the [most recent] digital diaspora
responding to people asking me 'where are you migrating to?'... kinda ;)
hey all,
well, damn. may you live in interesting times, indeed.
i’ve had a few people reach out to ask me where i’m moving my online presence as huge swathes of people evacuate the metaverse. i don’t have a quick or simple answer (when do i ever?!), but thought i’d at least share a bit of where my thinking is at currently.
thanks to those who have asked over the last few weeks, it means a LOT. i really miss writing and being more connected and active through words (and the rest), but i’ve lost all confidence with my voice/taking up space in the world. each post i make anywhere brings up numerous internal challenges which i’m still learning how to navigate. hearing that people *want* to maintain access with any of my blatherings is a precious gift for me, seriously, thank you. and while the confidence is still wavering, the desire to speak again is increasing… so i’m hopeful this self-imposed silence won’t last forever… whether it’s digital or not. we all need community, myself included, and that’s not always an easy or accessible thing. losing it has been hard. repairing it, or finding new belongings, is complex.
in order to attempt to keep some form of connection pathways open, i’m keeping an @feesable account open everywhere (except tw. it killed me to kill that - it was my platform of choice for a very long time). i am findable, at least for a while.
i haven’t decided whether i’m gonna kill my metaverse entirely, or keep a limited version of some of it. and given social media has been inextricably tangled with my (unsure-if-dead??) near-30yr connection with creative digital culture, and i’m a chronic data hoarder… there is a LOT of archival to do - or seriously consider before hitting delete. that kind of admin really doesn’t sit well with Executive Dysfunction, there’s a lot of grief around my old career, and all my old websites are in disarray generally… so it’s complicated stuff. and besides, i have far more pressing (and hopefully, resourcing) physical-world shifts to attend to, for now. if current plans pan out, a LOT is gonna change for me.
i’m not posting anywhere actively, so inactivity doesn’t mean i’m not there at all. i’m still occasionally checking in to various platforms (or rather, specific people), but for my own wellbeing i’m not immersing like i used to. that feels better all round. i really do recommend that anyone struggling with similar overwhelm focus on a handful of excellent voices who summarise complexity well (starting with Rebecca Solnit’s new blog), and leave it there. focus on what you need, and what you *can* do, no matter what its scale. this is not a sprint. self and communal care are radical acts.
substack does seem to be where a lot of good people have chosen to move, and i might stay here for the network reach it brings. unfortunately the developers have chosen some dubious ethics in the past (unsure where they sit currently), so i prefer ghost.io… tho haven’t been posting there for a long time either.
when i do publish, i’m a longform writer who seeks a kind of deepdive convo that i’ve found to be mostly lacking on socials; blogs feel more logical to me accordingly. whatever i decide, online or off, it’ll be a boundaried space with as much safeguarding as i am able to provide. all that takes a lot of social energy, which i don’t have much of, and i’m not yet set up to recharge efficiently. and while a bunch of stuff keeps tugging at me tantalisingly (see #10), i’ve committed to not doing everything all on my own anymore. i’m too old and (now) too aware of burnout to knowingly do that to myself yet again.
i’ve been reluctant to turn my writing into a service for a very long time. i have never charged anyone to read anything i’ve written, and i’m still deeply uncomfortable with that whole idea. but… if i am going to publish more again, i might well have to face that discomfort with more realistic eyes. and equally, i might decide the digital world isn’t where my limited energies are best invested anymore/for now. once i get a few life-admin ducks in a slightly more row shaped thing, i hope to be better equipped to face those dichotomies more attentively.
if i’m staying digital in any form: ALL tech is at risk of being co-opted by dubious players, so i much prefer decentralised networks (i’m @feesable.toot.wales on mastadon for now, and i’ve almost finished archiving my insta to pixelfed, for a start). i suspect bsky will go the same way as the rest of the dudebros eventually (regardless of their current decentralised rhetoric). even though it seems to be many people’s platform of choice, i’m not keen to waste energy i don’t have trying to rebuild there, only for it to go the same way. it took decades to build what i had, and it’s depressing to start again when i’m not even sure social media is where i want and need to be. then again… 30years of living through the coalface of international emerging tech trends and cultural shifts hold their own kinds of vantages and value, and social media/online culture may well swerve into new and better places from this calamity. hmm.
