This one is a two-fer interview. Andy has a personal blog as well as a music blog.

I have known Andy for a ridiculous number of years. We’ve never personally met, but we’ve been in contact since the mid-90s! Our online relationship pre-dates my first marriage, my first blog, my first personal webpage, my first email address.

Andy had a mailing list dedicated to Galaxie 500 and its offshoot bands, Luna and Damon & Naomi. I have no memory how I found him or his list.

In the previous century, I was temping at a law school. I can’t remember if the person whose job I was doing was on leave or had left permanently, but it was so early in the Internet that the law school had me use her email address for any communications rather than give me my own.

I, uhhh… signed up for the G500 mailing list as her. If you somehow figure out how to look for the old Usenet group alt.fan.galaxie500 (or was it alt.fan.galaxie-500, can’t remember) you can see some posts from a Ms. Ivy W., aka me.

So, I have known Andy for as long as I’ve been on the Internet, which is crazy.

So, onto the interviews. First, his personal blog.

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Splotchy: What is your blog?

Andy: Everything’s Swirling

S: When and why did you start blogging?

A:
WHEN: The first post is from June 2003, it started in Blogger (I think I had some earlier short-lived attempts but this is the one that caught), spent a few years in WordPress and then moved into Jekyll in 2015.

WHY: It was the thing to do, it was really an online diary – I expect I’m the only one who reads it much!

S: Did you stop blogging?

A: No.

S: Do you feel part of a larger community when writing your blog?

A: No community at all, there never was, I’d occasionally get some feedback, comments, but this was more about individual posts rather than the blog itself. It probably didn’t help that its subject matter was so broad, so having long series of posts about Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or an obsession with musicians’ footwear, or Alfred Hitchcock films, probably made it difficult to generate any sort of community – removing the ability to comment/feedback probably contributed to this lack of connection – but the comment spam became intolerable and tiresome … and the only comments I was getting anyway!

S: Do you have people you regularly interact with?  How large a group is it?  Are they also bloggers?

A: A bit of reaction on social media, but very little – it has basically become me and my partner blogging at each other!!

S: What keeps you motivated to post?

A: To be honest my posting has tailed off of late – I have little sporadic flurries of posting but it’s pretty quiet (from 70 to 150 posts a few years ago to 38 last year (and most of those were a Christmas thing), 7 this year – there was only 1 in 2020 – I’ll blame COVID!! I keep posting because every so often I think I should … the ongoing Hitchcock series needs to finish and given how slow I’m getting through that it’ll keep things going for a few more years.

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Splotchy: What is your blog?

Andy: A Head Full of Wishes (AHFoW)

S: When and why did you start blogging?

A:
WHEN: A Head Full of Wishes didn’t really start out as a blog, but it’s pretty much what it has become – up until the late 90s it had been mostly news and information and only very occasional opinion – the first foray into blogging for AHFoW was one I created for Luna’s farewell in 2005 – Luna’s Last Waltz was a multi-user blog (although mostly me) and only ran for three months or so – it was never intended to be a long-term thing. In 2006/7 I moved AHFoW into WordPress which is the time at which I guess it became closer to a traditional blog.

WHY: I’m not sure why, it was probably because by then the Galaxie 500 Mailing List was tailing off (more on that later) and it was an attempt to keep the community of Galaxie 500 etc. fans going. Ironically I guess it struggles a bit in that respect –  but I can’t imagine not doing it. In 2015 I moved from WordPress to Jekyll – which didn’t handle comments by default and since, commenting had been pretty low, and mostly spam it didn’t seem to matter, although it was a nail in the coffin of the community I was hoping for,

S: Did you stop blogging?

A: No.

S: Do you feel part of a larger community when writing your blog?

A: Not part of a blogging community – but the community around the bands does exist, although community happens elsewhere (on social media… so more of that below too).

S: Do you have people you regularly interact with?  How large a group is it?  Are they also bloggers?

A: I have tried to foster community around AHFoW (using many different platforms, Reddit, BBS, Guestbooks, etc.) but it has really struggled. There are a few other music blogs that still seem to be around – but I’m not interacting with them particularly – so I guess I’m part of the problem. Most interaction around the blog is done via social media (1,700 followers on Twitter/X, 720 followers on Instagram, 1,700 followers on Facebook, 1,900 in FB group)

S: What keeps you motivated to post?

