Social networks are walled gardens. They are closed networks that restrict how users interact, what they see, and how data flows.

Outside of the walls is the blogosphere. It is diverse and distributed.

If the web is Westeros, social platforms are the Seven Kingdoms, run by mad kings from their Iron Thrones, and the blogosphere is Beyond the Wall. Free folk, wildlings. There are clans that sometimes fight each other and othertimes unite against common enemies.

Just as modern Westeros has some of its roots beyond the wall at Fist of the First Men, the modern Web has some of its roots in the blogosphere.

The Seven Kingdoms (social networks), though at times opulent and tempting, are feudal and exploitative. No place for free folk (bloggers and creators) to live.

A room of one’s own

Facebook is where you post stuff you are okay with your great aunt commenting on. Instagram is where you post pictures of your family, the meal you cooked, and where you went on vacation. Twitter is where you post hot takes. TikTok is where you post dance videos. LinkedIn is where you make stuff up about your job.

Your blog is where you can be you. You post what you want, when you want. Algorithms and mad king tech overlords be damned.

Like Virginia Woolf said, if you want to create art you need a room of your own. On the web that is your blog, at your own domain name. (h/t Joan).

To keep the Game of Thrones references going, I’ll misquote Mance Rayder:

“The freedom to make post my own mistakes was all I ever wanted.” – Mance Rayder.

The blogosphere is where creativity, individuality, and diversity thrive on the web.

Others have already said it better, so I’m going to do what we do here on the open web and link to them: Blogging is punk rock. A personal website is an act of rebellion. The IndieWeb is for everyone. Blogging is an investment in the future of the web. Blogging is infrastructure for thinking. Digital homesteading. Innovation. Discourse.

“Blogging is dead”

People keep claiming blogging is dead. To that I say, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” Inside the Seven Kingdoms you are blind to the world Beyond the Wall. Out here we are living and blogging. Every day my feed reader is full of new interesting blog posts. Some times it is harder to blog than others, but we keep at it.

Check ooh.directory or blogroll.org for examples.

Blogging is very much alive, though it is constantly under threat, just as the web overall is. Some of the threats come from the nature of the closed social networks themselves, Other threats are from government overreach and censorship in some countries, AI, and centralized infrastructure like AWS and Cloudflare.

Where do we go from here?

Hodor!

Hodor! Hold the door against the things that threaten our independent blogosphere and the web in general: Closed networks, billionaires who want to own your content and attention, and AI White Walkers.

We need open standards, better independent blogging tools, and people willing to use them. People willing to step outside the closed networks and post on their own domain.

Unlike Westeros, there’s no Arya Stark in the blogosphere to save the open web. It is up to each of us. Keep blogging. Keep linking. Keep reading feeds. Encourage others to keep blogging, too. The open web depends on it.

Don’t have a blog yet? Set one up with WordPress or Micro.blog. Email me and I’ll help.

See also: Why blog?