個人サイト管理人に50の質問
50 Questions for Personal Site Administrators
Shamelessly borrowed from bikobatanari.art/posts/202… who also provides context on where this trend originated.
- Please tell us your name and its origin.
A couple of years ago I was trying to come up with a username. The kind someone else might have created in high school and stuck with for the next 20 years. I was looking for something that could represent me, wasn’t already taken everywhere, and wasn’t directly associated with my day job or anything I’ve done previously on the internet. Not entirely sure how I stumbled on the word, but “Contrariwise” was an instant hit among friends.
- Please tell us the site name and its origin.
I think I found TheWizardly through one of those “help me think up a domain name” services. It was around the time that the “wizard ponders orb” meme was going around, which I loved, and it was the driving force behind presenting myself as a random internet wizard.
- If you don’t mind, please tell me your date of birth.
I do mind.
- What does the site deal with?
Whatever I’m thinking about at the moment. I have a bad habit of responding to simple questions with an essay. Sometimes I think it makes sense to just publish the essay instead. I use my blog as something like the intersection between what very small amount of value I used to get out of Twitter, while also still being able to get lengthy when I want to. My experience is that people are busy and they mostly don’t click links, so posting links to a blog from a microblog is a great way to make sure your blog never gets read. Having one stream that does both is, I think, the best I can get while still being respectful of other peoples' time and attention.
- Please tell us your recommended content.
There’s not much of a backlog to look at currently, but if you don’t know me you might enjoy thewizardly.com/now/ which is perpetually out of date, but I think a rather good snapshot of my interests. If you also like some of those things, you might like my posts in general.
- Is the content you are working on a hobby? Are you an aspiring professional (or already a professional)?
Let’s call it a hobby? I try to keep work entirely out of this stream. It’d be neat to make some money doing some of my hobbies someday, but I’m also not trying to turn any of them into “jobbies.”
- Do you have any off-duty activities related to the content you are handling?
(In the context of Japanese society this question is asking if I do things like vend at conventions related to my hobbies.) Short answer? No.
- Please let us know if there are any people or works that you are aiming for in the content you are handling.
(In situ this question is basically asking if I’m aspiring to emulate anyone.) No. I’m striving for authenticity. Not, like, “branded authenticity.” Actually just my real answers, thoughts, and perspectives. One of the reasons why I want to detach this identity from “real me” is that it allows me to be more real in every way that matters. The day job requires a brand. It requires emulation. This is more “me” than most people who ever meet me are likely to get.
- Do you have a set update frequency and update time for your site?
I’m trying to post roughly weekly, just to build and maintain the habit. I don’t kick myself too hard if it I miss it.
- For what maximum period have you stopped updating?
Since starting this blog, I think at most a couple of weeks. However I’ve gone “radio silent” on the internet for periods of years in other places.
- Would you like to get more visitors?
Yes, but only inasmuch as I always want to attract more of my tribe. I want more visitors who are legitimately interested in the kinds of things I talk about.
- Are you happy with the feedback on the content?
I’m happy with all positive, constructive feedback. Reasonable people should be able to disagree about some things, and I’m not particularly interested in the kind of vitriol that’s standard in other parts of the internet. It’s like we forgot, culturally, that it was possible to walk away and not say anything.
- What do you think about typos and broken links?
When I notice them, I fix them, but mistakes are the touch of a human’s hand. I fear the world where no mistake is permitted far more than someone judging my typo.
- Do you accept requests?
I think this is probably intended for someone who has an artistic output. My artistic output is primarily words. I think I’d take a suggestion on a topic to write about, if I thought I had anything to say, but I don’t think I’d take commissioned writing work.
- Are there hidden pages?
Not intentionally! I think I might have toyed around with some plugins on my host that are still technically enabled, but I haven’t hidden anything with the intent of it being found.
- Do you have another site?
Several! All defunct. Haven’t figured out what to do about that.
- Do you allow links? If so, please let me know if there are any conditions.
Certainly. I would prefer if links stay within the IndieWeb. I won’t be entirely crushed if I end up linked somewhere out on the Commercial Web, if the end result of that is meeting more of my tribe.
- Did you have any experience running another site before starting this one?
I’ve been running sites since the days of Geocities and Angelfire. It’s probably for the best that I couldn’t remember where any of those were, though. No idea if I’m in the big Geocities dump. Probably?
- What inspired you to create this site?
I needed a place to be able to get thoughts out of my head but which also would allow me to interact with the IndieWeb and Fediverse.
- When was this site established?
2023/10/31.
- Do you have any celebration plans for the opening anniversary?
I don’t think so! I probably won’t even make note of it, if I notice.
- Do you keep in mind events such as Halloween and Christmas, seasonal changes, and social trends when updating?
Not even a little bit. Honestly I sometimes forget to keep those things in mind in day to day life.
- Do you use SNS?
(“SNS” is the shorthand term that the Japanese use for “social media”.) Basically, no. The closest I get is this blog’s federation to the Fediverse. You can follow me on Mastodon! I have an account on BlueSky that just reposts everything I post here, to make it easier for people to follow me there until they get ATProtocol fully up and working.
- Please tell us why you dare to run a website in this SNS era.
