smash that subscribe button

Note to self: before you make a post on Facebook about how you’re leaving Facebook on account of Zuckerberg is a piece of shit, and tell everyone who reads it that they can subscribe to your blog … ensure that WordPress didn’t change the theme on you when you weren’t looking, hiding the formerly obvious subscribe button.

Here’s what I wrote there:

As an OG blogger who did everything in html, I resisted Facebook for years. I didn’t like the idea of being inside someone else’s garden, where I didn’t own or control my writing, photos, and so on.

But I ended up here because it’s where the people were, and I stayed here to the detriment of my own writing and my own website (that I worked so hard to build on my own in the Before Times).

Over the years, I’ve been put into Facebook jail for absolute bullshit, usually because of bad faith reports from dickheads, but also because a machine did a comically bad parsing of something I said. (Hey, die in a fire, machine!) As a consequence, I have ended up self-censoring, or even writing and creating to serve whatever the fucking algorithm wants, instead of what I want. It’s always bothered me, but at like a 1 on a 10 point scale. I’ve lived with it, and I’ve accepted the compromise.

And it’s been so frustrating to contort myself into all sorts of non-euclidean shapes, while literally every single time I report someone for hate speech, impersonation, scamming, a different kind of hate speech, terrorist threats, even more hate speech, the machine waits for weeks before it tells me that all of that hate speech was just peachy with Facebook and the gigantic piece of dogshit who owns it.

I’ve had one foot out the door on this website for a couple months, and now that Meta will allow and encourage hate speech against marginalized and vulnerable people (obviously so that right wing fuckfaces can do the thing, officially, that they’ve been doing all along) I am leaving for good.

There’s no reason for me to be here. Whether it’s because I’m boring or the algorithm is squashing me or some combination of both, engagement is way, way down over the last half of last year. And there is just way too much harassment, noise, bots, scammers, and overt fucking Nazism all over the place. If I’m going to reach a smaller audience, anyway, I’m going to reach it via my own blog where I actually care to keep that dogshit in the trash where it belongs.

I’ll let my blog crosspost here for a couple of weeks, and then I’m just going to let this account go fallow.

I sincerely hope that, if you have enjoyed following me here, that you’ll come over to my blog. There’s a simple form there, so you can get my posts by email, probably more reliably than you ever saw things here.

I also have Bluesky, though I’m going to use it minimally — the fire hose of social media is extremely bad for my (and your) mental health — and even then, mostly to let folks know when something I made is out in the world.

The people who work for me are going to be unhappy about this. I have a major project coming out in March, and it’s not the best idea to walk away from an account with a few hundred thousand followers … but when I walked away from three million followers on Twitter when fuckface von nepobaby turned it into a fascist propaganda tool, absolutely nothing changed for me, from a business perspective.

Put another way, my experience over the last 25 years has shown me that there is a core of people out there, you are likely among them if you’re still reading this (hi, Aunt Dorothy!), who care enough to go where I am. I’m counting on that pattern holding as I leave what has become yet another tool for fascists, authoritarians, bigots, Nazis, and other disgusting and deplorable people to use in their efforts to hurt people I love.

I’ll keep my Instagram up a little longer, unless or until this Zuckerberg approved policy of hate and toxic masculinity (why is it always the weakest little men who are so toxic, he asked, rhetorically) metastasizes there, as well.

Please come with me, back to my blog, where it all began.

On another note, I’m sure that the block editor is great when you understand it, but I am entirely lost when I try to use it. Nothing makes sense or follows a logical flow (that’s obvious to me, anyway), and it makes me feel stupid.

So I appreciate all of you who came here from wherever you came here from, and I am doubly grateful to all of you who have actually looked for that subscribe option. Because if it was anything like my experience, it was a massive pain in the ass.

Of course, at this moment, I believe you get annoying SUBSCRIBE stuff all over the place, including something you had to click to even see this (I think? Again, the documentation is confusing to my dumb ass) … but at least you can see it. And the layout is going to change a whole lot over the next couple of hours, while I figure this thing out.

If I can wrap my head around this, someone reading this late today or tomorrow will hopefully have no idea what this is all about, and if you are that person, I encourage you to celebrate by subscribing to my blog, so you never miss a post.

Thanks for your patience and support, y’all.

Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET

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195 thoughts on “smash that subscribe button”

    1. Saw the facistbook post and zipped over here to subscribe. Bravo for doing what you feel to be the right thing. Hope you and your friends and family are safe from the fires. Our 🇨🇦 water bombers are trying their best alongside all the LA, Mexican, and other US responders. Peace!

  2. I got a big full screen ‘subscribe’ page, so just signed up from there, then came and found this post. After reading the whole Fb post. I’m THAT committed 😉 Anyway, hello from Scotland.

  3. It looks like if you’re already subscribed (and I assume I am since I’m getting the posts via email), your last emailed post about smashing the button will show the user that they’re already subscribed.

  4. Done. Thank you for being up front about your mental health and setting a good example for the rest of us (including myself).

  5. Agreed! WordPress’s Block editing sux and I’ve hated it since its introduction years ago. I’m still using their Classic Editor as available. How they thought Block was an improvement eludes me still.

    1. A second recommendation for Classic Editor plugin.

      I installed Classic Editor right when the block editor came out, because I couldn’t make it work and it was buggy. In November 2024, I tried the block editor again. It’s no longer buggy. It just… doesn’t work.

  10. I was only on FB to follow you and my wife and watch reels so I’m happy with this switch. Thank you Wil for being a beacon of hope.

    On a side note I hope you and Anne are safe from the fires. I hope everyone gets the help they need.

    1. That link unfortunately expired, I think it’s the default setting which you can change to get a permanently valid link.

    8. I’m getting: Invite Invalid. This invite may be expired, or you might not have permission to join.

      I’d love to check it out if that’s cool.

        1. Okay … now I need to find the “Notify me when user Wil posts a discord link.” Since we are all on the way back train today … time to fire up the Gentoo box and get the WordPress API SDK going.

  12. I tried to leave Facebook and Meta years ago. I still find my data has shown up there which annoys me to no end. It is at a point where I think about getting rid of a smartphone entirely, but I still need it for work. I’m just floating it out there, but have you thought about doing a Substack or something similar? I’ve always enjoyed your writing, so it would be something I would be interested in and would gladly subscribe too.

  13. I’ve had a foot out of the Facebook door for a while now as well. Between them abandoning fact checking on the platform and then dialing back on their company’s DE&I initiatives in order to please their tangerine pimp, it’s not a party I want to be a part of anymore.
    Excited to re-enter 90s internet!

  14. I shun WP block editor and can still get around it by writing the blog title in the block editor and saving it, then choosing Classic Editor in the All Posts list.

  15. I didn’t smash the subscribe button, but I have had your RSS feed in NewsBlur for some time so I should still be set!

  16. I think I’m on Discord already but I’ll have to check. Do what you need to do, Wil. Safe spaces are fast shrinking; I was on Threads recently, the conversation piece of Instagram and saw a post from a Trans Man talking about all the hate on it, he couldn’t take it anymore and was going to Bluesky. Other Trans Folk tried to dissuade him, saying they should stay and fight. I don’t think it’s admitting defeat to go elsewhere. Let the haters have their tar pits and we liberals, Dems, Centrists et al, will continue speaking out, strategizing and communicating.

    1. “Stay and fight” is incredibly misguided. If they want to go with the combat metaphor, sure, but Threads isn’t a battleground, it’s a gladiatorial arena. Staying on Threads isn’t “fighting against the enemy”, it’s “fighting to entertain the enemy”.

      I say this not to denigrate people who choose to stay on Threads, only to denigrate those who choose to attack the ones leaving Threads.

  17. I’ve hated the Block editor since they introduced it years ago. It has a few nice features but seriously lacks flexibility. Long live the Classic editor!

  19. I’m glad you’re here! You continue to unlock core memories from my childhood (fellow genXer) with your writing. There are so many reasons I appreciate your presence. Thanks for continuing to show up and fight the fight. 🖤

  21. I will do whatever I have to in order to keep seeing your posts. I had not seen anything since the CA fires started and was worried for you and your family. Since you posted this, I will assume that you and your family were not affected.

  22. Facebook has become such an awful UX already that I’d have left long ago but for a private group of friends I rarely see in person.
    Anyone here have thoughts on the best platform to migrate a group to?
    Thanks for blogging Wil. I’m grateful for sane voices in the din.

