The online writer/creator world, including yours truly, isn’t pleased with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) related news. Tech site 404 Media reports that Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and Tumblr, plans to sell user data to AI companies OpenAI and Midjourney. Self-hosted WordPress sites (like mine… the “WordPress.org” version of WordPress) aren’t affected by Automattic’s deal; as far as I can tell, Automattic’s Jetpack plug-in shouldn’t affect users either. The only bone thrown to WordPress.com and Tumblr users is an opt out feature. Comic creator Greg Pak lists the instructions for opting out of all of this on his blog.
Needless to say, opt-out feature or not, Automattic’s news has raised quite a backlash on social media from WordPress.com and Tumblr users. The advantage of running your own blog/site is owning your own content, and being able to avoid a lot of the obnoxious aspects of social media. WordPress (self-hosted and .com versions) have been synonymous with such online. Tumblr meanwhile has seen a bit of a rise in popularity again, per relaxing some rules on adult content, plus ex-Twitter users seeking an alternative.
Knowing that Automattic is selling users’ information to AI companies is not only troubling, but also disappointing. They seemed like one of the “better” tech companies in terms of respecting their customers, but this throws a wrench in that perception.
Some have cited the popular online adage “if you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product.” However, recent trends in various services’ platform decay and cash-grab tactics (from streaming services to Automattic) have affected both free and paying customers equally. Even paying apparently isn’t enough “protection” anymore; see the fate of Comixology, or customers’ paid-for digital video content being erased.
As such, some might want to look for alternatives to WordPress.com and Tumblr.
Alternatives to WordPress.com and Tumblr for a blog/site
Free: Few options?
For those seeking a free blogging platform, unfortunately there aren’t many good alternatives to WordPress.com or Tumblr. While there’s Google’s Blogger, given its heavy Google ties (and Google’s equally heavy AI push), it certainly isn’t an option if you’re avoiding AI. Medium might be another option, but it has its own flaws.
Paid: Self-hosted WordPress
The best alternative to Tumblr and WordPress.com at this point is a self-hosted WordPress site from a web hosting service. While not free, you’ll have full control over your site, and know your web host isn’t selling your information behind your back. I especially recommend this option (or the one below) for those paying for the premium version of WordPress.com. Some web hosts will even transfer your site from WordPress.com for you.
One downside for self-hosting is, well, it’s not free. While most web hosts have cheap introductory prices, the renewal rates often are a lot higher. Self-hosting also requires at least some degree of technical skills (remembering to install updates, manage plugins, etc.), which might thwart or annoy some.
Paid alternative: Managed WordPress hosting
For those who don’t have the strongest tech skills, or those who do but don’t want to deal with everything involved with managing a WordPress installation, I suggest going for a managed WordPress hosting option on a web host. A managed WordPress plan sees the web hosting service manage most of the technical aspects of maintaining a WordPress site for you (updates, security, backups, etc.), making it more like using WordPress.com.
One downside is managed WordPress hosting might cost more than a traditional self-hosted plan (i.e. where you manage a WordPress installation yourself).
Suggested web hosts
As for web hosting services, my suggested ones include:
- Dreamhost (www.dreamhost.com) offers inexpensive shared and managed WordPress hosting options. They also offer monthly and annual paid plans.
- SiteGround (www.siteground.com) offers excellent support for WordPress-based sites, as well as easy setup and management options. However, the only plans offered are annual ones. It’s also more expensive at the standard/renewal price than its competitors.
- Digital Ocean (www.digitalocean.com) is inexpensive (starting at $4/month), and offers the benefits of a virtual private server (VPS). However, Digital Ocean is only recommended for users with advanced technical skills (i.e. those who know how to use Linux commands in a terminal). I’m currently hosting my site on Digital Ocean.
Alternatives to Tumblr for social media
Unfortunately, there aren’t many alternatives to Tumblr for the social network aspects. The best option is probably to use an existing social network and post links to your own site when new content is posted.
Other options I can think of (that aren’t Twitter/X, Facebook, or Instagram):
- Mastodon.
- Bluesky.
- Threads (if OK with a Meta-owned social network).
- CoHost apparently still exists, and offers a Tumblr-like experience. However, I have no idea what its long-term future looks like.
Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay
Does Digital Ocean show you how many CPU hours or CPU seconds your site/account uses? I’m on Siteground. Yesterday, on a WordPress site I tried bulk-adding one tag to 700 posts via the WordPress dashboard. (I was doing it in batches of 100 per page). My CPU seconds for the hour jumped up to 12,000. My hourly limit is 4,000. So I went WAY overboard for that hour. Normally, this particular site (spudart.org) uses about 200 CPU seconds per hour when I’m not editing anything.
I’m surprised that adding just one tag to 700 posts would generate so much CPU usage. Since I caught the usage early on, I didn’t go over my daily amount, which is 40,000 CPU seconds daily. I went up only to 25,000 for the day. My median daily usage is 8,000 CPU seconds per day.
In the future, I’ll be using WP-CLI commands to do this bulk-adding of tags to posts. But I’m considering other hosts that have more generous CPU usage limits.
Digital Ocean does have indicators showing CPU percentage usage. I’m not completely sure what the CPU limits are, but maybe this will help (their FAQ): https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/details/limits/
I do have an indicator that emails me when CPU usage spikes above 70% or 90%, which it’s done sometimes for some uncertain reason (no unusual traffic or WordPress activity AFAIK).