I was bored the other day when reading a blog post on micro blog about Blot. Blot.im is a blog service where you publish text and images by saving them to a specific folder on Dropbox. I could use write.as and snap.as but I like trying out new things. So I registered Human Tracks, a photo blog with images showing traces of humans in different ways. #blot #blogging
I love this digital way of fast writing that goes online immediately. All I need is my smartphone. All my notes at work (journalist) are digital notes as well. Back in the days I used paper and pens but the transcription part, when the handwriting had to be transformed to digital text, took way too much time so I gave that up. For the same reason I try not to rely too much on recorded interviews. If a record I see the audio file as a backup, I can go back and listen if I missed a detail or if I have to double check something. Sometimes I forget to make good notes during a conversation/interview and that’s always a hassle afterwards. With all that said I start to re-evaluate the analog writing, all handwritten things. There’s something special about it, something that never can be digitalised: the feeling of holding a pen in hand and move it with just the right amount of pressure onto the paper. You create words. And if you get something wrong you will have some problems. It’s very hard to delete words on paper without traces. The handwriting acquire thinking in advance. It’s not always good, quite the opposite actually if you ask me. One of the good things with the kind of writing I’m doing right now is that it’s very direct, I’m hammering down my words to use the expression TMO used in a well written post about blogging the other day. Yesterday I really had to do some thinking before I set down to write. In the first time in many years I wrote a classic enveloped letter to an old friend, a relative that means a lot to me but who I rarely see or talk to. To write a classic letter during Christmas time felt like the right thing to do. It won’t interfere. I hope she’s able to read my handwriting though. Maybe I’ll get a response! When was last time you got a handwritten letter?
I really enjoyed reading this blog post by TMO and the response from Jet Girl. My native language is not English so this would be a more well written thing if I’d done it in Swedish but sometimes I want the WA community (if you could call it that) of bloggers/personal writers to be able to understand what I write. Even if I don’t blog with a goal of making money or reach out to the masses, it is more fun doing it knowing at least someone could read it. I work as a journalist and that kind of writing is supposed to attract audience and in some ways educate. Here, on my personal blog, I write freely (!), about this and that because I want to. Because it makes me feel good. Because a day with writing, even a short note on a subject no other person is interested in, is a better day than a day without writing.
All bloggers out there, keep writing.
I have been off Facebook and Instagram for a while now. I am not going to delete either of the two but I’m interested in how my abscence will affect me. One effect is that I have started to use other services instead. I re-signed up for Micro.blog and Write.as and put some more time into blogging. I also started to post in english, doing Micro.blog in swedish just isn’t fun. Because of that I have been having conversations with complete strangers, nice conversations about this and that. One person I found this way is a Maique. We share the interest of blogging and alternatives to the big tech giants. I have now convinced him to try out Write.as!
I had a give away for pro subscription and I gladly handled it over to him.
In general people are unaware of this great service for super simple blogging and that counts for Micro.blog users as well, even though there are some similarities between the two services. When Write.as is completed with comments Remark.as it will be even better I think.
The one thing I like the most with Write.as is that there’s nothing you have to learn before you can use it. It’s very old school and ”press play on tape”. Open a tab in your browser and write (anonymous if you like) and press publish.