On July 25, 2010, my blog went live with its first post. The blog’s gone through a number of changes since then—changing web hosts, blogging software, and even its name. Still, this week marks my blog’s 15th anniversary.
I covered the early history of my blog (which feels weird to write) in my 10th anniversary post in 2020. Still, below is a look at some of the major changes over the years, including since 2020.
Blog categories
While I’ve changed the blog’s categories, subcategories, and tags over the years, for some time I’ve just used two broad categories, “Media” and “Tech.” In 2022, I tried giving them two distinct names to make them more semi-separate blogs. However, that had mixed results, given they weren’t truly separate blogs. I also wasn’t big on the names, often just defaulting to the site’s name when talking about my blog.
As such, I changed the categories’ names back to “Media” and “Tech” in 2025, though I still kept the two categories semi-separate. I’m still open to the idea of giving it another go, ideally with better names.
Blog technology
I’ve largely used WordPress to run the blog. I’ve made several attempts to find something different or better as a content management system (CMS), but none of them panned out. In 2020, I made a brief attempt to use Ghost, but switched back to WordPress in 2021. I’ve also made several attempts to switch to ClassicPress, a forked version of WordPress that uses the old WYSIWYG editor (and not the current Gutenberg block-based editor). However, I ended up just going back to WordPress, with the Classic Editor and Widgets plugins installed.
Given recent goings-on with Automattic, the people behind WordPress, I’m still open to switching to something else.
Newsletter
In 2022, I launched a newsletter for the blog in Buttondown. However, it’s just a way to mail subscribers new blog posts as they go up, rather than a stand-alone newsletter.
Revenue
Over the years, I’ve tried running Google Ads, Amazon links, a Patreon page, and a Ko-fi page. All of these were attempts to monetize my writing efforts and (hopefully) pay for my blog’s hosting expenses. I’ve dropped all of these for various reasons, save for my Ko-fi page, which still exists. My Ko-fi page mostly serves as a glorified “tip jar.”
Social media
Over the lifespan of the blog, I’ve tried everything from Facebook and Instagram to short-lived efforts (remember Google+?) .My favorite one, of course, was Twitter.
As we’ve seen, a lot’s changed for social media, and not for the better. As such, I’ve shuttered all of the mainstream social networks at this point. (I still have a personal Facebook profile, but that’s for my family/online friends who aren’t elsewhere online, not for the blog.) My current social networks are based on open standards (such as the Fediverse), and avoid being owned by a racist billionaire, using manipulative non-chronological algorithms, or pumping out AI slop: Mastodon, Bluesky, and Pixelfed.
Web hosts
I’ve had several web hosts over the years; my very first one was with a Canadian company. Probably the longest-lasting one was DigitalOcean; I used it from 2018 to 2024, when I switched to my current host, GreenGeeks.
Blog posts
As for the blog posts themselves, there’s been changes in those over the years:
Animation
Animation’s still something I often write about, either out of nostalgia for older material (“top 10” lists, etc.) or with a focus on recent material: “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” the Best Animated Feature Oscar winners, etc.
Comics
There’s been major changes in comics since 2010. The rise of graphic novels for kids and manga have completely changed the market, making those the dominant forces (along with webcomics) instead of single-issues superhero books.
Another major comics change is something I wouldn’t have expected in 2010: Diamond’s direct market monopoly finally broken, and its complete collapse. Part of that is related to something else I wouldn’t have imagined in 2010: the outbreak of a global pandemic in 2020.
For me, one big change is I don’t write as much about comics as I once did. My comic reading’s changed; I’ve pretty much stopped reading DC and Marvel. Marvel canceled everything I liked, or rebooted it too many times to keep up with. Meanwhile, DC’s “New 52” reboot turned me off cold, as did DC’s heavy emphasis on Batman. (Between Trump and Musk, the last thing I want to read about these days is an unlikable angry rich guy presented as a hero.) As such, I’ve taken to reading webcomics, one-off graphic novels, and some manga.
Linux
Linux has changed a lot since 2010. The biggest change is Ubuntu losing its favored spot to various distros based on it, such as Linux Mint.
I’m currently running Ubuntu on my laptop, as it’s been finicky with other distros (specifically the suspend and Wi-Fi features). My desktop computer is an M1 Mac Mini, which I’m using mainly as a media server these days.
Politics
Politics have definitely changed since the Obama administration, and not for the better. Trump being elected to office twice is appalling in and of itself, but he’s definitely affected some of what I write about. In 2010 I wouldn’t have imagined I’d need a whole post about federal funding for PBS and NPR vanishing, or posts about media and tech companies rolling back longstanding diversity measures to appease a deeply racist and anti-LGBTQ presidential administration, but here we are.
Streaming services
Streaming services have definitely changed a lot since 2010; remember when Hulu was free? Or early 2010s Netflix compared to now?
In the 2020s, I started writing annual posts about recommended streaming services for cartoons. Given the various changes in streaming, each year’s post brings new changes (HBO Max purging content, the demise of Boomerang, etc.).
The future of the blog
I’ve sometimes wondered if it’s worth keeping the blog going, given: the decline in blogging’s popularity (I’ve seen a number of long-running blogs shut down); the current state of the open web; my own tastes changing; and being uncertain about these posts attracting an actual audience (site statistics aside).
One reason I started a blog, however, was as a way to show off my technical writing skills, and build a portfolio to show employers. That hasn’t worked out the way I’ve wanted; I haven’t had much luck in finding technical writing work.
Still, I do enjoy writing this blog, so that in itself is incentive to keep going, along with those that do read these posts. Again, I do appreciate everyone who’s supported my blog over the years; thank you!
Photo by Jim’ll. (Flickr / CC0)
Happy blogversary!
I was trying to see when I started following your blog. The earliest record I have is in my email. I have an automated email from WordPress on July 25, 2014 asking me to subscribe to comments on https://www.diversetechgeek.com/comixology-finally-allows-drm-free-comics/ (of course, the original domain was different).
I also have a second source confirming that. I used to use the service pinboard.in to keep track of bookmarks and blog posts I commented on. My earliest bookmark in pinboard.in with the tag #anthonynotes uses that same URL from July 2014.
Thank you!
I just came across your blog today, and a shame I didn’t stumble across it earlier. However, I read quite a few blogs of yours and amazing work and proud to see you’re sill blogging. I am sorry it didn’t get you work, and understand as myself being in the journalist world. I cover sports mostly and just love writing. Nice work!(:
Thank you!