#hellblogging

They seem to have forgotten that this too, like Wordpress, is a BLOGGING platform. Microblogging, yes, and clearly we have a few decidedly "social media" functions that have developed into iconic and viral format quirks, like reblog chains.

But the platform IS still about being able to post whatever you want in YOUR space, whether it's popular or not, whether you have friends into it or not, whether the post is deeply personal or made purely for fun sharing and socializing. It's not a place that was ever optimized or used for competition bc "blogging competitively" isn't something anyone wants to do for fun.

Unlike other social sites, old, untrendy posts consistently get love and interaction here years after they're made because earnest or fun interaction with what we care about, rather than some ratio-motivated competition to make increasingly clever clapbacks, is the backbone of this platform and what keeps people coming back for almost two decades.

I waited to see if anyone else would mention it, but I don't see anyone else freaking out or yelling about it, so I guess I'll be the canary, and you guys can be the miners who suddenly hear me stop singing.

Reblogs on my dash look drastically different today.

I have NO idea who the OP of any single post is;

I have NO idea who the contributors in a reblog chain are;

I see NO user icons except that of the person I follow;

The ONLY other blog name mentioned besides that of the user I follow is the blog they reblogged it from.

This is just the beginning. More changes are coming as we keep building this out – stay tuned!

MORE changes??