It’s been a long time since I maintained a blogroll, but the poisoning of Twitter makes me think it’s a good idea. I do not want my network to be owned by a random billionaire whose interests are at odds with community building and maintenance. I’ve been slowly (re)connecting with people on other microblogging platforms, but it’s time to begin making my own site social as well. That’s why the blogroll is back.

A couple first impressions: I’m noticing fewer blogs among people I’m following on Mastodon than I would have expected on Twitter some fifteen years ago, when microblogging was not yet so ubiquitous. There are plenty of websites as CVs and marketing tools (for books and speaking engagements), but not as many blogs per se. On the other hand, there is a ton of microblogging going on. It’s possible that some of these accounts should find their way onto my blogroll—perhaps more personal blogs too. But baby steps.

For now, I want to curate a list that reflects the interests on display in my own blogging. This approach will not necessarily create social connections with those I list, but it should manifest socially contingent knowledge about other blogs that some readers might find useful. In other words, I’m trying to offer some social or human-driven discovery as opposed to the stuff that algorithmically driven search engines and social media deliver.