Does a Blog Need to Integrate?

   I say that if your website provides web feeds, you’ve already done your
   part.

   This text was dumped from starbreaker.org/commentary/re-does-blog-need-to-integrate.html with lynx.

   Kev Quirk has a new post about integrating blogs with social media, and
   because I’m no better at minding my own business than the average
   conservative I have opinions of my own.

   First, here’s Kev’s opinion in his own words…

     But one thing I was asked yesterday, and have been asked many times
     in the past is…

     How would I integrate a blog with X service

     X Service here is usually Mastodon (which uses the ActivityPub
     protocol). The short answer, dear reader, is that I don’t think you
     should integrate.

   Does a Blog Need to Integrate? by Kev Quirk

   So far, so good. Kev goes on to explain that he has tried to integrate
   with other services, that it’s a pain in the ass, and that he gets most
   of what he needs by linking to his posts from other services and
   providing an “email me” button at the end of each post.

   I agree with all of this, but I’m going to approach this from a
   different angle: It is not a website operator’s job to integrate their
   website with external services.

   Here’s why: Kev Quirk already provides an Atom feed. I provide
   full-text and headlines-only Atom feeds. If Facebook and Instagram
   can’t or won’t use our feeds, that’s Mark Zuckerberg’s problem. If
   Mastodon can’t or won’t provide interoperability with RSS and Atom,
   that’s a failure on Eugen Rochko’s part, and if Twitter won’t accept
   feeds from external websites you need to take it up with Elon Musk—and
   while you’re at it, please remind him to start taking his fucking meds
   again.

   As far as I’m concerned, the integration of websites with external
   services is a solved problem. We have RSS. We have Atom. For Crom’s
   sake, we even have JSON feeds, but most feed readers don’t seem to
   bother with those. What more do you platform devs want?

   Oh, I get it. You think static blogs should implement ActivityPub.
   Well, that’s not going to happen. I certainly don’t get paid enough for
   such foolishness, so I’m not going to turn my personal website into a
   personal web app for your convenience. As Janet Jackson put it in 1986,
   "What have you done for me lately?"
   preview image for YouTube video ID r9uizdKZAGE Janet Jackson - “What
   Have You Done For Me Lately” (Official Music Video)

   Nor am I willing to do more unpaid work on my end just because you
   don’t want to get your brains dirty wrapping them around XML. If I can
   cope with XML, then so can you. Be grateful you don’t have to use
   Visual Basic 6 and classic ASP in the bargain.

   Instead, I have a better idea. Use what website operators and bloggers
   already provide instead of making further demands on their time and
   energy. Fix your damn silos instead of accusing us of running silos.
   Expand your skillsets and learn how to handle XML as well as JSON. Make
   your services welcoming to independent website operators and bloggers
   by allowing them to specify feeds from which to pull blog posts.

   Manton Reece managed it with micro.blog. What’s your excuse? Don’t even
   think of belaboring the obvious by telling me that if I want micro.blog
   I know where to find it. That’s just you excusing your own reluctance
   to integrate your parasocial media silo with the open Web, and I’m not
   buying it.

   For Hell’s sake, stop pushing IndieWeb integration on people who just
   want to make a website, while you’re at it. Most of their
   recommendations haven’t been workable in years, but they don’t properly
   maintain their wiki by archiving outdated recommendations. Nor do they
   pay me to clean up after them. This is convenient for me, incidentally,
   as it spares me the emotional labor of pretending I don’t hold them in
   contempt for being part of the Internet gentrification problem.

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