Craig Constantine

Long live the indie web, indeed

So, here’s something of a little manifesto or rallying cry:

If you only spend your time on Facebook/Twitter/Medium then stream in, stream out – you’re going to get what you ask for. A fleeting set of stories loosely bound.

So, spend time in the corners of the web. Subscribe to some newsletters. Bookmark some forums and blogs in your browser and show up regularly. It’s hard, there’s no stream. But you’ll start to find the mom & pop internet not the shopping mall internet.

Dabble with your own space. Dabble with your own voice. Own your own platform.

But don’t stop there – own your own distribution too! Build a newsletter. Build a messenger bot to alert people to new posts. Build your own stream. Create a shared delusion of showing up regularly.

Long live the indie web.
~ Tom Critchlow, from Indie Blogging & Distribution

slip:4utoii1.

I was a frequent user of the Internet before the web. Today is vastly better than then. The web straight up kicks ass, and the web is not just alive and well, it’s flourishing. If you aren’t seeing great content, you simply haven’t yet figured out where to look for it. Go look. (Right after you go read the above, of course.)

Keeping it weird

March 18

In summary – I believe you should be publishing something to the web, maybe an esoteric spreadsheet, perhaps an open source javascript library, a deep dive into semantic analysis of your favorite author? Who knows? Publish, but keep it weird and humble.
~ Tom Critchlow, from An alternative to the bullshit industrial complex

slip:4utobu1.

It’s probably confirmation bias, but I definitely agree with this sentiment. The internet enables an endless array of things. For me it’s mostly about me being enabled to share what I’m creating. Weird? Definitely. Humble? …uh, okay okay still working on that.

It’s not you, it’s me

December 31

Life is rich and colorful but to justify the habit you tell yourself that your phone will somehow be more interesting. This is an excuse. If you’re bored by the situation you’re in it’s your own damn fault.
~ Tom Critchlow, from The Art of Being Switched On

slip:4utote1.

Yes, absolutely. There are levels to this art of being switched on. First is to be come self-aware enough to notice that you are generally off. Second, being able to notice in the moment when you are off. Third, being on. Fourth—and this makes the first three seem easy—being truly happy when others around you are switched off.

Small-b blogging

March 23, 2018

Small b blogging is learning to write and think with the network. Small b blogging is writing content designed for small deliberate audiences and showing it to them. Small b blogging is deliberately chasing interesting ideas over pageviews and scale. An attempt at genuine connection vs the gloss and polish and mass market of most “content marketing”.
~ Tom Critchlow from, Small b blogging

slip:4utosa1.

…and of course, my having just linked to him is one the affect he’s talking about (among several others.)

Zooming out: This reminds me to get back to writing. Several months ago, I began an intentional hiatus from writing every day… and I really miss it. Hop to it, Craig!