depending on what i decide to do next for my own work/expression, combined with wherever my internal life and external sociopolitical shifts lean, it might not be very wise for me to publicly shout about where i’ve gone. but if i’m aware you want to know, i will do my very best to update you. hence this post, really.
for an indicator of the spectrum of my interests these days: the more that Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity are under attack, the more i’m pulled to be part of the movements which serve to defend and re-establish those rights, and help make them even stronger than before. i strongly believe we’re in the midst of an unacknowledged global trauma pandemic underlying everything going wrong in the world. i’ve (unfortunately!?) learned a lot about how to navigate trauma personally and communally. i don’t believe we have a rat’s chance of repairing or rebuilding anything while we continue to deny that trauma exists, or refuse to address its crisis (this might well become the hill i die on, tho i sadly just got rejected for a book pitch about it). i’ve done a lot of work around Safeguarding, and have a strong interest in Conflict Resolution. those all sit very well together - IF i can find ways to make them work with my needs, and can find suitable collaborators/supports to make them more fun/less self-destructive. however… i’d also started retraining in coppicing and green woodworking a while back… the dream of running away to the woods has its own attraction, and its own challenges. there’s a lot to ponder.
lol, told ya it wasn’t a quick or simple answer ;)
if you’ve moved and want to let me know where you now are, drop me a line. and if you need anything, even if i can’t help you myself i might be able to direct you to people who can. there are so many excellent folk out there moving mountains right now, mad respect to all of them.
what’s happening in America is staggering, and has impacts far beyond its shores. the threats are very real, but these entitled bullies are very much in the minority - no matter how intimidating they’re currently feeling, or how much money they’re throwing around. they ONLY have money. we have so very much more.
stay safe, stay connected, stay strong.
x
someone asked me for direct suggestions of people or platforms. here's what i shared:
i wouldn't say there's a single platform, i mostly go by particular people (who often occupy various platforms but can do different things with them). having said that, insta does feel like the most active, if you had to choose just one (i know it's still metaverse, but...)
personally i seek out diverse voices, particularly neuroqueer, trans and BBIMP (Black Brown Indigenous and Melanated Peoples) so they might not be precisely what you're looking for, but i'll share them anyway!
i mentioned Rebecca Solnit in my post, who (if you're not already following) is a fantastic author, journalist, and commenter. she just began a new blog where she's planning on migrating her various facebook pieces so she can spend less time on fb. that's http://meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io but search for Rebecca anywhere, her work is very well known - for good reason! she also links to anyone she regularly reads, so rabbitholes abound from there if you want to go deeper (she reposts Heather Cox Richardson a lot, who's another great US Politics summariser). she wrote a book called Hope in the Dark years ago that i often gift people who work in social justice ;)
i adore @ykreborn on insta (also has several other accounts elsewhere), they're a neuroqueer Korean/American gender nonconforming person who demonstrates exemplary boundarying around their community, along with rich and valuable social justice work (tech security, finding your local connections for direct action [mostly USA/Korean based], trans/activist rights, all that stuff)
@adriennemareebrown is another author/activist, Black and queer, who's been doing incredible personal and communal care practices work for decades, active on multiple platforms. she wrote Pleasure Activism and Emergent Strategy (the latter becoming an institute...), amongst others. amazing work.
@MisanHarriman is a breath of fresh, caring, articulate and powerful air. he's a Black photographer (known for his BLM documentation) and is Chair of Southbank Arts Centre. extremely soft spoken, does video more than text. he recently disclosed he's autistic (including a very raw and beautiful post about what that means for him). everything he posts feels like a soothing tincture. love him.
those are the four who i reach for the most these days (and suggesting any more might feel even more overloading for now!). i've favourited them all on insta, so sometimes i just open the app, read any of their pieces from the top of my list, and close the app again.