TikTok Shutdown: Why building on proprietary platforms is a risky game
8 comments
·January 19, 2025xnx
The most important thing is to own your own domain/urls. URLs are forever.
Own your own domain and anything is possible. Build on someone else's domain and you are always a serf.
yourname.substack.com is worthless and can be taken away at any time. blog.yourname.com can never be taken away[1].
[1] It can be taken away, but if it comes to that point you probably have bigger problems.
wg0
I worry the most about app stores.
carlosjobim
I will take the bait. What are the exact steps for making a blog? From zero. This is what is always suggested by hackers for the general public, instead of being dependent on proprietary platforms. Okay then, list the exact steps to be taken by a non-programmer who wants to do that? Let's assume they own a PC or a Mac, to give them a fair start.
dangus
I’ll take your bait: pick one of dozens of hosting providers that run common blogging platforms like Wordpress and you’re not locked in to anything.
You could start your blog with someone like GoDaddy and move it to NameCheap with the import/export tools Wordpress has available.
I can even see from a quick search that proprietary solutions like SquareSpace will let you export a ZIP that you can then import into someone else like Wix.
herbertl
Yes! Whatever blog solution you choose, buy your own domain name. I personally use Namecheap, I have heard good things about Porkbun. That way you can always control the flow of link traffic.
And set up a mailing list! If you use Substack, buy a domain name. Otherwise you can use ConvertKit, Ghost, etc., and collect your reader's emails directly.
xnx
Agree completely. Do any registrars toss in a free (or very cheap) basic [micro]blog service? Domain ownership should be the main entry point to the web, everything else is interchangeable and can be sorted out later.
carlosjobim
Okay, a quick web search tells me Bluehost.com is what I should go for. On their front page they recommend me a plan for $5 per month, for this among other things:
- 50 websites: I just want to have my own website or blog
- 50 GB NVMe Storage: How many blog posts is this?
- 500 Concurrent Visitors: That doesn't sound like a lot, does it?
- Free SSL: What is that and why do I need that for my blog?
- Free CDN: What is that and why do I need that for my blog?
- DDos Protection: What is that and why do I need that for my blog?
Then after selecting plan and finding a domain, you have to give a ton of info and pay about $60 to get to the next steps. Which probably will be a world of pain again.
GoDaddy and other web hosts are the same. Their target public are developers and sys admins, not the general public. That's why the general public uses proprietary services for putting their creative content online. That's why the general public buys iPhones and doesn't care about how many gigabytes of RAM a phone has. That's why they buy new cars and don't know or care how many horses are under the hood.
On proprietary services like social media, you can start writing, posting and uploading at once, without setting up a dozen different services and routing, worrying about security and hacks, or having to pay out of pocket.
Things get even worse if said blogger or content creator would like to purchase groceries and decides to start charging for his/her work. Subscription / payment plugins are a nightmare on WordPress - and expensive to boot. Anybody who wants to keep his sanity will instead go for a proprietary solution.
Just like driving is for everybody and not only mechanics, the internet is for everybody and you shouldn't have to be a programmer or sys admin to be able to express yourself online. Just like you shouldn't have to know how to bore out a cylinder to be allowed on the highways.
Building a direct connection with your customers/audience/people is the key. As this piece suggests, an email list is a great way to get started.
It could really be any list of any contact info that you can export and download as a data file at some point. I have seen physical stores leave clipboards out for people to sign up for a mailing list and that works.
I feel extremely passionate about this topic and I've written extensively on it.
1: Going direct buys you freedom: https://herbertlui.net/going-direct-buys-you-freedom/
2: Own your marketing, own your income: https://herbertlui.net/own-your-marketing-own-your-income/
3: Learning to talk to customers, directly: https://herbertlui.net/learning-to-talk-to-customers-directl...
Of course, I'm not the only one:
The Rostra manifesto is also great! https://www.rostra.co/
There are also the filmmakers buying their own theater: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/westwood...