I’m considering removing my feed from the social side of Micro.blog. If you want to keep following along, including my daily haiku(!), my RSS feed link features prominently on my site.
@chet Does that mean not posting to the timeline portion here on mb? Sorry, still learning here. If so, I’m half-interested how to do that myself.
@caseyhansen for hosted blogs on Micro.blog, there are basically two products in one. First is your blog. Full RSS support, fast posting, photos, optional audio/video support, custom domain. Micro.blog then attaches that RSS feed to the social network aspect of the site. So I post to my blog, the RSS feed updates, and m.b then throws my post into a social timeline that people can see in the app. This lets you follow other users and reply within micro.blog.
When I go into my account settings and remove my feed, as @jeannie said, my blog still exists, my RSS feed is still live, but my posts no longer show up in the micro.blog timeline and cannot be commented on in Micro.blog. Instead, they just hang out on my website and in my RSS feed.
I joined the service because m.b is a great blog hosting platform (and it’s core business). I came here from the social networks to leave that feedback loop behind. I think that most people here are kind and generous, but I’ve noticed several instances of self-censorship based on my perception of what ideas may or may not be welcomed in this group. Not that people are hostile, but I’ve resolved to not argue with strangers on the internet.
I disabled comments on my other blogs because I want my writing to stand for itself and, to paraphrase Austin Kleon, there isn’t space for comments on the wall in art galleries.
But the great thing is, if you like what I have to say, you can throw my feed into your RSS feed reader or just visit my site and see what I’m up to.
@chet adding your rss, thanks for the heads up. I’m with you on self censorship. It is not often, but frequent enough that I notice.
@aa I’ll be throwing your feed into Feedbin. I really enjoy your stuff.
I like to think of my blog as a personal record for myself, and if I don’t feel free to record what I’m actually thinking, the blog isn’t really serving its purpose.
@chet yep, exactly. I allowed the influence of others to censor my writing back in 2008. I’m only just now recovering (for lack of a better term) from that. It is probably more accurate to say that I have finally realized what happened. In general I’ve been living most of my adult life in fear of saying what I want to say or what should be said. This has had a huge and negative impact on my writing and publishing.
Do what it takes save the blog!
@aa Adherence to the influence of others is one thing and adhering to the standards of the community is another thing and they are easily confused.
I participate in an Apple user community where the consensus seems to be "no politics." This is awkward because sometimes Apple is very political indeed. But there are plenty of places on the Internet to discuss politics.
@chet For me, I like the community here, although I had a few false starts. I'm hosting my blog on wordpress.com. I may move it over to micro.blog if I get tired of all the Wordpress overhead.
I feel like I do something between microblogging and blogging as wordpress defines it. Sure, I do a lot of microblogging but I also write posts that are a few hundred words long. Wordpress seems to be optimized for posts that are THOUSANDS of words long -- too much overhead for my purposes.
@chet Thanks for this. M.b caught my eye as a blog host first, too. I may consider your approach as I’ve already thought twice about posting just because I don’t really want the social aspect to everything I share.
@strandlines @jeannie @chet for me it is a mental hurdle more than anything else. In general I am trying to get away from “feeding” timelines (I.e. social networks) and move back to writing for the sake of writing and publishing for the sake of publishing, and because I can.
@chet Question about Feedbin. How do you get it to infinitely scroll? I'm reading this timeline there and it only loaded half the items. Well I mean I didn't go through all of them at once lol. I'm pretty efficient with screen reader quick nav shortcuts.
@chet I think the Feedbin developer is afraid of me. He won't answer any of my questions on Twitter.
@ladyhope I use Feedbin as the backend for my RSS feeds. I do all of my reading in Reeder, so I’m not sure about the infinity scroll. Ben is pretty good at email, maybe try reaching out to him there.
@chet If you don’t mind my asking: If you don’t want community, why post in public at all? Why not just keep a private journal?
@MitchWagner I’m on Micro.blog for the blog hosting/customization and fast posting. The social timeline is baked in, but the reason I left Facebook/Twitter was to get away from the social aspect of social media. I want to post stuff to my website, that I control, that will be there for as long as I wish, on my terms.
I don’t mind people reading what I post or following along if they enjoy it or find it interesting. What I don’t like is when someone I don’t know comments on what I write and it rubs me the wrong way. I’m not going to be in a bad mood because a stranger on the Internet didn’t like what I posted. It doesn’t happen often here, but it happens.
Almost everyone on micro.blog is nice. I’ve found some cool blogs to follow and met some nice people. That’s great! People having great conversations on here happens all of the time, which is also pretty cool.
I have comments turned off on all of my other blogs, and have for years, because what I write and publish stands for itself.
@chet Thanks for bringing this up and launching this conversation! I came to M.b. thinking it was a Twitter replacement, but I never fully got away from Twitter (at least as a feed for interesting things; I don’t post there nearly as much as I used to). I went on hiatus from M.b. for a number of reasons (including the self-conscious posting thing), and recently returned when I realized I wanted to start blogging again and was tired of monkeying around with my self-hosted Wordpress site—and yet I had this perfectly good M.b. platform.
I didn’t realize you could unlink your feed from the social network here! Not sure I’ll do that with this account, but I definitely will do so with the second M.b. blog (a Catholic commonplace book) I’m setting up in the next week or so. At the very least, it’s heartening to know that I’m not alone being irritated about feeling self-consciousn when it comes to posting.