A:  The bit of community there is is part of the motivation, but mostly I guess force of habit. The website first started in 1994 — so almost 30 years – I can’t imagine not doing it.

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S: A couple general questions, around social media and the Internet. How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

A: Social Media has become a scourge, it should have been the saviour, but because it is RUN by people whose values are different from mine it’s become something we’re stuck with (see Cory Doctorow’s The Enshittification of TikTok). It is also USED by people who have a different agenda – which is mostly at odds with my own.

I am stuck with Facebook and Twitter because it is the main reach for AHFoW – and without them it would have no audience at all – so I’m stuck there – and users don’t leave Facebook’s walled garden, so it ends up with me posting (almost) full posts there otherwise people wouldn’t read what I write at all (and I do like to think I am being read). But it’s not blogging – it has different motivations and it very rarely has the depth or thought that goes into blogging.

But worse that that, social media has become an unpleasant place to be and because it has become so broken, I am somewhat losing the skill of “social” and “community”. It’s become a marketing platform for everyone… and sadly that’s all it has become for me (and I hate that). I miss the past. Social media has made it harder for me to be social.

I never really embraced Facebook – but I did love Twitter, in the earlier days it did feel genuinely communal – but it was taken over by commerce, journalism, citizen journalism, and knee-jerk haters looking for arguments – people behave appallingly on there now, so much disrespectful and careless behaviour that I tend to be a pusher these days rather than a part of it.

S: How do you feel about the state of the Internet in general?  This is a very broad question, so feel free how to answer as you see fit.

A: I think my last paragraph above about social media applies to the Internet in general but here goes:

I love:

• That I am never lost.
• That I can find restaurants and cafes when I need to.
• That I know when the next train or bus will be, and if it’s been delayed.
• The bit of community that I can still find.
• Finding and discovering music and old films.
• Wikipedia and The Internet Archive and Musicbrainz …
• Some bloggers still managing on to the past.
• That I can identify that flower or bird or bit of music.

I hate:

• The death of the fan website 🙂 – and the community that existed around it.
• Capitalism – so many adverts.
• The hate and the disrespect.
• That so much is broken by advertising and capitalism (most search results are infected with advertising).
• The platform it gives to bad people.
• The misinformation and lies that are spread and treated as fact.
• The noise (and the lack of signal)

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Thanks so much for these very thoughtful answers, Andy. I know the Internet can be a sad, lonely place, but I’m so happy we found each other. You are special. ❤️

Splotchy: What is your blog?

GetKristiLove: It was this, but I archived it: Two Minutes in the Box

S: When and why did you start blogging?

GKL: I started blogging in January, 2006 Mostly because my sister (VikkiTikkiTavi) was blogging and talking a lot about it. She probably said something like, “Kristi, you don’t have a blog yet?!” I have always copied my sister since I was young because she’s older and wiser, so I figured what the hell. 

S: Did you stop blogging?

GKL: Yes

S: When did you stop blogging?

GKL: I think sometime in 2010 or 2011.

S: What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

GKL: Several people in our “blog circle” stopped posting blogs and moved on to Facebook, so I followed suit. I guess I am a follower…? Another factor was that era was the height of my career, and it became too hard in my high-stress technical surroundings to switch gears and write something creative or funny on my lunch break anymore. I wasn’t going to go home from work and sit on a computer either because I played sports every night. One last factor is I got married. No, it’s a good thing, but I wasn’t a single gal putting the ho in hockey with funny or interesting stories to tell in that realm anymore, so my brand was diminished. I did continue to read blogs for a while, even if I wasn’t posting, but so many people stopped.

S: Do you ever miss it?

GKL: I do miss blogging, mostly reading blogs and keeping up with the people I’ve met in that way. 

S: Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again?  Why or why not?

GKL: I always thought I would pick up blogging again and be more active in social media in general after retirement… but it’s been three years and still no. I’m not sure why, although I think it’s mostly because I am still very active, even more so during the day now since I don’t work. I’m outside a lot and not in front of a computer, which is another good thing. 

