I can’t remember what I’ve done the past little while LOL. So I’m just going to share what I’m doing. It’s been a little while since I’ve written one of these.
I lost interest in working on my site for awhile, because honestly, I’ve been a bit conflicted about what I’m going to do with it. But I have finally decided to make the transition off of WordPress and create a static site, which is going to take awhile and be pretty bare bones for a bit but, I’ll gradually work on it. I’m doing this for multiple reasons. The first and foremost being, I’ve reflected a lot on my site getting hacked this year and have been going back and forth on how I can make my site more secure so that doesn’t happen again. In the end, having a static website is more secure because there isn’t really a backend to be able to hack into. It’s also a lot easier to make backups of. But also, I rely on a lot of plugins for functionality on my site. I don’t like having to rely on so many third parties in order to keep my site working how I want it to, mainly because if one plugin ever stops getting maintained, it’ll ruin functionality and it’ll be a pain to deal with. On the other hand though, having a static website will take away a lot of functionality, such as having the ability for people to comment on posts or being able to host my own guestbook.
I guess I’ve thought about it long enough to feel like having a secure website and having everything be all my own is worth the cost of giving up some convenience.
I started working on a static site on Neocities. I’m going to be hand drawing my graphics, which is pretty cool and obviously, very different from what I had in the past. I had a season where I did have a lot of fun experimenting with AI and what it can do. New technology is fun to play with and I think I’ve experimented with it in most of the stereotypical ways by now. I’m happy I got to experience it, but I feel like I’m entering into a new season now too. I’m not anti-AI, I’ve always seen two sides to AI – the side that can help humanity and be an amazing tool, and the side that can be destructive. But, now that I’ve experienced it and learned quite a bit, I feel like I have a clearer picture of the role I want it to play in my life, and how I should/shouldn’t use it. I want to use it more mindfully and in ways I know don’t support data centers, mass surveillance, and harming people or local wildlife. I’ve made a lot of shifts this year I feel really proud of myself for, AI aside, I’ve deleted my Google account! I’ve officially deleted myself off all mainstream social media as of a couple months ago. The only one I can’t kick is Facebook, because I craft and make a surprising amount of sales from FB marketplace. If it weren’t for Marketplace, I would have no attachment to the platform. Meta is probably one of the worst ones out there though unfortunately, but, I know where my line is. It’s only a matter of time before they start requiring government issued ID in order to use social media, so once that time comes, I’ll be off Meta too. Until then, I’ll also do my best to use it mindfully and strictly for business, keeping my personal life separate from it.
Anyways, it might be awhile before I get my static site in a really usable place. I have several craft markets to prepare for for the holiday season, and, I’ve become ridiculously addicted to CozyWeb. I’ll be up til like 3:30 in the morning just working on my lil house and sending people trinkets. I’m obsessed. xD My static site will get more love and attention in December once my markets are all finished and I can focus more time into working on it. Until then, stay tuned. 🙂
This is exactly where I am! WordPress is really easy to “just write” and it’s pretty and out in the world. But also… the pretty site looks like everyone else’s pretty site! I love all the variety on the indie web. It’s refreshing.
I was finally able to fully delete my FB this year after leaving a job that required me to manage a business page.
I wonder how online sales are going to change moving forward with AI search and such…
I agree, WordPress is easy but it does kind of hold you back a bit from everything that could be possible!
That’s amazing you were able to delete your Facebook! That’s definitely one of the more difficult ones to get rid of for sure. If it weren’t for their marketplace feature I’d easily be off it too. I used to use Etsy but even they are getting to be pretty bad. They recently changed their TOS under the “Rights You Grant Etsy” section that basically says that if you use Etsy, then they and anyone else they authorize can do absolutely whatever they want with your content and you can’t do anything about it – including but not limited to using seller’s content to develop, train, test and improve artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Etsy was kind of my fallback plan if I ever left Facebook, but after that they aren’t anymore. I’ll never use Etsy again. I always thought it would be nice if Flohmrkt took off as a solid local and global marketplace alternative. It kind of feels like most big companies are getting really corrupted and going against their userbases right now. Something more grassroots that can support e-commerce would be nice.