2018 in numbers

I posted to adactio.com 1,387 times in 2018:

• 4 articles (two conference talks, a book chapter, and an article for 24 ways),
• 97 blog posts,
• 763 links,
• 523 notes.

In amongst those notes were:

• 10 quotations,
• 20 books,
• 24 destinations (in 15 countries),
• 108 check ins,
• 356 photos.

In my blog posts, the top tags were:

1. frontend and development (42 posts),
2. serviceworkers (27 posts),
3. design (20 posts),
4. writing and publishing (19 posts),
5. javascript (18 posts).

In my links, the top tags were:

1. development (305 links),
2. frontend (289 links),
3. design (178 links),
4. css (110 links),
5. javascript (106 links).

When I wasn’t updating this site:

• I made 1,542 Github contributions,
• I sent out 24 Clearleft email newsletters,
• I spoke at 19 events (in 11 countries), and
• I wrote 1 book.

But these are just numbers. To get some real end-of-year thoughts, read posts by Remy, Andy, Ana, or Bill Gates.

The Case for Blogging in the Ruins

Start a blog. Start one because the practice of writing at length, for an audience you respect, about things that matter to you, is itself valuable. Start one because owning your own platform is a form of independence that becomes more important as centralized platforms become less trustworthy. Start one because the format shapes the thought, and this format is good for thinking.

Blog Alarm Clock | Brad Frost

See, I’ve always compared that building pressure of need-to-blog to being constipated (which makes the resultant blog post like having a very satisfying bowel movement), but maybe Brad’s analogy is better. Maybe.

Resonance | James’ Coffee Blog

Ah, the circle of life!

The Free Web - The History of the Web

I am going to continue to write this newsletter. I am going to spend hours and hours pouring over old books and mailing lists and archived sites. And lifeless AI machines will come along and slurp up that information for their own profit. And I will underperform on algorithms. My posts will be too long, or too dense, or not long enough.

And I don’t care. I’m contributing to the free web.

POSSE: Reclaiming social media in a fragmented world

This rhymes nicely with Mandy’s recent piece on POSSE:

Despite its challenges, POSSE is extremely empowering for those of us who wish to cultivate our own corners of the web outside of the walled gardens of the major tech platforms, without necessarily eschewing them entirely. I can maintain a presence on the platforms I enjoy and the connections I value with the people there, while still retaining primary control over the things that I write and freedom from those platforms’ limitations.