But it would be nice to write and read blogs again. I probably will someday. I think.

S: How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

GKL: There are negatives and positives to all the social media platforms, and people can choose what suits them best. I don’t like to be in places where people dish out hate. I like Instagram and that’s about it. It seems less angsty. It’s not at all the same feelings as blogging because I don’t write much, or read much, by design. I used to share some thoughts on Facebook, but not anymore. That was what was cool about blogging within a circle, and before there was so much trolling. I actually “knew” people that read my stuff and trusted them to be respectful and not to throw shade, even if they didn’t agree with my opinion. Times have changed. I have over 400 friends on Facebook for example, there’s no way I’m going to share anything with that big of a group. It’s not the place for me.

The underlying answer is that when I blogged, I was hoping someone would read it and give insight, support, or laugh. When they did, it was a great feeling. On Instagram or Facebook, I’m not looking for any kind of feedback really. Maybe just like my photo every now and then, okay?

S: How do you feel about the state of the Internet in general?  This is a very broad question, so feel free how to answer as you see fit.

GKL: The good thing about the internet is stupid people can use it. The bad thing about the internet is stupid people can use it. But seriously, again, there’s negatives and positives. For me, there’s mostly positives because I use the internet to my benefit and I shield out what I don’t want. I think we have gotten to the point where most people know not to believe something just because you read it on the internet, but I feel it takes a certain level of education beyond that to inform people how identity theft, scams, and data theft happens so please be careful out there!

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Thank so much, Kristi! It was lovely to hear your answers.

Splotchy: What is your blog?

Joe: My blog, which is still floating out there in the ether, is Sprawling Ramshackle Compound. I grabbed that name from a random line in the book Wigfield–which I listened to with you on our trip to gut houses in St Bernard Parish after Katrina in early 2006.

S: When and why did you start blogging?

J: I started blogging in May, 2006. I always liked talking and sharing stories, and my then-teenage daughters told me I should start a blog. I can’t remember how I settled on Blogger as a platform, but it was easy to use. I enjoyed writing about, and linking to, offbeat stories that interested me, but at the start I didn’t really give much thought to being part of a larger community, or of connecting with other bloggers. Two things about blogging between 2006-2010 were pleasant surprises: becoming friends with people I never would have otherwise met, and getting an opportunity to be paid for blogging with the Chicago Tribune’s (now-extinct) ChicagoNow blog network. From May 2009 until October 2010 I was lucky to be able to write about crime and policing in a blog called Arresting Tales. Met a ton of wonderful people, was invited to make quite a few appearances on WGN radio, and really enjoyed myself–for a while I even had delusions of becoming a real writer.

S: When did you stop blogging? What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

J: I stopped blogging on Arresting Tales as a condition of being promoted to an exempt rank at the department I worked for. My posting on Sprawling Ramshackle Compound really dropped off after that. I posted one essay in 2013, My First Prostitute, that I wrote for the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) “First Time” reading series. The last post on SRC is from June 2015, My Confederate Flag, written after the Charleston church massacre. I have not written since. I’m not sure why I stopped, but I realized that at some point my desire to communicate with the public at large, or really to communicate with anyone beyond my friends and family, had completely disappeared.

S: Do you ever miss it? Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again?  Why or why not?

J: There are things that I miss–sharing music, book and movie recommendations, learning new things, meeting so many truly witty and interesting people, “Tweetups” with ChicagoNow, the sense of everything being new, and I loved the rush I got from feeling like I entertained people to some degree. I’ve thought about dusting off SRC and blogging again, but honestly I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze.

S: How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

J: Social media…man. I’m not exaggerating when I say I think it’s one of the worst developments in recent human history. Social media gives the loudest megaphones to the worst voices and keeps everyone anxious and on edge. We think we’re being entertained, but really we’re only being distracted. I keep Facebook for now; I live in a rural area, and there are so many local businesses for which their Facebook page is their only internet presence. It also keeps me up to date on local events. Instagram is essentially a fun photo diary. I’m still on Twitter, watching it circle the drain. It’s funny watching the emergence of platforms like Medium, or Substack, even the “thread roll” apps on Twitter–it really reminds me of a return to long-form blogging from the mid-2000’s.

