A small web July
small cypress has shared their plans to spend less time on the corporate web for the month of July under the banner of what they’re calling ‘a small web July’. I’m feeling really inspired by this!
I have several personal projects I would like to make progress on, as well as a yearning for a more creative life overall. I’d also like to more intentially make the personal web part of my online behaviour. Since discovering the personal web last year, my web browsing habbits have definitely changed, but there’s more of a shift i’d like to make.
The current state of play
Instagram is my main “walled garden” social media and I have several accounts. I don’t often post updates on my main account, other than sharing life updates with my close friends list. However, I regularly repost to Stories on topics that align with my values (e.g. social justice, anti-racism, feminism, environmentalism, disability / trans / reproductive / human rights). As you can imagine, for those of us who are left-leaning and believe in equity and inclusion, the current period is a really shitty one to live through.
As well as an account for my allotment, I also started several new accounts last year as I started exploring more creative forms of self-expression - ink drawings, digital illustrations, animation, game development, reading. However, this coincided with my exploration of the indie web and i’ve felt an increasing sense of guilt over this, as well as a friction between wanting ownership of my content (this website) versus maintaining a connection to my existing online communities. Many of the blogging friends I made years ago now only post on social media or Substack, for example.
I don’t post to Facebook except to share career updates or life events for my wider family. I am in several groups, mainly for genealogy and vegetable growing: my allotment society has a Facebook group. However, I don’t usually login to Facebook unless I want to post in one of those groups. That said, it’s a platform I don’t think I can leave as it’s the only way I receive news about my wider family.
YouTube
I don’t watch YouTube too much these days - i’m more likely to get sucked down a rabbithole on Netflix or Prime, which is a whole other issue - but I do frequently visit my favourite channels. I occassionally waste time watching some Shorts, but they’re usually on the same topics as my subscriptions.
Twitter/ X / BlueSky / Threads / Mastodon
I left Twitter in 2022 and haven’t moved to another microblogging service. I tried Threads for all of one day before I realised I had nothing to say. I did join Mastodon during the previous Twitter exodus, and my account probably still exists, but I found the fediverse clunky and not quite there yet. BlueSky’s implementation would maybe be different, but I don’t want to be at the whims of yet another Billionaire.
I only started using Reddit last year. For all the toxicity i’ve known it to be rife with, my experience has actually been really nice. That said, i’ve only joined a handful of boards and I only use it when I want to see other people’s opinions: e.g. approaches to square foot gardening and personal finance.
My personal rules for July
Reduce my social media usage. This could like a check-in on my Instagram feed once a week, rather than several times a day, and (much easier) a check-in on my Facebook groups once a month. I do want to allow myself to continue to share calls to action and news to my Stories, but again, only when I actually open Instagram.
Focus on creating rather than consuming. Put more intentional effort into my art, web and game development interests. However, this doesn’t mean creating content. While I see value in sharing and ‘learning in public’, creating content ‘for the ‘gram’ shouldn’t be the motivation.
More time spent in online community spaces. I check the 32-Bit Cafe forums every day and always read something that inspires. I want to be a more active contributor though and encourage other people when they also post on the forum. I should comment more than I ‘like’ posts.
My strategies to achieve this
Migrate my creative identities here. I’m undecided on the exact format - and feeling the restriction of my site’s design - but I think something that allows people to follow an RSS feed of each of my various interests, should they choose to (I’m toying with the idea of just linking those feeds on a page called ‘projects’ for simplicity). I’m reluctant to abandon those social media profiles entirely, but i’d like to do something more POSSE-oriented. Maybe I could do round-up or teaser posts instead.
Commit to regularly posting to at least one of my website feeds. I’ll give myself the flexibility to write a blog post, post some art or write a book review etc whenever I feel like it, but i’d like to intentionally commit to a single series of updates on one feed. Something i’m revisiting again is sketchnotes and i’d like to do a mini ‘sketch a day’ project.
Develop my game development skills. I’ve rediscovered the Adventure Game Studio forums recently and have already started work on my first AGS game. I also have plans for projects in Godot and Pico-8. However, in the immediate term i’d like to reintroduce myself to the AGS community and actively contribute to discussions over there. Having my AGS game as a focus for the month of July would help me achieve this. I think between the AGS forum and the 32-Bit Cafe Forum, I can find my place in a couple of really nice communities.
Change how I follow others to RSS where possible. I’ve been using NetNewsWire, but this is also a nice opportunity to try out James’ Artemis web reader.
There are other things i’d like to move forwards with - developing this website, the stop motion puppet I started, the online courses in 2D animation, motion design, learning design and digital accessibility I started, my family archive etc - but this seems plenty to be getting on with. Hopefully not being on social media every day will give me more space to focus on my interests and only serve to replenish my creative muscles.
What about you? Are you inspired to take part in a small web July?