As I’ve been setting up my site here, bit by bit, I’ve realized just how fragmented my Internet presence has become. There was one place for short snippets, which started out as a fun place for jokes and turned into a place that’s become a bullhorn for fascists. There was another place for personal photos and occasional “real life” friends to interact with. There was another place to keep track of the books I was reading. There was yet another place for photos. And still another place for maybe sharing some video I liked or a song or a quote.

It reached a point where my personal website, where I had blogged steadily for years, became a place that simply pointed someone any which other way. And as those other sites began to show very clear downsides, I either stopped using them (while maintaining my account) or quit them entirely.

What makes writing on the Internet compelling, and indeed what got me into blogging in the first place, was just how little the concept of “niche” actually mattered. We weren’t interested in anything other than a chance to explore our own ideas, and along the way we discovered community.

This brings me back to today, and why I’m happy to have found a new, simple place to write on the Internet. What’s struck me about writing here, on my own site again, is that there’s one home for everything. Photos I want to share can be found here. Small thoughts or ideas can be found here. Longer posts, where I flesh out ideas and then build on them (or refute them) over time, can be found here. Books I read and want to reflect on, podcasts which captivate me, others’ ideas who inspire me.

In this space, I can think out loud, and engage in a conversation with integrity and focus, know that my contributions support a platform so that it won’t sell my identity to the highest bidder. In my own small way, I can do my part to help heal the Internet.