Somewhere in my timeline of internet activity, I started getting more and more anxious about putting my thoughts online.
Somewhere between Xanga today, I came to hold the opinion that social media on a smartphone that was always in my pocket was probably not a healthy way to interact with technology.
In the process of weaning myself off of some unhelpful doomscrolling and news checking habits, I've been reading about the slow web, and the indie web and that's led me to various folks' blog posts and websites from years and even decades ago. Posts that still contain useful information, or at the very least a willingness to share their life experience and personal perspective. I find a lot of value in reading those posts, and they're refreshing amidst the ocean of AI generated, ad-riddled SEO'd clickbait that you find when you search for something on Google.
All that experience has gotten me thinking I should dip my toe back into the waters of sharing my own thoughts and ideas online every once and a while. For the chance of meeting new friends and connecting with new communities, and to feel like I'm doing my part to make the web what I want it to be.
Note re curbing doomscrolling and too much news checking: I've found a lot of value in making a quick journal entry or note about what I'm feeling before checking the news. There's a whole ocean of knowledge out there on the topic, but for me, replacing memeorandum.com with hackernews.com was also a game changer. I still get some interesting news, but it rarely generates the same level of anxiety. This youtube video was very helpful to me.