The New Oil

All good things must come to an end. That includes this blog.

Since 2018, Write.As has been a wonderful platform. It has provided exactly what it claimed to on the front page: a minimalist, privacy-respecting, and user-friendly writing platform. And yet, it also provided a surprisingly flexible and powerful tool that met my needs exactly when I started: I could add images and links, I could federate directly with Activity Pub, I could easily host a newsletter, and honestly I had so many more features at my finger tips that I never even used since I simply never needed them.

That said, Write.As is not without shortcomings. No project is. Monetizing is virtually impossible, scheduling posts in advance requires serious workarounds, and while the platform is surprisingly flexible it remains committed to being a blogging platform, meaning it will always have limitations there.

To be clear, I respect that. I've always said that those who try to do everything usually end up doing everything half-assed. It's best to stick to one or a select few things and really knock them out of the park. The Write.As team is making a blogging platform, and they're crushing it. It's been a real pleasure to watch it mature over the years and add things like comments, Rich Text support, and more.

But The New Oil has outgrown Write.As.

As long-time followers know, for the last few years I have been trying to grow The New Oil into a full-time project. There are two main reasons for this: one is just that it would be a dream job to talk about privacy full time. The other is because I have received so much reader support. Originally The New Oil didn't even have any support methods. I never expected it to be what it is today. It wasn't until people started reaching out to me and saying “hey I really want to send some support your way but I don't see any way to do so” that I finally added some stuff. Before long, the project was self-sustaining. And then it began to become profitable. Nothing crazy, but enough that I had to go “oh, what can I do with this support?” That was when I realized the real potential of the project on my own life. Since then I've constantly asked myself “how can I keep growing this project?” It's not just about me working my dream job, it's about furthering the privacy cause. I've had so many encouraging messages from readers telling me what a positive difference I've made in their own lives, as well insider info from colleagues in the privacy space about how they can see the difference The New Oil is making. My passion for privacy is genuine. Full-time privacy work is just a means to an end. The end is fighting as hard as I can for digital rights.

A constant challenge with projects like The New Oil is finding balance between being everywhere and being efficient. The more platforms I sign up for, the more potential audience I reach. But then that also means more websites I have to keep up with. Right now, the blogs are being posted in three places: here, Ghost, and Patreon. Going all-in on one platform would make life easier, but might potentially alienate people who are – for example – already using Patreon and would rather not make yet another account. Conversely, what if I go all-in on the popular platform (Patreon) and get deplatformed? It's best to be spread out to prevent these sorts of risks, but then – again – being everywhere takes a lot of time and energy to keep up with each platform.

With the challenges facing Write.As – like the inability to schedule posts easily or have member-only content – it's beginning to feel a bit constrained.

I have made the difficult decision to close down Write.As because I believe I am offering to a fair alternative: Ghost. Ghost is open source, federated, and now self-hosted. All analytics are privacy-respecting. Ghost allows both paid and free content and post scheduling. That's not to say Ghost is perfect. Again, no platform is. But at this time I believe it fits my goals and needs in ways that Write.As no longer does.

I want to thank the Write.As team for all their hard work and for hosting my content for so long. They were always a pleasure on the rare occasions I needed to reach out; they were responsive to user feedback and quick with support. I still support Write.As. If you want a simple, clean blogging interface, you can't go wrong with this one. They are worthy of your paid subscription.

For existing readers, I would encourage you to consider checking out our Ghost. You will still be able to subscribe via email or [Activity Pub]() for free with just a few clicks and you'll be all set up the same as you were here. The existing TNO back catalog should start making its way onto the site in the coming weeks, for those who worry about being able to access old content. If you would like to support The New Oil financially, Ghost offers paid subscriptions. You will get early access to most blogs and videos as well as the ability to leave comments. If you'd prefer, you can also get all the same content and perks over on Patreon. It may take me a few weeks to start pumping out content reliably, between the holidays and just generally settling into my new routine, but once I do I'm hoping to get back to weekly blog posts.

Thank you to the Write.As team. Thank you to everyone who's been supporting me so far. I hope you'll follow me over to this next part of the journey.

Tech changes fast, so be sure to check TheNewOil.org for the latest recommendations on tools, services, settings, and more. You can find our other content across the web here or support our work in a variety of ways here. You can also leave a comment on this post here: Discuss...