Read Write web
I was just reading the definition of the “Read Write web”, which was a revolutionary concept in the early 2000s – the idea that browsers could be used not just to consume content but to create it, and I was thinking again about blogging. Having set up this blog on the new server and finally reinstated a passwordless command for updating it within emacs, I realized how important this step was for encouraging me to write.
I think that whatever system one uses – and there are so so many today – it should preferably be frictionless; both for composing and for editing. That should be obvious, but not all blogging platforms are easy to use. WordPress, one of the most popular, still makes it quite hard to blog, presenting many confusing options that must be daunting to newbies. Facebook is also not frictionless; especially if one wants a post to be formatted in a certain way. And editing after the post has been made is sometimes difficult or impossible. There are some platforms that don’t allow the editing of posts, or seem to frown upon it, for the reason that reactions are sometimes made to an earlier version of the post. The problem could be solved, in the case of social media, if the platform would obligate mentioning that a post has been edited and allowing the perusal of earlier versions.
Besides frictionless composing and editing, a blogging system should respect users by making it easy to do backups and export data. WordPress is okay with this, provided that one uses plugins. I have not lost any of my blog posts made to WordPress and have been able to move posts from one server to another. Hubzilla and Zot based systems have nomadic identities, so that it is possible to move easily to another server or even use two identities simultaneously. Where I have lost Hubzilla posts I have only myself to blame. Fediverse servers go down all the time, because they are run by individuals rather than big corporations. One needs to be ready for this to happen and, outside of Zot, it is difficult or impossible to remain in control of one’s content and social media contacts.
This static blog under emacs orgmode maintains local plain text and html versions of every post. The Blazeblog sytem I was using previously created a separate directory for each post and made the post the index file of the directory. I found that aspect rather cumbersome and prefer to have plain text versions of all the files, kept locally in a single directory.
There may be ways to improve this emacs system. When one day I grow more knowledgable about the system I might add excerpts and other features, assuming that I stay with the same system.
There is still no way to make comments. The only time that I used comments was when I was using the Hubzilla to WordPress cross-post plugin, which allowed the transfer of comments between the two systems. I stopped using it becasue there were certain unrelated issues with the plugin, related to formatting.
I am still deliberating on the issue of whether to use the obvious possibilities of distribution of posts through links in the fediverse or Twitter but, in any case, my posts are not very appealing; I’m blogging mainly for my own pleasure.
One tendency that I want to avoid is the cultism that goes with many of the platforms, particularly alternative systems like Mastodon, Hubzilla and Gemini. I do not want my posts to be read or taken as evidence simply of allegiance to a given platform. If we are not posting to “walled gardens,” (which at least in some cases is actually a good idea) we are netizens of the open web, an anarchic and heterogeneous conglomerate. The particular method we use to post to it is irrelevant: we use whatever platform we find to be convenient or aligns with our concerns.