Why does this site exist?
Recent events and changes to on-line services had me thinking about my continued usage of those communities and services. For ten years or so, I’ve used Facebook for basic communication with friends and acquaintances. When Facebook first opened up to those of us who had left college, I also used it for a few longer bits of writing in their old “Notes” section, which I believe still exists but is basically unsupported buried in a maze of settings and links. As Facebook deemphasized Notes, I moved to a Tumblr text blog for my longer pieces of writing, usually on games. Over the past few months, I’ve decided continued use of both platforms was unsustainable.
I’ll begin with Tumblr, their most recent changes, and the most direct reason I decided to create my own place. During the week of December 3, 2018, Tumblr announced they were removing all “adult content” as of December 17, 2018. My blog about video games there was “adult content” so far as I get occasionally (i.e. usually) profane when ranting about something that’s upset me, and I want to reserve for myself the right to discuss “mature” topics such as the portrayal of sex in games, gender treatment in the art and industry - I want to reserve the right to discuss games, politics, and their intersection as art and society. These new changes at Tumblr don’t necessarily prevent that, but they’re part of a broader turn in American society attempting to exert more control on the free expression of sexuality and sexual identity. These changes come as a direct reaction to conflict between Tumblr and Apple over an incident of Tumblr-hosted child pornography; the response to this is to better and far more aggressively moderate your site’s hosted content, not to ban things including “female-presenting nipples.” These changes signaled it was time to finally move on from Tumblr. Facebook is similar, but thornier.
Facebook is a bad company run by bad people. For evidence, see this profile of Mark Zuckerberg in The New Yorker and this article about Facebook’s reaction to increased scrutiny in the New York Times (paywalls may apply depending on prior usage of these sites this month). IF you can read either of those and think this is a company led by people who act in anything other than bloodless self-interest despite their rhetoric of making a friendlier, more connected world, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. There are a host of reasons to disengage or leave Facebook altogether, but another compelling reason for me is that I want to write longer pieces in addition to short, punchy “status update” type things AND I want to reach an audience who’s interested. That means getting away from Facebook’s algorithm and taking control over not just what I say, but who can see it. And I want that to be anyone who’s interested.
So I’m not leaving Facebook behind completely - at least not yet. The sad fact is, it’s still probably the best way to get the word out about this shift to my new blog, and I will still use Messenger for the time being to communicate with a few friends and, most crucially, my Gloomhaven group. But ultimately I want a place that’s mine, and that the people who are reading are invested, or at least interested enough to pop over to this site.
I promise I’ll try to make it entertaining and worthwhile. Welcome to Hoerig Online.
(Name subject to change?)
“But ultimately I want a place that’s mine, and that the people who are reading are invested, or at least interested enough to pop over to this site.
I promise I’ll try to make it entertaining and worthwhile.”