Musings on Medium
Platforms, procrastination and finally taking the plunge
I’ve spent ages looking for the right place to transcribe my thoughts, I had an ungodly number of browser tabs open for months and I just never quite got around to finishing my “research” into the supposed pros and cons of various ‘blogging platforms’. I’m sure quite a few of you have also previously had the misfortune of falling down that particular rabbit hole, only to eventually emerge with the realization that you’ve achieved little more than creating another convenient excuse to procrastinate. — I’m being a little facetious, of course, there is a ton of genuinely helpful information out there, even if your subjective preferences will likely ultimately dictate which platform is best for you.
A little bit about me then, and why I’m here;
My very first venture into writing, beyond hurriedly writing Second language English high school essays in homeroom, was sport ‘blogging’ on a soon defunct platform where the focus was much more on social interaction than actual articles, I then migrated to a more general blog space where I’d write almost exclusively atheist-adjacent content for a few months. This second platform eventually lost its appeal and I unfortunately ended up with some serious writer’s block that effectively lasted for more than a decade. I wrote the odd lengthy Facebook post but not much beyond that, writing remained something I really wanted to do but I just didn’t feel like a viable avenue existed for it. — I would still regularly write down my thoughts in SMS drafts, on scraps of paper or in dedicated notetaking Apps, as if I was planning an article, but those notes just remained notes, some sufficiently topical as to now be entirely irrelevant but others hopefully perfect for sparking some writing inspiration.
Another reason for some hesitation…
I’m a bit of a stickler for clarity, I guess, and I felt like I had to be certain about my plans for a Medium account before I could reasonably create it. My indecision surrounded an interest in multiple unrelated topics and the question of whether I possibly required multiple respective profiles. I was also contemplating anonymity, I initially wanted to write anonymously because I exist in somewhat conservative circles where some of my opinions could possibly cause unnecessary stir, this decision was however in conflict with the reality that ‘local politics’ is one of the topics that I’m quite interested in and that writing about local politics would be near impossible without revealing at least some aspects of my identity. — I eventually decided to ditch the paranoia, take the plunge and see how it goes, with the recognition that I could probably alter things at a later stage.
So while I’m not quite ready for a face or even name reveal, I’m happy to mention that I’m South African.
I will try to write on a variety of topics, including social issues, politics, religion/Atheism, philosophy and perhaps even sport. :)
Feel free to follow me if any of this sounds interesting to you.
