Updated on July 26, 2022
On July 25, 2010, my current blog went online for the first time. I’d had random blogs before then. However, running my blog on WordPress, and with a focused set of topics (media and technology), was a big step forward.
A brief history of the blog
Since 2010, my blog’s gone through various changes:
- Multiple different themes. I’ve stuck with the current theme (Poseidon by ThemeZee) for over two years now.
- Reorganizing my posts’ categories, subcategories, tags, etc. I’ve settled for awhile on the current broad two categories of “Media” and “Tech.”
- Several web host switches. I’ve had the current host, DigitalOcean, since 2018.
- A short-lived initial attempt to run two separate blogs (this one and an older one); however, this proved to be too much work, so I ended up merging them both.
- A change in name (from “Anthony’s Notes” to “Diverse Tech Geek”) in 2017.
- Moving from HTTP to HTTPS in 2016.
- Switching from WordPress to ClassicPress in 2019.
- Trying out various ways of monetizing the blog, including Amazon affiliate links, Google ads, Patreon, and Ko-fi.
- Trying a variety of social networks (remember Google+? Mastodon? Ello?).
- Changing how often I blog. I went from blogging every day (which was overkill) to five times a week (which still resulted in burnout) to the current three times a week.
Going over the blog by category…
Media
Comics and animation have always been highlights of my blog. For my two cents on the past 10 years in both, see my posts on comics and animation in the 2010s.
Regarding the diversity side of the blog, the “minorities in cartoons” feature I used to run covered various characters, from Black Lightning and Kevin Keller to the decade’s most popular new superheroes, Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Miles Morales (Spider-Man). I eventually dropped the feature; writing the posts started to feel like I was just replicating Wikipedia and other online wikis. That said, I’ve recently started writing cartoon reviews again (starting with PBS’ “Molly of Denali”). While I’ve kept the emphasis on shows or comics featuring non-White/LGBTQ/etc. characters, there’s more remarks on what I liked about the cartoon in question.
There’s also my ongoing series of posts looking at upcoming comic releases. Initially, I was writing separate posts covering Marvel, DC, Archie, and other companies. Eventually, I pared them down to just the Big Two and other companies. After awhile, I even got those down to just one monthly post. Since the pandemic put the direct market briefly on hold, I reassessed this feature, and decided to switch to only writing about upcoming graphic novels. The reasons: most of my comic reading’s such anyway (via the library); the posts will stay a tad more evergreen than writing about single issues; and singles have a bunch of downsides, anyway.
Technology
How I’ve approached tech’s changed somewhat over the decade. Initially, it felt like I wrote a lot about apps, plus workarounds on Linux for certain features Windows and Mac users would take for granted. One example: how I got around kernel problems in Linux Mint back in 2012.
I’ve since shifted to mostly writing about other technology aspects, given my personal tech shifts over the past 10 years: from Linux to Mac OS to Chromebooks to Linux (again) to, of all things, Windows. There’s also my switch from Android (and Fire OS) to iOS for phones and tablets. And of course the rise of streaming’s led me to write about streaming services a lot more.
Diversity’s something I’ve also tried to touch on in the tech sector. “Black Twitter” is one such example, along with topics like how to find free photos of LGBTQ folk or women of color in tech.
There’s also the consequences of politics on the world of tech. One example is net neutrality; Obama passed it, but Trump repealed it. There’s also concerns about corporate overreach (via abusive copyright laws) on the internet, as seen with the 2012 SOPA and PIPA protests.
For my thoughts on the past 10 years as far as specific tech companies are concerned, see:
Portfolio
One reason I launched this site is to provide an online portfolio highlighting my writing skills. Thus, I’ve usually had some version of my portfolio page, showing samples of my published writing.
Other highlights
I’ve seen my blog referenced elsewhere online, such as Wikipedia, several articles, and even by other bloggers. It’s nice to see others find my blog useful.
Running the blog’s also given me plenty of skills in things like managing WordPress (plugins, themes, etc.), search engine optimization (SEO), online promotion via social media, and so on.
The blog’s future
As for the future of the blog? I’ve had concerns over the years (including recently) about whether my blog actually is useful, or needs to change something to stay relevant. Two separate blogs for media and tech? A better division of categories/topics? Create a podcast and/or YouTube videos? Improve my social media presence? Accept that almost everything online is a walled garden nowadays (podcasts and email aside)?
The above self-doubts aside, I’ll still be online as long as it’s worthwhile.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who’s supported my blog, and my writing efforts, over the years. Thank you!
Photo by Tela Chhe (Flickr / CC BY)
