So, I finally did it.

I pulled the plug on about 90% of my social media. FB, IG, X, LMNOP (why are all the social media things abbreviated?)

The reasons for these are rather obvious, but I’ll admit that it took me far too long to to see it: We don’t own any content that is pushed out to these media conglomerates. They own it, manipulate it, feed it (or not) to the public at large - and that is a level of control that, somewhere in the fine print of the TOS, I’m sure I agreed to.

But, after nearly a decade of giving them an insight into my life, I realize that it was becoming an algorithmic shell of who I am. Who I REALLY am. Which shouldn’t be limited by a character count, AI-filtered screening, hashtags and such nonsense.

Not to mention that this data that we’ve signed over to these media giants is being used to train all sorts of AI/LLMs that are dubious in accuracy and even more nefarious in purpose. It’s all a part of an inbound future internet that feels rather dead. A stream of slop and an amalgamation of garbage disguised as “content”.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. Maybe I’m considerably more jaded than I was when I was in my 20s.

But, there’s something about not having to follow the rules set out by some Very Large Legal & Compliance Department of Some Even Larger Corporate Entity Inc.

And I’m here for it.

So, if you’re seeing this, maybe you actually know me in real life. In that case, welcome! There are the usual menus of my photographic work above, should that interest you.

Or, maybe by some random happenstance, a Google search or the remaining 10% of the social media I still use brought you here. In that case, also welcome, stranger! There’s an “About Me” page if you’re curious. But, I’ll abbreviate an answer to the question I’m sure everyone who has shown up here will ask:

“What even is all this?”

Call it a stream of consciousness. My random thoughts, ideas, pursuits, interests, and shenanigans as I want to share them. Without fear of the censor, the algorithm, or the fear of posting too much / too little.

If you like what you see, use your browsers bookmark feature to stay tuned. Comment even, if you feel so inclined.

The point is this: The internet used to be a place of wonder. A wilderness of imagination and exploration.

But, somewhere down the line, we sold that to the lowest bidder in exchange for advertisements, data collection and being spoon-fed a narrative that isn’t always real.

And I’m tired of it. So very tired (of a lot of things, and just always tired in general these days).

As the man once said, “Decisions are made by those who show up”.

So, here I am - showing up and doing things. Only time will tell if it was the right choice.