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Thanks a lot for these thoughtful answers, Joe. As you know, but maybe others don’t, I only got into blogging after seeing your posts from the Compound and thinking it would be a fun thing to try myself.

Splotchy: What is your blog?

That’s Why: That’s Why. My first blog was PoliTits where I blogged as DCup. Unfortunately, I made the unwise decision to delete it in 2009.

S: When and why did you start blogging?

TW: I think it was 2006 and I started blogging because I felt so isolated as a transplanted liberal in George W’s world. We’d moved from the Chicago area to rural North Georgia. My first blog got traction when I blogged about Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female to be elected the Speaker of the House.

S: Did you stop blogging?

TW: Mostly yes. I occasionally peck out a few words.

S: When did you stop blogging?

TW: I stopped blogging with any regularity in 2012.

S: What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

TW: I really slowed down when I took a job with a union and management asked me to be very careful about my blog. Then there was a divorce, a career change, a move far away from my beloved ex and kids, a new relationship and it all just fell apart. The stories I wanted to tell felt wrong. I didn’t want my ex or kids to read the things I might have written during those days.

S: Do you ever miss it?

TW: All the time.

S: Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again?  Why or why not?

TW: I do. I love to write. I’ll keep it in perspective though. The writing will be for me mostly.

S: How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

TW: I’ve been all over the place with social media. I never quite got the hang of Twitter and rarely use it. I have a barely like/hate relationship with Facebook. It’s like a utility. I really enjoyed TikTok but it started to feel like a job. I felt it necessary to interact with everyone’s content if I were making my own. I’ve made friends there for sure. Of all the social media, it most reminds me of the old blogging days because circles of community form and interact with each other. Nevertheless, I’ve cut back severely on my use of it, as well.

S: How do you feel about the state of the Internet in general?  This is a very broad question, so feel free how to answer as you see fit.

TW: It’s a useful utility. I can’t imagine work or life without it. I love Facetime with my grandsons and being able to identify plants with a click of a button. I LOVE not having to go to the grocery store anymore because of Kroger delivery.

Splotchy: What is your blog? 

Some Guy: Some Guy’s Blog

S:  When and why did you start blogging?

SG: I started in June of 2006 after reconnecting with my old friend, Grant Miller. Grant offered me the chance to guest-host his blog while he was away. It was so much fun and the people were cool, so I decided to start my own. Living in a pretty rural area and being fairly introverted, the blog was a good way for me to meet like-minded people from all over.

S: Did you stop blogging?

SG: Yes.

S: When did you stop blogging?

SG: I put up a random post during the pandemic, but my posting became really infrequent around 2011/2012 and stopped for good in 2014.

S: What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

SG:  I’m not sure. I know there was a big movement towards Facebook at some point, which I think played a part. I think a lot of the people I followed weren’t posting as much and I wasn’t as motivated to go out and find new blogs to follow.

S: Do you ever miss it?

SG: I do. I had a blast while I was doing it and I met a lot of great people, many in person as well. I still follow the lives of many of my blog friends on other social media.

S: Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again? Why or why not?

SG:  I’d never say never, but I’m not just not sure. Perhaps some of the reluctance is from fear that it won’t be as fun the second time around, which is lame, I know.

S: How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

SG: My curiosity compels me to follow at least some social media (Facebook, instagram, and YouTube), but I don’t necessarily feel good about it. I will say that I have watched some fascinating stuff on YouTube that I don’t think I would have  had access to anywhere else. The thing I found different about blogging was that it was much more of a community. I felt like there was more interest in getting to know each other on a personal level. We even had multiple blogger meet-ups! I would gladly go have lunch or dinner (and I have!) with any of my old blog friends if I happen to be in their towns.

S: How do you feel about the state of the Internet in general?  This is a very broad question, so feel free how to answer as you see fit.

SG: The Internet does a lot of things well. It can inform, provide entertainment, and accomplish tasks efficiently. Personally, i feel like the Internet has enriched my life. I’ve made many lasting personal connections through the Internet. It’s helped  me get better control of my finances. It’s made travel so much easier. I also think the Internet can be easily weaponized to disinform, hurt, sow distrust, and promote isolation. I’d have to give a lot more thought to whether or not the Internet has been a net positive for society.

