Social media sucks. For lots of reasons, of which most of us are at least somewhat aware.... but, for me the issue is the monetization part. The biggest companies in the world make so much money on the desperate need that most humans have for validation that it sickens me to the core. Facebook (Meta) and Youtube (Alphabet) specifically are the absolute worst. They offer a "free" service of posting our lives online in the hopes that our friends will follow us, like our posts, comment, and make us feel like we are loved and valid... when the reality is that they are selling ads to companies that are desperate to get their sponsored content in front of you and your friends' eyeballs. They are literally making money on everyone's content, including mine.... and I'm over it. Which is why I have started this blog and online journal for the people I know and love who want to keep up with me and what all is going on in my world, and doing so without giving Meta and Alphabet my creative content feed for free. Now, if folks want to know what I'm doing, all they have to do is go to my website and they never again will be forced to see an ad for some product that paid to have access to their eyes simply because they were curious about my life.