I just checked my latest Google Search Console report for Cybercultural. Couple of notable trends, that I think apply to other indie websites too:
1. Google has totally turned off Google Discover traffic for my site over the past 3 months. I never got big traffic from it, but at least my posts had a chance before. I suspect Google's algo has pivoted Discover traffic to larger sites, to keep them quiet.
2. Clicks per impression 0.50% (was 2.25% at peak). This is AI Overviews/Mode at play #SEO
By 1999, Microsoft had vanquished Netscape in the browser war, Google was starting to show up competing search engines, and Napster and Blogger had arrived to shake up our culture.
#InternetHistory
Author's note: if you read and enjoy my article, don't just 'like' it โ please boost or share it on the web another way. Indie bloggers can no longer rely on Google or other big tech companies for attention, so human curation is what it's all about (again). ๐
So apparently "Blueskyism" is a word, and it has heavy political connotations according to this post by Tim Onion. Ultimately I blame X/Twitter for politicising what social media app you use, but I don't like the idea of being painted as a certain type of political person based on using Bluesky. I don't feel like that's the case on Mastodon (altho I am willing to wear the "nerd" label than some on Bluesky put on Mastodon users...perhaps because I am actually a nerd)
Thereโs a couple of days left on this poll. Note that Iโm referring to blogs, i.e. linky commentary ordered by date. I think some people who have chosen 90s have been referencing GeoCities, Homestead, etc. While those services couldโve been used to run journals / weblogs, it wasnโt normally the case. By all means choose 90s if you were writing a blog on GeoCities, but just wanted to clarify that.
Itโs all a bit serious on the socials today. Anyone got a good tv show recommendation? I recently finished โDept Qโ, which I enjoyed. I binged all of โHalt and Catch Fireโ before that. โA Gentleman in Moscowโ was another fave this year. Iโm up to date with โSeverenceโ. What else is out there to binge on a Friday evening with a glass of vino?
Informal Friday poll: what year did you start blogging? I've put a poll with some timeframes below, but if you want to add some colour please leave a comment. As I mentioned in my post today (
Ghost or Substack? Eleventy or WordPress? Newsletter or blog...or online magazine? There are a lot of choices these days in online publishing, so I've detailed my own recent experiences in this post.
I discuss how I've found Ghost's fediverse integration so far (there are issues, but I'm fully supportive), why you *shouldn't* choose Substack, why I find @npub1qude...y0rz such a joy, and why #WordPress is in desparate need of modernization. https://ricmac.org/2025/08/21/ghost-substack-eleventy-wordpress/