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Thank you for these thoughtful answers, Some Guy!

Splotchy: What is your blog?

Grant Miller: Grant Miller Media

S: When and why did you start blogging?

GM:  I started around 2006 or 2007. My initial purpose was to share stories about my life as a stay-at-home dad to my then toddler kids. My earliest posts followed that. But then it quickly devolved into making joke posts and or ripping off Spy Magazine/David Letterman/The Onion.

S: Did you stop blogging?  

GM: I slowed considerably after moving from Illinois to Florida in 2010 and stopped entirely in about 2014. I made it private around that time and only re-opened it a few years ago by request.

S: What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

GM: I quit because my kids were getting older. I wasn’t stay-at-home dadding as much. I was working more. I was also recently divorced and trying to establish a social life in Florida and get myself out of the house. On top of that blogging didn’t pay.

S: Do you ever miss it? Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again?  Why or why not?

GM: I don’t miss blogging too much. I miss the naivety as the best blogging years were mostly pre-Facebook. I don’t anticipate picking it up again. There are lots of people who do it a lot better. Middle aged white guys have already ruined the World Wide Web, they don’t need me to make everything Worse.

S: I know you have an interest in photography in addition to writing. Do you feel social media is a satisfying outlet for your photography? Why or why not? 

GM: Social media is a satisfying outlet for those photos, but I’m selective because I don’t want to bore or waste anyone’s time. Photos I share are pretty but there’s many I don’t simply because they’re my memories but not particularly beautiful or even interesting to anyone else.

S: Do you have an outlet for your writing, or is this something that you aren’t actively pursuing in a regular cadence?

GM: I don’t write creatively or for pleasure much anymore. Most of my writing today is technical and for my profession. I wrote a few poems in recent years but none I plan to share any time soon.

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Thank you so much for these thoughtful answers, Grant!!

Reconnecting with blogging after a long hiatus made me a little nostalgic for the 2000s, which has by far been my favorite time to be online. I felt part of something bigger than myself. Lots of interesting people shared their own life experiences and observations. I shared my own experiences and observations too! We played games, we made mix tapes! Oh man, Green Monkey Music Project. God bless music torrent sites. RIP Oink’s Pink Palace.

Okay, okay, back on point. I was connected to so many great people. I don’t know where some of these people are today. I am connected to a fair amount of them on social media, mostly Facebook.

Some people continued writing regularly, a lot of them (including me) stepped away for a long time.

I felt it would be nice to connect with the people from a very important time of my life, and see what they are up to.

Here’s an interview with one of my all-time favorite bloggers, SamuraiFrog!

Splotchy: What is your blog? 

SamuraiFrog: Electronic Cerebrectomy, which is, true to form, a Muppets reference. I took it offline because I went through a weird time where I was deleting posts, stuff was getting deleted for nudity, and I was getting a TON of spam comments with links that took a lot of time to delete.

S: When and why did you start blogging?

SF:  I started blogging in 2005 while I was in college. It originally started as a way to just write down random thoughts and waste some time at the computer lab between classes. It became a sort of daily writing exercise, but when it started getting attention, I enjoyed the interactions and conversations with people. My sister died in 2006, and the daily blogging became a way to sort of cope with that, too. I need some kind of structure or else the days sort of blend together; I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2016, so that explains that.

S: Did you stop blogging? 

SF: Yes.

S: When did you stop blogging? 

SF: 2017 is the last time I posted on Electronic Cerebrectomy.

S: What were any factors that contributed to stopping?

SF: My wife had a couple of deaths in the family that happened closely together, and we both had a couple of health scares. I had a second nervous breakdown and I just got tired of fighting with people about what I felt were not worth the energy to argue. I understand getting heated about politics (lord knows I get that way), but fighting about Star Wars or Star Trek? My wife had a cancer scare, hearing about how Jar Jar Binks sucks just didn’t seem like something my life needed. My mental health went through some real valleys, too, as I was diagnosed with ADHD and C-PTSD about six months before I drifted away from it.

