loading . . . A Timely Reminder: Own Your Name and Content <p>As TikTok bounces up and down, a reminder: your online existence doesn’t <em>have</em> to be out of your control. You just need to own it.</p>
<h2 id="the-context">The Context</h2>
<p>A lot of folks in my orbit are, understandably, frustrated about the (possible?) loss of TikTok in the US.<sup id="fnref:1" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fn:1" rel="footnote">1</a></sup> I get it, <a href="https://tiktok.com/@paulroub">I have stuff there</a>, too; though I don’t have any kind of following, nor is my livelihood connected, so it’s squarely in the “frustrating” category for me.</p>
<p>I have backups, and have frequently posted the same content elsewhere, so I can make things available again. If someone wanted to find that content, it wouldn’t be too difficult, because it’s easy to find <em>me</em>.</p>
<p>I’ve had the <a href="https://roub.net/">roub.net</a> domain since at least 2001 and <a href="https://paulroub.com/">paulroub.com</a> for longer than that.<sup id="fnref:2" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fn:2" rel="footnote">2</a></sup></p>
<p>MySpace came and went during that time; Twitter was born, was fun, became garbage; YouTube emerged; Facebook ate the universe; etc., etc.</p>
<p>But all that time, if I gave you a business card (more likely a <a href="https://claytoncustom.com/">guitar pick</a>), or sent you a link to my stuff, it was to one of those web sites.</p>
<h2 id="the-key-point">The Key Point</h2>
<p>Those cards/QR codes/texts/handwritten scrawls <em>still</em> lead you someplace useful. Or at any rate, to the correct place.</p>
<p>I don’t know offhand what my MySpace address was, or if it might lead anywhere sensible today. My Xitter account is still there, mostly because I can’t be bothered to take it down, but I don’t post or read anything there anymore. And who knows if BlueSky or Threads will remain sticky and non-<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys">enshittified</a> for me? <a href="https://joinmastodon.org/">Mastodon</a> feels like a good home for a number of reasons, and its openness bodes well for the future, but without significant discoverability improvements, I don’t know what kind of critical mass it will achieve.</p>
<p>That’s fine. Wherever I am, whatever places I choose to post, read, find, be found… I can always link to them from a site I own. A site that won’t shift under my feet.<sup id="fnref:3" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fn:3" rel="footnote">3</a></sup></p>
<h2 id="beware-sudden-digital-homelessness">Beware Sudden Digital Homelessness</h2>
<p>This isn’t abstract; a few weeks ago, my brother-in-law’s Facebook page was hacked. Meta was as helpful as usual (which is to say, the page has been shut down and he can’t get it back).</p>
<p>If he’d had just that page on his business cards and ads (as I see a frightening number of people doing), he’d have disappeared for anyone trying to follow those breadcrumbs.</p>
<div class="sidebyside">
<picture>
<source srcset="/images/pat-fb-gone.webp" type="image/webp"/>
<img alt="Screenshot showing the Facebook page is gone" src="https://roub.net/images/pat-fb-gone.jpg"/>
</picture>
<a href="https://patrickmcfaddenmassage.com/"><picture>
<source srcset="/images/pat-site.webp" type="image/webp"/>
<img alt="Screenshot of the Massage Therapy by Patrick McFadden web site" src="https://roub.net/images/pat-site.jpg"/>
</picture></a>
</div>
<p>But instead, he has a <a href="https://patrickmcfaddenmassage.com/">web site</a> under his name and his control. It does link you to his socials, but none of those are required. None of those are the entry point. None of those are <em>home</em>. If his Instagram is taken over, we delete the link and move on, but those business cards and ads and contacts all still make sense.</p>
<h2 id="do-yourself-a-favor">Do Yourself a Favor</h2>
<p>Get a web site. Doesn’t have to be complicated. It could just be a link or two to wherever you have things to show or say.</p>
<p>There are a number of services that will help you register your name, set up a matching web site, and host it for just a few dollars a month. The domain name itself will cost you $10 or so per year.</p>
<p>One service I’d certainly recommend is <a href="https://micro.blog/">micro.blog</a>, which does all these things nicely, and allows cross-posting to other services (Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads…)</p>
<h2 id="your-content">Your Content</h2>
<p>Why cross-post? Basically, if a service you’re using goes away, changes its policies drastically, etc. what happens to whatever you posted there? If you’re lucky, you can export your data. And maybe it will work well.</p>
<p>An excellent way to avoid this problem is to <em>start</em> at your own site, and have that information copied to whichever social media outlet(s) you might prefer. Now your content can be found at the same address indefinitely, under your control.</p>
<p>The nickname for this strategy is <a href="https://indieweb.org/POSSE">POSSE</a> (<em>Publish [on your] Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere</em>). micro.blog was built around POSSE principles.</p>
<p>Anything I <a href="https://roub.net/blahg/2024/11/12/01-14-46/">post to my blog</a>, tagged “micropost”, is:</p>
<ol>
<li>mirrored to <a href="https://micro.blog/">micro.blog</a></li>
<li>from there, forwarded to my <a href="https://indieweb.social/@paulroub/113473000245403211">Mastodon</a>, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/paul.roub.net/post/3las6ee27vj2v">Bluesky</a>, <a href="https://www.threads.net/@paulroub/post/DCSvNauNyQd">Threads</a>, and Pixelfed accounts</li>
</ol>
<picture>
<source srcset="/images/posts.webp" type="image/webp"/>
<img alt="screenshots of the above-linked post, in its originl location and on several social media platforms" src="https://roub.net/images/posts.png"/>
</picture>
<p>It’s not perfect; there’s no <em>one</em> place where comments or discussions can occur (some services — <em>e.g</em>. Mastodon and Threads — have some support for reading each other’s replies), but I expect that will only improve.</p>
<h2 id="link-your-own-tree">Link Your Own Tree</h2>
<p>Is your main “link-in-bio” site at Linktree or some other “build your list of stuff” site? Under their domain, not yours? What happens if <em>they</em> go away?</p>
<p>Are you, or someone in arm’s reach, comfortable with words like “GitHub”, “config files” and “push”?</p>
<p>If so, I have a simple plug-and-play template (<a href="https://linky.roub.net/">Linky</a>) that lets you:</p>
<ol>
<li>Create a linktree-ish site of your own</li>
<li>That can easily be edited via the web</li>
<li>And hosted on Netlify for free, with automated installation</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s <a href="https://github.com/paulroub/linky">open source</a>, improvements or suggestions welcome.</p>
<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<ol>
<li id="fn:1" role="doc-endnote">
<p>I have… let’s call it “faith”… that some sort of shell game will occur, in the interest of not leaving money or political favor on the table, and the app will live. We shall see. <a class="reversefootnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fnref:1" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2" role="doc-endnote">
<p>FYI, looking up the 20-plus-year-old content can be humbling. Bring a buddy and hydrate. <a class="reversefootnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fnref:2" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3" role="doc-endnote">
<p>(see the bottom of this page) <a class="reversefootnote" href="https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/#fnref:3" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div> https://roub.net/blahg/2025/01/18/a-timely-reminder-own-your-name-and-content/
