In January of this year I made a conscious decision to stop contributing to and supporting decentralized social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The only exception I’ve made LinkedIn, because I have to be on that platform for my what I do for a living. I used to believe that these decentralized social networks needed to exist. I used to believe that the good outweighed the bad. My opinion now is is that we’ve proven that belief to be false. We’ve done more harm than good when you consider the polarization and hatred that’s happening across our world. People are reinforcing their beliefs at an alarming rate, while being force fed pre-chewed information by secret algorithms that play to our confirmation biases.
I can honestly tell you that quitting corporate social media has made a dramatic improvement in my life. But do not just take my word for it, check out this article published earlier this year by the New York Times.
Many of my friends, family, and colleagues have asked if I’m going to write elsewhere and if so, how can they follow me. Encouraged by these questions, and still wanting to continue to write and share ideas, I opted to go with the IndieWeb, an alternative to the “corporate web”. Being a nerd who grew up in the era of RSS readers, I thought I would simply encourage folks to subscribe to my micro.blog via RSS. After many blank stares and questions asking what RSS is I decided that option would not work. My husband was right when he said “Leah no one uses RSS anymore, you need a newsletter”. So I have created a monthly newsletter called Rare View Mirror. I would be honored if you signed up. Upon subscribing you’ll receive a monthly email comprised of my own writings as well as stuff I find curious. Topics will be varied and a mix of personal and professional topics, but likely leaning more on the personal, so please take what you want and leave the rest.
Online privacy is a big deal to me, so don’t worry about me sharing your information. Time and focus are also big deals to me, so I will not send you spam, ads, promotions, or anything along those lines.
If you know of anyone who would dig this newsletter, please forward this to a friend or family member and encourage them to subscribe. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
The April 2019 edition of Rare View Mirror will be published next week. Reach out and tell me what you think. I welcome all feedback and would love to hear to your thoughts and ideas.
