Hello World – Idyllic Blog Post

I started writing on the Internet back when free web space didn’t exactly mean you were going to be mined for personal data or be a content creating laborer for a giant multinational. For those with the adequate devices and Internet services, there was welcome space to test out writing skills, upload pictures or experiment with HTML and CSS. Using the services was often coupled with learning about them, and the bar for becoming proficient wasn’t too high (creating static pages is still not that tricky in 2019, and it’s a skill worth maintaining). Actual computer ownership still excluded many people from engaging, but, once you had the tools and a short education, you were a cyber citizen. I saw it all as a peaceful civil space akin to the one John Perry Barlow demanded to keep free from tyrannical governments in “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”.

I’m not sure where we’re at now with freedom of self-expression and censorship, but I feel settled about posting on hosting that I set up myself, that I purchase with my own money, that I can monitor easily. I had always been comfortable with WordPress, having maintained a blog for years though letting its hosting lapse in 2016. I’m using that platform here and re-acquainting with its place in open software and online publishing.

So, once again, “Hello, world!”