I’ve subscribed for years, it changed for the worse, not better. And while I can keep my current legacy plan as-is for the foreseeable future, I don’t know if that will eventually change. So despite paying money for WordPress, I have uncertainty about it.

The instability has me seeking solid ground in other blogging services. If I move somewhere else, I’ll take with me the lesson learned: just because you pay for a service doesn’t mean it will remain the same long-term. Paying may help ensure a service is more likely to remain viable, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything. I’m not saying a service should never change, but when it does, it should be better for both the customer and the provider. The new plans are not better for the legion hobby bloggers.

Bloggers deserve a better blogging platform.

Wix

Ghost

Write.as

Blogger

WordPress

Earlier this week, I took a new step forward with my blog, creating its very own Twitter profile. I had considered this before but never thought it was necessary or worth the extra management. Now, though, it seems fitting.

New blog posts can publish to a dedicated Twitter timeline, letting the blog have its own identity there. This means when my blog posts get tweeted, they won’t show up in my personal timeline widget on my blog…except if I retweet them I think. (I’m not sure what the proper Twitter etiquette is there.) Anyways, it’s nice to see my blog get a bit more promotion with its own Twitter profile. I hope it will lead to more followers and readers.

Speaking of, the Jason Journals Twitter account will also help my blog get exposure if I decide to leave WordPress (due to its recent plan/price changes). If I move to Blogger, for example, I’ve already got a nice Twitter “Follow” button there for Jason Journals (in lieu of a Blogger Follow button, which no longer exists except as a legacy widget if it was applied before being deprecated). 

There’s one other part about my blog posts having a dedicated Twitter profile: more interaction potential. I’m eager to see if some followers would rather comment on my posts there instead of on WordPress (or wherever I host my blog in the future).

Follow @Jason_Journals

WordPress has made its new plan changes official. The announcement covers the radical reduction to only two plans and includes somewhat clarifying information about related options. It’s nice to see this news properly addressed outside WordPress forums. And it really looks like WP is listening to its customers and adjusting some of its new plan offerings. But…

Not all of the changes have been settled upon yet. So while one of my initial concerns was somewhat relieved, I’m still not content with the new plan direction and continue to consider alternatives, namely one at this point.

It seems official: current paying users — like myself on the now “legacy” Personal plan — can keep things going just how they are; no changes necessary. That’s…kind of fine, though it feels a bit tenuous. And any future change will mean accepting either the free or pro plan of WordPress.com. So far, there are no other options; it’s “all or nothing.”

But in the announcement, WP stated that some “a la carte” options are being worked on and should be offered at some point. I understand that to mean maybe someone on the free plan could pay a small sum — say $2 per month — to get one extra feature like a custom domain or the removal of ads. Such an offering could be good, or maybe not. The sweeping changes are still unsettled and are kind of sweeping me and some other personal/hobby bloggers away.

A few days ago, the plan updates shook many bloggers, myself included. The unexpected and unwelcome change moved me to search for fallback options on other blogging platforms. From that initial impetus up to today’s announcement, I think enough inertia was gained to keep me moving away from WordPress. 

This is disruption. Yet I’m kind of glad it happened because the platform I’ve set my sights on looks surprisingly good so far. I’ve liked it in the past, and it feels like I’m just now realizing how much I still like it.

I think I’m moving…back to Blogger!

Yes, Blogger — blogspot.com — is still around.
Yes, I wonder if Google will kill it like it has so many other services (cough, Google+, cough).

Then again, I’ve started to think that maybe the fact Blogger is still alive means it’s…immortal? Nah. But maybe it’s worth letting things be, so Google stays its plug-pulling hand. In any case, I’m of the mind to use and enjoy Blogger for as long as I can while it remains. Who knows, maybe my and others’ use of it will keep it going longer.

I haven’t made any final decisions and am waiting on WordPress to finalize its new plan and pricing structure. That said, I’ve been busy testing my old Blogger account and preparing a migration. I already transferred my domain from WordPress to Hover (mapping it to my current WP blog). And I added a different custom domain I own to my Blogger blog.

Much of my time lately has also been spent customizing my Blogger theme down to the HTML - for free! I’ve missed Blogger and feel happy at potentially relying on it once more. I love its classic — now nostalgic — blogging feel; I’ve missed it.

By the way, if I leave WordPress, I will not miss the block editor (I’m kind of turned off from everything turning into blocks…they’re effective but not elegant; learning how to work them is clunky).

My blogging will continue on WordPress at Jason Journals for now. Meanwhile, I’m cross-publishing all future posts to Blogger too, starting with this one (though it is a private blog for now).

Anyways, that’s where I stand. I’m willing to risk Google killing Blogger (fingers crossed) in order to potentially use it, with its simplicity and flexibility, for free. That’s a tough deal to beat for a simple hobby blogger. If I switch, I’ll likely keep my WP account and blog as an archive on a free plan. It’s possible I’d return to WP if Google does eventually delete the fine indie web relic that is Blogger.

What are your blogging plans?

Surprise! In a non-telegraphed move, WordPress launched a new plan pricing paradigm recently. Brought to my attention by fellow blogger Aywren Sojourner, I looked at the plan tier updates to see what’s up. As things now stand, I don’t like what I see. In fact, this sudden and unwelcome plan pivot moved me to begin checking out other options in the greater blogging space.

I don’t wish to leave long-term investment in WordPress behind and start over elsewhere, but deciding such a move will come down to features and costs. Blogging is a hobby of mine that I’ve enjoyed for years; I pay money to do it and don’t make a penny back. I’ve subscribed (been a paying customer) to different WordPress tiers for the past five years. There has been a wide range of plans and price points to choose from. As of last count, there were five, from “Free” all the way up to “eCommerce.”

Guess what? My blog theme is changing – again – like the seasons. If I found the perfect theme, I’d likely switch it later out of boredom. What do you do when fresh turns stale? Refresh! Besides, blog themes make an important statement on the web.

Easy Does It