Blogged down in bogs
I have recently been researching newsletter/blog platforms for something I am working on. I want to start writing more about how the entanglements of environment and society effect the climate crises. This idea has been fermenting in my head for some time now. In fact I think it was during the covid pandemic when me and a friend joked about starting a website where we could share factual information to our conspiracy minded parents unbeknownst to them. The problem was that back then I was a dum dum who didn't actually know anything about anything. Not much has changed since then. I am still a dum dum but now I know something about a few things.
So why not just use bearblog? That is a really good question and I still think that is a good option, but I would like to keep this space separate from this other blog/newsletter thing. I like the casualness of bear and want to use it as a space to just write...kinda like this right now. It is actually also for that reason that I still consider bear as the place to write my science/social blog. You see since it will be aimed at people who may not be aware of the connections between society and environment I want to try keep it semi casual. Academic writing can be so bland and I feel injecting a bit of character into the writing might get ideas across better.
Anyway I think I am losing my train of thought here. Let's have a look at what I have found out when diving into the murky waters of newsletter platforms and blog sites. It is all about money and growth. Fuck me it is inescapable. Every video,reddit post or review is about how to maximize your income from the platform. Now let me be honest I do want to make money from this at some point, but not at the ferocity that most people seem to want to. Then there is the cost of the service as well as the ease of use. There appear to so many factors to consider.
I was going to use substack as that is the most popular platform today, but they are a bit sus. Ghost seems like a good option but is expensive to start with and there is limited customization...whatever that means. Most of these sites seem the same to me. There is the option to go the wordpress.org route and own your site. That really appeals to me. This could also be a move away from social media. Again cost and the work needed to maintain your site seems a bit daunting at this point. I am already stressed and low on money so I am going to put a pin in that idea for now. Neocities popped up for a second. It is really cool but I don't have time to figure that out. So I have settled on Beehiiv. It is free to start with and functions similarly to substack.
I went into this just wanting to find an honest review that would suit my needs. Maybe I need to brush up on my google fu but at the end of all this I actually came out with more gaps in my knowledge than I filled in. I also have a healthier disgust for the modern web, although that's most likely due to my anti-capitalist views. I liked the quirkier blogs I found on my recent travels on the net. I also liked some of the modern simple layouts that get the point across. My current plan is this. Use beehiiv and see if I can get any traction and once I reach the limit of the free service then either upgrade or migrate to my own site. Somewhere around this point I might monetize posts for 1 schmeckle if that feels right and then see how it goes. Anyway that's what I have to say about that.
PS: I will still post here with my stream of consciousness. I might even upgrade if I find some spare coin down the side of the couch.