First post
Why should I start a blog? Why would anyone?
I think many of you would agree that the experience of using the internet has deteriorated since 2005. I like bearblog because it harkens back to an earlier, simpler time -- before algorithms were designed to shovel outrage-bait in my face with every refresh. Back then a person's blog was a window into their world.
Related to the above: I think the major social media sites are basically unusable now. So much of the web is a wasteland, overrun with ads and bots but devoid of organic human activity.
Despite this, I still want to have a personal presence online. I would, for instance, like to collect my online writings in a single place. I maintained a reddit account for many years, and wrote extensively there; though I deleted the account, I do not want those texts to be lost.
And beyond that, I have written things that no one else has ever read. I have so many things in my drafts folder -- thoughts, experiences, stories -- which will otherwise never see the light of day.
I admit I have a bit of fear about my writing being stolen, or used to train AI. But I fear leaving words unexpressed more than I fear being plagiarized.
Even if no one reads this, I am grateful for the space to unload my thoughts. I find that expression is the cure to rumination, and for me, expression takes the form of the written word.