  23. First time here, I left Twitter after all the other star Trek fam left, Facebook now has less and less community I’m looking for, so, now I’m here, live long and prosper

  24. I would follow you anywhere, Wil Wheaton! Except maybe off a cliff. I would take a pause before following you off a cliff. Other than that, though…

    If I went back in time and told my middle school self I was exchanging blog sites with Wil Wheaton, she would first ask me what a blog is and what the Internet is, and once I got done explaining all that, she wouldn’t believe me. I still remember being over the moon after receiving the letter and photo I was sent from your fan club after I sent you some fan mail back in the day.

  25. I made it here! I’m looking forward to come on over for my daily ‘catchin’ up on stuff’ time. I’ll have a lot more of that since I won’t be spending as much time on FB. I remember when blogging was a great way to engage. I had a Xanga account for a long time, then suddenly it died. 🙁

  27. I’m glad I found you. I understand why you would leave FB, but I’m lingering to continue to fight. I have friends and healthy garden groups there. I don’t want to leave them alone in the dark. But I have stopped following a lot of fluff on FB.

  31. I thought finding how to subscribe was a test so only the worthy would receive updates…. 😉

  32. Thank you for directing us Facebookers to your blog. I’m considering deleting my Facebook account completely. The only thing holding me back is the convenient connection to my long distance relatives and friends. I look forward to your newsletters!

  33. I’ve got you in CommaFeed, my RSS reader, so I’m already “subscribed” that way.

    I’m not sure that I’d put faith in WordPress in the long run, though, given all the drama that is being stirred up (mostly by Matt Mullenweg) around it and Automattic’s beef with WPEngine…

  35. So, um, do you know there’s an extremely messy situation going on at WordPress? It kind of makes you think all the tech CEOs all got some crazy drugs from the same source. IF you’re not already familiar with the Automattic/WP Engine saga, it’s worth a search, because WordPress isn’t that little scrappy open source project anymore. It’s really kind of hard to say what it’s all about anymore. You’re trying to get your blog going again and that’s the most important part, but before you sink a bunch of time trying to work through the morass of WordPress documentation, it may be worth looking into the Matt Mullenweg’s meltdown. It’s kind of epic.

  39. I have subscribed! I enjoy you and your writing, with the exception of when you rag on my Leafs. 😉 I look forward to being able to continue reading what you write, what your thoughts are, especially with what’s coming after the 20th. Best wishes to you and your family in the months ahead, from Toronto!

  40. I found you! I don’t blame you for leaving fb. It really is awful. I’m on bsky at lizabelle.bsky.social although I can’t think of one good reason why you’d be interested in following me.

  41. I will forever prefer RSS, which I have had set up for your blog since the beginning of time. Good for you for leaving that hellscape, Wil!

  42. Subscribed. Looking forward to your uncensored musings, anti all the evil people diatribes, unabashed nerdy enthusiasm. And probably more. Excuse me whilst I head to your back catalogue.

  44. Yay! Sorted.

    You’re way ahead of me with this stuff, and are a much better writer, too.

    I have a wordpress thingie of nominal merit and interest but cannot for the life of me make it work out for showing my artwork, and have never truly understood the point of a blog to begin with, as an Old [so there’s that].

    Someday, maybe I’ll get around to fixing it. In the meantime I’ll read yours instead. And get my stuff out of Meta.

  45. It’s funny…. I’ve been working on a post in a very similar vein for my own blog. Still doing a little fine tuning before hitting that big scary Publish button, but running across your post has made my day. Thank you.

  46. The fact I found the website and the subscription button is amazing to me. I’m such a luddite with technology anymore. I’d prefer to be just comfortable enough, money-wise, to “have a person for that”, so I didn’t have to deal with the weirdness of technology any more than I have to.

    Glad to have found my way here, and looking forward to your appearance at Rose City this year.

  47. Of course I’m subscribed to your blog! I had the privilege to meet and chat with you a few times on the JoCo Cruise and you are such a decent and funny person (and so is Anne BTW) that I have to subscribe to your blog!❤️

  50. I found a subscribe button that attempted to do something on the post about Bob Newhart, but you’ll never believe what happened next! It didn’t actually subscribe me. You know what worked? Just logging into my WordPress dot com account, going to subscriptions, and clicking subscribe.

    Thanks, WordPress, for making life difficult for the people who just use your little bit of blogging software.

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