S: Do you ever miss it?  

SF: Sometimes. I met some really neat people and made friends. A lot of times I don’t. I think one of the biggest issues with Blogger was that you couldn’t block users, you could only disallow anonymous comments. I think it’s really important to curate your space. There are a lot of bullies out there who leave abusive comments and then try to tell you that shutting down random arguments is some kind of weakness because you want to “live in a bubble.” There are people who I should have really cut out of my life a lot earlier because they could be really abusive under the guise of being challenging. I have a lifelong history with abuse, I don’t need it from the comments section. We’re not going to solve any crises here, two randos in a comment section with no power. It wasn’t all bad, I got exposed to a lot of cool things and people, but there are always folks who just feed on people like me, who are sensitive and sometimes easily baited into an argument. It taught me a lot about human nature, I suppose!

S: Do you think you’ll ever pick it up again?  Why or why not?

SF: Not likely. I think it was a phase I went through and now I’ve been on Tumblr for a very long time, and sometimes Facebook and I’m cannibalizing my old movie reviews from my blog for my Letterboxd. This is apparently something that we spoonies do, where we do big projects and decide “Well, I did that and now I need a different kind of stimulation elsewhere” and we just tear the thing down and build something else instead. It was mostly a fun phase, even for all my complaints, and made me feel connected to a community, but I think there was a time in the mid-2010s when a lot of people drifted away from it and it got less fulfilling. I think I said a lot of what I felt I needed to say and also learned, which is a valuable thing to know, that not everything requires my thoughts on it. There was a time on my blog where I got so reactionary and negative and it was fun to write (and to read, judging by the engagement I was getting), but it was also very draining and made it hard to enjoy things sometimes. I think I got a lot of that out and am in a more… well, not necessarily a peaceful place, but a more occasionally sanguine place. It’s nice to be able to not engage on everything instead of just reacting. Sometimes I don’t know enough about something to have an opinion that’s worth reading. Remember when everyone had to have a take right away? That was so exhausting.

S: How do you feel about social media? Does it give you the same feelings as blogging? Why or why not?

SF: I really like Tumblr because it’s a lot more friendly to some communities and because you can block people. It’s micro-blogging, which satisfies my ADHD more because it moves at the same quick pace as my attention span. You can just post or reblog images or write something biographical or historical and it just kind of shows me where my thoughts and feelings are at for the day. Spending time there is fun for me because it’s like engaging with a lot of little things inside one main thing I’m doing. I honestly like Reddit for similar reasons, but I stick to the nostalgia blogs and give the political discussions a wide berth.

S: How do you feel about the state of the Internet in general?  This is a very broad question, so feel free how to answer as you see fit.

SF:  I think there are a lot of people who have maybe been taught by social media that their opinion always has to be shared, even if it’s uninformed or uneducated. I feel bad about that. I think it’s facilitated movements that have been detrimental to society because it’s easier for people to find each other and communicate. It sure made bullying a lot easier. I think it’s given people this idea that they are entitled to instant access to you. I lament this sometimes, but my wife always points out, too, that there are a lot of good aspects to the internet. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve found a lot of obscure media that was hard to find pre-internet. I like that people are making art and cartoons and comedy and sharing it and getting feedback and becoming better and better. Good ideas, too, about where society should go are spreading like wildfire. It can be a very frustrating place, but also I’m on Wikipedia constantly and reading public domain novels and using the Internet Archive. I just hope it gets better as far as filtering out misinformation and disinformation. It’s so easy to manipulate people, and it’s discouraging to see people in your life, who don’t seem hateful, suddenly become tools of misinformation movements or just, like, racists. A lot of this is my personality; I can tend toward the worst-case scenario. But there’s a lot of good and I still refuse to believe people are inherently bad. I just hope eventually the internet will do what a lot of us always hoped it would and expand everyone’s idea of what community and humanity and life really are. Maybe that sounds naive, but I’m a trauma case, so I can get away with saying that.

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Thanks so much to SamuraiFrog for his thoughtful answers.

You can find him on Tumblr at A Cosmic Castaway as well as the infamous Godzilla Haiku.