Hello from my little corner of Planet Earth.

I’ve been writing online for many years, primarily professionally as a sports journalist. I currently maintain several blogs on Substack but have been looking for ways to move my online activity away from USA-based services.

So here I am on Leaflet giving things a try. (This is my first post.) Its implementation of Atmosphere protocols is convenient since it will integrate with the AT Proto services I already use. As well, it will allow anyone on Bluesky, Eurosky, etc to see my blog, follow me, and hopefully subscribe as well.

It’s a challenge giving Big Tech the boot because these services have become incredibly ingrained in our lives to the point that some businesses and governments use them as their primary means of disseminating information. This is not a good thing. As the last 22 months have shown us, Canadians have made ourselves vulnerable to the whims of a batshit crazy USA president and his klan, as well as the rantings of a certain Nazi owner of Twitter.

Speaking of which, that was the first service I kicked to the curb, as soon as Musk took over. I was never a fan of TikTok so that was easy to ditch. Then I bid bon voyage to Instagram. That left Facebook, which I’ll admit is the toughest to replace.

I first opened my Facebook account in the 1990s. Back in those early days, the platform was grouped around colleges and universities. In fact, users joined and had to select their alumni association. There was no advertising then, and the features were fairly spartan. Facebook was a novelty and kind of fun.

The service was also fairly open at that time. Users could have a Facebook e-mail address, and the chat was publicly accessible outside Facebook since it used standard protocols.

Eventually the platform became a closed silo and then increasingly bloated with features and algorithms to what it is now.

I’ve rarely used it in the last decade, probably logging on just a few times each year. I’ve long since banished Zuckerberg’s apps from my devices. Over the last year or so, I’ve been removing my content from Facebook. I plan to get it down to nearly nothing — no media, no groups, no pages, no follows. But I will keep my account open, at least for now.

Instead, I’ve been exploring alternatives, primarily Canadian ones.

I recently learned about and joined Hey Café. (You can find me here.) This platform is the closest to Facebook in terms of features, but far nicer and simpler. There is no advertising ad no algorithms. The service includes profile pages and groups (called Cafés). They also have a really cool implementation of RSS that allows for automatic posts from other services, such as Substack.

I am also on Gander and Eh! These are two more Canadian social platforms. Think of them as enhanced Twitter. Gander has posts and flicks (short videos), as well as boards, which are your own curated groupings of saved posts. The platform also allows you to follow Bluesky accounts. Eh! offers posts, groups, friends, follows, profiles, your wall, and your own space.

All three Canadian services have apps available, as well as web access.

Key issues for all of these projects will be adoption and financing, as the current user bases are modest compared to the Big Tech platforms. Users of these Canadian services will be looking for their friends to switch over to support made-in-Canada social media and digital sovereignty.

Financially speaking, the services are exploring fundraising and ownership models, as well as some paid services. For example, paying a small fee provides access to additional tools on the platform. Will Canadians be willing to ante up a bit of money to know that they are supporting projects in our country that respect our privacy and don't see users as a commodity for sale? We have become accustomed to "free" online services, though, of course, they are not really free. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google harvest everything you post and do online, selling this information to anyone who wants it. I was reading an article the other day that included mention of one woman who checked out the data Amazon had collected on her (Users can request a copy of all data) to find out that the company noted she had a flat buttocks. Yes, you read that correctly. (If you are curious, you can check out the story here and find out how you can see what Amazon has collected on you.)

Switching Gears

OK, so enough of that for now. How about a pretty photo? This burning bush in my front yard is particularly vibrant this fall. Check out its bright red leaves which as set off by the light green leaves of the Kentucky coffee tree and that dark needles of a Norway spruce.

So what's on your mind today?