@garciabuxton the tension with the social timeline has been simmering in me for over a year. I love the m.b blog hosting platform, but the social component had the ability to bring me down to that lousy social network feeling.
Someone posted back in early December about a related "anti-social" approach to m.b, and it really got me back on a track to find a solution.
If you take your feed off of the m.b social timeline, you can still follow yourself in the official apps. Just go to Discover > Search > and type in yourusername.micro.blog.
Will you do me a favor and send me the link to your Catholic common place book blog when you've got it launched? I love reading Catholic blogs.
@chet I will definitely let you know when it's up and running, Chet!
My interest in things of faith has grown substantially over the past six months, and as much as Catholic Twitter can be noxious at times (muting accounts is a godsend!), I've also found it edifying, and it points me to some great reading. That's what has kept me, albeit as a lurker, on Twitter. There are some people of faith here that I follow, but very few (if any) Catholics.
"That lousy social network feeling" sucks. Even in the most welcoming of places, like M.b, it can be hard to get away from it.
@chet Welp, I think that there Catholic blog I mentioned is up: https://rosa-mystica.cc/. Hope you enjoy it.
Also, I've pulled the plug on my timeline here for now. Just to see how it feels. The self-consciousness with posting was getting to me. I'll restore it later if I feel like it.
@garciabuxton thanks! I added the feed to Feedbin. I’ve enjoyed what you posted so far. Is it Micro.blog hosted or somewhere else?
I’m a few weeks removed from the M.b global timeline. The jury’s still out. Everything seems to function, but there have been a few hiccups of posts going into the m.b hosted admin console, but not displaying on the actual blog. I’m now considering re-adding the feed and then using the blocking feature as needed.
@chet did not know that was possible. Won’t change my site and added yours to my Feedbin .. I guess that also means that there could be all kinds of blogs hosted on micro blog that we would never know about unless we knew to go there. New news. Thankyou.
@chet That's a shame! I use RSS but really like the experience of following blogs via my Micro.blog timeline.
@manton I'm sure this has been brought up, but maybe having the ability to disable replies to certain posts would at least discourage that behavior for those who don't want to invite it like @chet?
@kusters disabling replies is an idea. In my experience, Manton is really focused on only adding features that make sense over the long term and that don’t clutter up the dashboard. I like his approach and it’s served the platform well!
Eventually there will be a solution, but for now, there’s workarounds!
@chet Thank you! Rosa Mystica is on Micro.blog, yeah. I tried it on Blot, but I didn't quite click with that platform, and I just never got into posting regularly there. I don't get to post nearly as much as I'd like now, but at least it's a platform where I'm comfortable.
I removed my feed from the timeline a couple of weeks ago, then restored it, then removed it again. I remain on the fence about being permanently off; I like the community here and participate more when my stuff lives on the global timeline. Haven't had any problems lately with things posting to the actual blog. I expect I'll re-add the feed and block, as you describe, in the next few days or week.
I will say that I've liked not being so self-conscious with my posting, though. That's been nice.
@chet Thanks for posting. Something for me to think about too, though it hasn't been an issue for me to this point.
@garciabuxton I hope you don't leave the timeline because you're a White Sox fan. There are so few of us here! I'm always hoping to see a stray post about them floating up my screen.... Hahaha. ;)
@garciabuxton I have a blog on Blot, but you’re right, it’s really hard to post over there.
I’m going to see if blocking is enough. I definitely publish more when I’m on the global timeline, but we shall see.
I guess we’re all just figuring this out!
I really liked the quotes on the Rosary. I need to start viewing it more as really solid meditation and less of how long it will take me to finish.
@grayareas I haven’t run into anyone who’s been intentionally rude, but at the same time, I shouldn’t censor myself because a stranger on the Internet might not like what I have to say. It’s just all part of the creative process.
ICYMI, my feed is back on the Micro.blog global timeline, and my plan is to just use the block feature if something comes up.
@chet I self censor on m.b., and don't on Twitter. I get angry about politics and other emotional issues a lot, but the people here are so nice I want to spare them.
@yorrike I appreciate your self-awareness! We all need a bit more of that. I think of my blog as a permanent record of my thoughts/ideas/views/opinions. So it’s good that I’m aware of how the things that I post may affect others (and cause me to re-tool and improve the quality of my post). At the same time, my blog is the absolute last place that I should be afraid of posting something.
@grayareas Ha! And if there’s any time to go on publicly about being a White Sox fan, it’s now! That may very well push me back to the timeline sooner rather than later. 😉
⚾️ Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12! Whee!
@chet I post the Rosary stuff to remind myself of that very thing. Those most fruitful times in prayer arise when I don’t think about the time involved. ☺️
You’re helping to motivate me to post more there; thank you!
Glad I’m not the only one who found Blot challenging. With all the talk here about how simple it seems to be, I thought I was just being dense. (I’m probably dense, anyway, now that I think about it.) Anyway, I’m happy to have the straightforward platform here.
@cm I like this idea a lot. I don’t think it’d clutter things up too much to provide a way to keep an individual post off the timeline if one so chooses.
@chet @garciabuxton Exactly, Chet. I think Blot’s wonderful, but I’ve found that when I’m microblogging links, short bits of text, or photos, I generally want to do that on iOS. Without a Blot app on my phone, I’m less likely to blog during my downtime, which I’ve grown to love.
@garciabuxton I love blot.im for the "There! I said it!” ability to vent. Some of what I say there would reek of divisiveness over here.
So maybe your not getting into blot.im reflects that you’re a nicer, less conflicted person than I am.