The Gathering Clouds

A dark sky over Old Boat Sheds - Lindisfarne, Northumberland

Last week I got a message to say that my Tumblr blog had reached the grand old age of thirteen years old. I have to admit the number seemed slightly surreal as I looked at it. Then again, this blog will be even older soon with the blog becoming eighteen years old at the end of February. All of my blogs have benefited from relatively calm and save foundations to build on by the blogging platforms. As we've seen recently though, change might come down the line at any time from the large digital overlords in future years. When it comes to the blogs I like to think that I will have the time and options to move them somewhere save if needed. That's what I hope at least.

The same can't be said about social media though. The recent revelations about changes to fact checking at Facebook, Instagram and Threads (USA only at the moment but still worrying) have made me consider my future social media yet again. The last time was when Twitter started changing into the monster that it is now, some eighteen months ago. I made the decision to deactivate the last of my Twitter accounts in November. With some fourteen years of use, over 3000 followers and a once great source of photography news, all a distant memory long before I hit the kill button, I'm just wondering if I'll have to do the same with Instagram and Threads.

In the end, it's about investment. Our time, effort and content. We store our lives on these platforms only for something or someone to move the goalposts years down the line; a change of owner or leadership, economic instability, politics, terms of service etc. Something always changes. Maybe the calculation from Meta etc is that people won't leave these platforms when they are too invested. People live their lives - good and bad - through these social media platforms, not to mention make money as businesses. Too many posts. Too much history. Too established. Leaving is just out of the question! 

Personally I am no longer willing to invest that kind of time and effort into another new social media platform. Back in August 2023, I wrote on the Darker Skies blog my thoughts about Twitter and the changes that were taking place there at the time. Nearly two years later and I'm still of the same mind. My conclusion was that the blog or website should be where I focus my efforts rather than invest too much in a platform that keeps wanting my content and yet I have no control over. I still agree with that conclusion. For now I just intend to keep a close eye on things, see what happens and make a decision as and when. That's all I can really do.