#wordpress vip

I started a WordPress blog only this year, but I fell in love with it instantly.

It was a careful decision, after a long period of deliberation between several different content management sites, but I chose WordPress because I felt that it had long-lasting capability in an ephemeral fast-paced internet. I've seen so many sites designed to host static content (like what I plan to post) change drastically and wither up and die, and I wanted a sustainable long-term archive for my life's work (fiction-writing, and writing articles about writing-craft) that I love so much.

Of course, WordPress even surpassed my initial expectations! I'm able to craft my blog ('The Notebook') to have that homemade Web 2.0 feel without being forced to add too many intrusive features that make me and my visitors uncomfortable. I can post my book reviews there to connect with my beloved book club even several hundred miles away from everyone else. My original recipe for biscuit cake with a biscuit base with can finally be seen and baked by the rest of the world too.

I love this product so much, but I'm concerned about its future now. I unexpectedly find myself doubting that initial decision to choose WordPress – and so soon after choosing it. Because it now looks *far* more unstable, more disreputable, more unsustainable than it has always been.

CEO Matt had always been quiet and inoffensive before, as good CEOs for sustainable long-term products that want to remain stable on the modern internet should be. But recently, he has taken to acting in an erratic, concerning way.

People have been losing trust in Automattic en-masse because of his immature cross-platform tantrums and alarming violations of data privacy laws – all in response to an issue that his product was at fault for; for its faulty, archaic automated content moderation system and appeal system. The flaws are gaping, and it's appalling for the most obvious of them to not even be acknowledged.

I implore you to take corrective action, at the very least to save Wordpress from sinking with this ship Matt is determined to go down with. Even if you dump this hellsite, poor WordPress is still going to be stuck with that idiot. Make the interim CEO permanent if you have to. WordPress means so much more than this, means so much to me, and has so much value that it's not worth losing.

You other platforms can't deny That when a load time's more than an itty bitty wait And your boss is in your face You get...

The idea. 😏

-----------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to our series about the VIPs who make WordPress VIP such a special web platform, and an even better place to work. First up: Ryan Sholin (he/him)!

Q: What is your role at WordPress VIP?

A: Hey there, I’m Ryan Sholin, Head of Technology Partnerships. I help big technology companies and folks making cool stuff in the WordPress ecosystem find each other to solve problems for our enterprise customers.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working at Automattic?

A: The people! The benefits! The culture! OK, trick answer, I guess, because they’re all kinda the same thing. When I joined Automattic in 2017 to work on WordPress VIP in a “Growth Engineering” role, it was because I knew I loved remote work, and wanted to do it somewhere built around it. Automattic’s distributed team—and the culture that’s grown up around it—proved to be a great fit for me, personally and professionally.

Q: What’s your favorite Tumblr meme?

Errrrrrrrr, so, funny story. I definitely signed up for Tumblr when it was new and have used Tumblr before, even for some topical sideblogs, but then I disappeared for a dozen years or so into the vast wilds of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. These days I’m off two of those and keep the third private, so I’m back-on-Tumblr this year. 

Which means my meme knowledge is limited, but “blorbo from my shows” is a good match for how I feel about the references that I do get. 

Q: Who would win in a fight: pizza, aliens, or crabs?

A: Easy. Crabs. There are more crabs than people think. Lotta crabs. So many crabs. Be wary around crabs, people. Crabs.

Q: Do you have a Tumblr where these fine folks can follow you?

A: Sure, I’m stubbornly public on social networks until I’m not, so you can follow me at @ryansholin (ryansholin.tumblr.com), where I’m theoretically mostly actually blogging about a music project, but in reality I’m also reblogging some art and film and music stuff that I find inspirational. It’s a mood board for middle-aged dudes getting into synths.

Did you know WordPress VIP is part of the Automattic family (like Tumblr), run by @photomatt? So it’s about time we joined the #Twexit party and hopped on the Tumblr train. What is WordPress VIP, you ask? Well, we like to compare it to a mullet (hence our avatar). Business in the front, WordPress in the back. 

Built on a solid enterprise-grade foundation, WordPress VIP is the agile content platform that helps content teams move both faster and smarter to drive more growth. 

We know you're frustrated by the Drupals and Sitecores of the world. It's okay, we're here for you.