You might ask me why im making the switch from getrevue to paragraph.xyz.
Well, I can tell you that it's because of a few reasons. Firstly, before I had paragraph, I was using getrevue, which was cool in terms of features but it felt clunky at times and can be slow...
The algorithm has no real rhythm at all!
It's not human, and it's not predictable. The algorithm is a black box—a mystery—and if you put your trust in it, you'll be disappointed with the results. It can't be trusted!
I love the idea of it - and I’ve tried. But I hate the way my emails get trapped in subscribers' inboxes. I hate that they live or die based on whether or not they get opened and that that can be determined to a great extent by an algorithm over which I have no control.
I want my readers to know what to expect when they open up an email from me, so they know where I am in relation to their relationship with me as a writer and creator.
I've never been a fan of writing a traditional blog either
The blog is where ideas go to die. It’s where any meaningful signal is drowned out by noise. It’s where we are now as a society: rambling inanely on social media and hoping people will listen because they need something to fill their timeline with content so they can turn off their brain for another 10 minutes before bedtime, or because they just want to feel good about themselves by getting likes & comments from their friends (or strangers).
The blog is where ideas go to die, washed up in a sea of sameness, where any meaningful signal is drowned out by noise.
There’s a lot at stake here. The future of the internet, for one thing. But also the future ownership and control of our ideas, our data—and ourselves. The only way I can think of to do this is to find more ways to enjoy digital sovereignty.
I want to own my ideas and my data so they can’t be taken from me or shared against my will—or at least not without my consent in writing (which can be revoked). I don’t want anyone else owning them either—not corporations like Google or Facebook or Amazon; not governments (we have laws against that); and certainly not hackers or criminals who might try stealing them for their own gain (hackers are people too).
I dont want anyone to own my ideas OR my data
I want to own my data. I want to control who sees my ideas, and when and how I share them.
Where we are now as a society, surveilled and mined for our every waking thought, is so far from where we should have been. This is why we need to find more ways to own and control what we do online. We don’t exist only at the whim of advertising algorithms - we should be free to share our ideas on our terms.
I’m not just talking about using this platform to create your own content, though it’s certainly a great option if you want to do that. You can also use paragraph.xyz as a reader and consumer of other people's content, like me!
When I started using paragraph.xyz, I was worried that my articles would never reach an audience without having to pay extra or share my personal information with advertisers. However, paragraph.xyz has been able to solve these problems by giving everyone access to the same tools and opportunities for success as those who are willing to give up their privacy in order to get ahead (more on this later).
paragraph.xyz solves these problems in an elegant way
Paragraph.xyz is a new way to write and discuss ideas. It combines the best parts of web2 (file sharing, version control) with web3 (an easy-to-use interface for creating content) in an elegant way.
It combines all the convenience of email with all the power of web3 - all tied together with a beautiful user interface, packed with features like embeddable images, videos and gifs, real-time commenting, voting, link previews, and more.
Conclusion
It’s hard to imagine email newsletters being as big a part of our world if they hadn’t been introduced in 1993. They were an easy way for us to communicate with other people online, and they helped shape the internet into what it is today. But times have changed: with all this data about who we are and what we like being collected on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, we no longer need to keep sending emails from our own accounts. In fact, it might be better if we didn't!
Expect my next entry next Wednesday, and every Wednesday after that.
To Peace + Prosperity,
--Art (@artacrobat)
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