Austin Kleon said that Lawrence Wechsler said, “The world keeps showing me these pictures.”
Things are changing, as they always do.
I’m not talking about all of us launching political blogs. I’m talking about reigniting our independent spaces once again. Turning up the volume on our individual voices and real-life stories, sharing our values…creating an alternative to the mass media (now social media) messages and memes that keep floating to the top.
Tavi Gevinson, creator of Rookie, says farewell - for now. There is far too much of note here to summarize in a block quote, so please take time to read the whole thing. Here’s Jason Kottke’s take.
Social media: It’s fun until it isn’t.
Facebook’s tipping point of bad behavior?
Julia Carrie Wong, senior technology reporter for The Guardian, on Twitter:
But this Soros thing is different. This is no passive failure. It’s a malevolent action taken against groups who criticize Facebook for things that Facebook admits it has failed at. It takes advantage of and contributes to the most poisonous aspects of our public discourse.
What does Facebook consider its single biggest threat?
According to an email written by exec Sam Lessin in 2012 addressed to Zuckerberg, it's not one rival site or app — it's lots of them.
"The number one threat to Facebook is not another scale social network, it is the fracturing of information / death by a thousand small vertical apps which are loosely integrated together," he wrote.
Another way to look at it: Facebook’s biggest threat is a diversity of experience using the Internet. Facebook’s biggest threat is anything that isn’t Facebook. What if Facebook’s biggest threat was people taking a walk?
And the primary reason I’m typing this on this page right now:
Sayonara Tumblr. Tumblr has decided to ban all adult content. Including a bunch of stuff that isn’t adult content. Was I on Tumblr for the pr0n? Who cares? I was on Tumblr for the free expression. Tumblr was a safe space to talk about things I can’t publicly discuss elsewhere. But now it’s being made safe for the children. (sarcasm mine)
Tumblr's Porn Ban Reveals Who Controls What We See Online
Tumblr's Porn-Detecting AI Has One Job—and It's Bad at It
All about Tumblr adult ban, alternative platforms, and more (updated as new info arises)
The adult content ban on Tumblr (and elsewhere) disproportionately affects sexual/gender nonconformity? SHOCKER (again, sarcasm mine)
What these “pictures” are saying to me: It’s time to take back control of our content. Re-embrace the decentralized web. As Amanda Palmer puts it, We are the media. I did quit Tumblr. I quit Twitter. I am not quitting Instagram or Facebook (not right now, anyway). Those sites are still powerful communication tools for me. We’ll see…
Patreon is working like gangbusters, particularly as a direct line between myself and the people who want to support what I do. I’ll use it until it no longer serves that function.
And I have sarahatlee.com. This is my house. I will now commence to posting whatever I choose. I don’t care if it makes sense. I don’t care if it’s on brand. I don’t care if you “like” it.
Vaya con carne!
xoxo s