Brandon Wilner ……… blog

12 Jun 2020
"First Post"

I recall that in the blogging heyday of roughly 2002 to 2010, it was customary to begin with a "first post" that provided an indecorous mix of autobiography, justification for the blog's existence, prediction of what its contents may be, and speculation as to whether anyone was even reading the post, all styled with overt self-deprecation. In keeping with this tradition, I offer my own first post.

Many projects that I wind up enjoying (and actually finishing) begin as jokes. For whatever reason I find it easier to introduce an idea facetiously, even if it is representative of genuine interests and a true expression of a desire to act on them. At this point I have had a few funny chats with friends about how it seems like it's time for a blogging revival. Reasoning so far has been: many publications don't allow room for writing that's not extremely "of the moment"; we're tired of dealing with the (especially music-related) ones that usually host our writing and only allow a very specific style; Twitter threads ("micro-blogging") have gotten pretty annoying and the format is limiting in its own ways; and writing on the internet has become extremely centralized through media conglomerates and just a few social media platforms. In retrospect the only part of these conversations that feels funny is the thought of a new abundance of web-2.0 Blogspots or Wordpresses. The other points are real and bleak.

These days I find myself visiting first-generation blogs when looking up travel recommendations and recipes, or when searching for information on somewhat arcane art, literature, music, movies, etc. I'm encouraged by how often they come up in search results, much more readily than similar writing published solely on social media, and how useful they are even a decade after they've last been updated. These personal and often autobiographical websites have a longer lifespan and broader audience than most posts do. Though almost always filled with dead links or now-empty Mediafire uploads, the blogs live on as reminders that people used to visit more than six websites or apps in a day and that there's no substantive reason why we couldn't continue in that fashion.

I am one of millions unemployed in the midst of global pandemic, my in-progress writing and music projects have been pushed back indefinitely, and I have added a blog to my website. Its contents are to be determined but will aim to make this confluence of facts not entirely pathetic. (If anyone is even reading this,) We shall see.