So. There’s gonna be some changes around here.
1. Blogging.
If you are reading this on the LiveJournal side, as 99.99 percent of you are, you aren’t going to notice a thing, except maybe the absence of the “originally published at” dealie at the bottom of the page. For some time now, I have been keeping this blog on my WordPress website and cross-posting it to LiveJournal. Which has never worked properly; it has always required several extra steps for me to get it to post correctly on LiveJournal.
So I looked at the numbers. In 307 posts, I’ve received 24 comments on the website–which is actually 12, because half of them would be my answers. That’s 12 legitimate comments; also, there are 3,780 spam comments.
In other words, very nearly all of my activity is over on LiveJournal. That’s also where I keep up with my friends. So I’m just going to post there, and leave out this step.
I’ll still keep my website active, with publications and appearances (just updated it today, in fact). But I’ve changed the front page to point to the LiveJournal blog, and I’ll add a small entry atop this one to that effect, as my final post here.
2. Micro-Whatever Stuff.
I’ve got a Twitter account and a Facebook account. I use them sporadically at best, ignoring them for weeks at a time. Then feeling guilty about it. This morning I have finally owned up to the reality: the tiny, tiny limits just don’t work for me. Micro-writing is not my style. I end up posting cryptic, contextless stuff; then people respond to it, trying to engage; I don’t answer; I feel guilty. So, enough of that. I’ve posted a notice on Facebook directing everyone to LiveJournal; I’m just going to leave Twitter be. I do not naturally write short and pithy.
3. Focus.
What I am going to do, as far as the computer is concerned, is focus on two things: writing fiction, and keeping my blog. I realize that the world is leaving me behind, that everyone is moving smaller and smaller, that blogging is passe, whatever. Fine. I do not need to be cutting-edge. I’ve never been; why start now? I don’t even watch television. I am so far out of the loop, I can’t even see the loop. I’m good with that. I don’t need the distraction of all the other social media, or the guilt I feel for neglecting them.
This feels very freeing.
4. Finally, A Note:
If you are one of my friends on LiveJournal, and your only posts are those daily aggregates of your tweets, I will probably not de-friend you, but I will be filtering you out.
Simplify, simplify.