Category: sethwCategory: sethw

From the ‘Butch Is Not A Dirty Word’ Kickstarter:

“Our entire library lives scattered across platforms we don’t control — where every algorithm tweak and policy shift edges us closer to erasure.

If our Instagram disappeared tomorrow, ten years of work and community memory would vanish with it.”

We can’t trust the tech-bro platforms. This is why we must build our own websites and platforms that we control, outside of the greedy claws (and watchful eyes) of the Unholy Trinity.

“We’re divesting from Big Tech and building our own independent digital archive — a permanent home for a decade of history, built by us and belonging to us.”

Social media can act as an outpost, a billboard, but don’t let it become your home. I like to say that we meet our fellow freaks and weirdos at the food court at the mall, but then we grab dinner and head back to our bedrooms and back porches, to our own spaces free of corporate influence and control.

An email showed up with a photograph of a moose, sent to me and three other smart, talented, whimsical folks. The subject line was “moose mail.”

It’s been a month of occasional life updates, venting, supporting. The whole time we’re like, “what is this?”

Maybe community doesn’t need to be on a platform, or require another login and password. Maybe community can show up in our inbox. Maybe it can’t scale to 8 people or 12 or 100, and that’s okay.

What if scale wasn’t just measured in numbers or reach, but rather depth, trust, and good vibes?

How does community gather without a platform, without a feed, without notifications? I think we know already know the answer, but the Unholy Trinity has done a good job of making us forget.

Maria Popova started Brain Pickings “in 2006 as an email to seven friends.”

The left sidebar is titled “donating = loving,” and goes on to say “If you find any joy, solace, and inspiration here, please consider a donation.”

No tiers, no levels, no free tote bag, no bonus content.

In a recent Zoom call, Shelley told a story about going to the book store, and a kind stranger giving her quarters to buy the kids some books, to which she initially refused. She eventually took the coins, and her daughter told her afterwards, “don’t ever refuse prosperity.”

If we don’t give our readers a chance to donate, we are literally refusing prosperity.

Set up a Buy Me a Coffee account, and Ko-Fi, and a Patreon – why not? Lots of people use different services. To get the ball rolling, let people give you money in a way that’s comfortable for them.

Remind them of their options, send them links on occasion, subtle reminders.

There are people who want to support the work you do in its present form, without extra content or behind the scenes material.

If you enjoy my work, you can buy me a coffee via Ko-Fi, PayPal, Cash App, and Venmo. You can also become a Social Media Escape Club Member here, and buy my HUNTERTHEN music here.

Maybe centralized kingdoms of power are a bad thing, via the ACLU:

“Recently, Apple pulled an app called ICEBlock from the AppStore, making it unavailable in one fell swoop. This app was designed to let people anonymously report public sightings of ICE agents. In the United States people absolutely have a First Amendment right to inform others about what they have seen government officials doing and where — very much including immigration agents whose tactics have been controversial and violent.”

AI slop, censorship, never ending streams of videos – this is what we get from handing over so much of our lives to the unholy trinity.

Social media apps are addictive by design. It’s built to keep you on the their site, in their ecosystem, for as long as possible every waking moment.

Instagram made $69 billion from us last year.
We made nothing.
Our attention is an asset.
Our imagination is their profit.
We create the value.
It’s time to send the bill.

The Meta Invoice creates an invoice to send to Mark Zuckerberg and company, saying:

“Meta Invoice takes the visible traces of your activity — posts, time, audience — and turns them into an invoice for the estimated value you’ve created for Meta.”

Link via Laura.