Because the slow web was a better web. And the small web still is, where it exists and you can find it. Computers are a miracle. We taught sand to think by hitting it with lightning. But that doesn’t mean every invention that followed was a net positive for society. I don’t think social media actually helps anyone, and I think I’d have a pretty high burden of proof to change that prior.
- Is there anything you keep in mind when running your site?
Be honest. Be clear. Be kind. Nobody’s ever changed their mind because someone yelled at them.
- Is there anything that remains in your mind while running the site?
I have a set of principals for engaging with the internet. I’ve never written them down. I probably should. It includes not having any kind of intentional tracking on this site. It might be kind of neat to know how many people see it, but I can’t preach with one hand that people shouldn’t be tracked and then track them. I know that there are services that do a more respectful version of tracking, but I think the correct amount is none. For me and also for everyone else. We should not have opened this pandora’s box.
- Do you have any problems with site management?
No, I pay micro.blog to do all the hard stuff for me.
- Do you ever get embarrassed about content you posted a long time ago and delete it?
I wouldn’t say I’m embarrassed. There’s definitely stuff I posted when I was young that is, how they say, “cringe” by modern standards. It’s probably cached in Google and the Wayback machine, if you knew where to look, but I don’t. I have never once, in my life, tried to search myself on Google. I think it’s probably the correct position, and I’d recommend it to everyone.
- Have you ever thought about quitting the site?
Not this one, but I’ve basically “quit” others when they stopped making sense. Some of which were lost forever, which is a shame.
- Do you have backups or other measures in place in case your site suddenly disappears?
Not yet. I’m not invested enough that I think it would be a catatrophe. At some point I know I’ll need to set up some kind of archival solution for this site.
- If you were to die tomorrow, would you leave your website behind? Do you want to delete it?
I think I’d want to leave it. I suspect there are people that would come here, read what I typed, and they’d hear it in my voice. And for a short period of time I’d still be there. I think a piece of us lives on as long as we’re still remembered and thought of. It would be real cool to be the kind of person that people think of long after I’m gone.
- Are you okay if your family or real-life friends and acquaintances see your site?
That’s probably 90% of who’s seeing it.
- How much of a difference do you think there is between your online image and your real-life personality?
Less than you’d imagine. Authenticity is part of the goal. The only place I’m anything other than exactly who I am is work.
- What kind of people do you want to visit your site?
Interesting weirdos. Kind people with strong opinions about making the world a better place and realistic plans for achieving it.
- Are you registered for searches or rankings?
I think I applied to be listed in an IndieWeb / Personal Blog list, but I never followed up and I have no idea if that ever happened. I could probably get listed on Google but I think it’s pretty unlikely I’d ever rank on any searches so it’s not high up my list.
- Are you part of an alliance?
(This is the Japanese equivalent of a webring.) No. I don’t actually know how much those ever worked, if I’m being honest. Someone out there probably used them a lot, but I didn’t. Maybe if I found one that really seemed align with my kind of weirdo I’d get hooked up, but I’m not actively seeking that out.
- Please tell me the service or server you are using.
I’m gladly hosted on micro.blog.
- Why did you choose that service or server?
They do everything I think I need, at a completely reasonable price.
- Do you use templates?
The site layout is a template through micro.blog. I don’t use any templates in my post content. I’ve thought about it, for something like a weekly review post. Maybe I will at some point.
- How well do you know the languages used to create homepages, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP?
I’m fluent in all of those things, but prefer not to do it. I haven’t written a line of PHP since probably 2006? HTML, CSS, and JS are all more recent, but I’d rather not unless I absolutely have to.
- When operating your site, do you ever pay attention to the number of accesses and update frequency of other sites?
Not at all. I try not to measure myself against others.
- Please let me know if you have any recommendations for sites or books that support site production.
Look at the source code for sites you think are doing something cool, and see if you can figure out how they did it. Don’t steal their entire layout and style, that’s what we call Not Cool, but the best way to learn in my experience is to figure out how someone did what you’re trying to do.
- What is your working environment (devices, etc.)?
Laptop: 2023 Apple Macbook Pro with M3 Pro.
Monitor: An HP 4K monitor, whose exact model number I don’t recall.
Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3.
Keyboard: WASD 104-key w/ custom keycaps designed to look like an old mainframe terminal.
- Please tell me where and when you usually work.
I work from home full time, from my tiny office filled with cool books.
- Do you often listen to music, radio, etc. while working?
Sometimes. I’ve been listening to music the entire time I’ve been writing this post. Frequently I need to interact with people, and I find that I need total silence for the deepest thought-work.
- Is there a drink you often drink while working?
Coffee!
- Do you think you will still be using this site in 10 years?
Statistically speaking? No. But I hope that I’m still an authentic participant in the small and indie web movements.
- What is your ideal site?
No JavaScript of any kind, for any reason.
- Please let me know if there is anything you would like to do on the site in the future.
I’m still trying to figure out what this site could be, and I think playing is half the fun. My guess is as long as I keep trying new things, then I’m doing the right thing.
- Please give me one last comment.
The internet is only as good as we make it. Don’t cede ground to the corporate overlords. Be actively working to build the world you want to live in.