Recommendations without algorithms are doing just fine

They tried to tell us that without the power of algorithms, we wouldn't gain any readers, no one would hear about us, and our sites wouldn't emerge from the depths of the Internet for even half a second. How wrong they were. Or perhaps they knew they were wrong, but were trying to prevent anyone else from finding out?

Why do I blog anonymously?

If you look at the 'About' page, you'll notice that I've only introduced myself by my first name, and my avatar isn't an actual photo of my face. Am I hiding from someone or something? No. That was a kind of experiment. I didn't want my surname or my photo to be linked in any way to my previous online activity.

This is a deliberate move. I wanted to start building a blog from scratch, as it were, completely cutting myself off from any connections to what the Internet already knows about me. I also wanted to completely distance myself from big tech, algorithmic social media, and the giant search engine that has taken over people's minds (you know the one).

I suspect I'm at the beginning of my journey. I've been running this blog for just under three years, and I intend to do so for much longer. But I'm already seeing some interesting phenomena.

You don't need algorithms

Is it possible to reach readers without the help of algorithms? Of course it is. My site is a perfect example. Although my reach is symbolic (a few dozen views a day), I think it's a very pleasant start. Especially since I only promote my posts in one place: on my Mastodon account, which is also followed by a few dozen people.

Someone might say: that's not much. Hardly anyone reads you. To me, those people aren't 'hardly anyone'. I didn't start blogging to be a famous author. This is my quiet corner of the Internet and that's more than enough for me. If I end up writing only for myself, I'll do that too, because writing is great (but I'll write more about that separately another time).

So, I don't use algorithms. Especially the algorithms of the world's most popular social media platforms. There isn't a single link to my site there. Unless one of my readers shared it (which I doubt).

I write and paste links on Mastodon. But that's not all. Occasionally, someone shares my posts on that very service. It also happens that someone mentions me on their blog and includes a link to it. That's very kind and - to be honest - it's the best thing that can happen to me (and you). Interacting with other bloggers through mutual links.

I love discovering new bloggers through bloggers I already know. It's like going to a party with friends where you meet new people and build new relationships.

Aggregators. Without algorithms

By cutting yourself off completely from big tech, you can still reach new readers and build your own small, private projects. But Mastodon isn't everything. There are other ways to find readers. Aggregators.

My two favourites: blogroll.org and bubbles.town. I've known the former since about 2024. I came across it on the blog manuelmoreale.com. Manu took over this project and developed it. I first heard about bubbles.town recently - when I noticed in my blog stats that someone had visited my site from that address.

I typed the address into my browser and what appeared was a site that acts as an aggregator for blog content, where users can vote on individual posts to push them up the list. Ben (the creator of bubbles.town) wrote this on Mastodon about his project:

A reader-curated frontpage for personal indie blogs, powered by RSS, the Fediverse and lot's of coffee.

I love it! I really like the idea of a blog feed aggregator designed for the small web.

New but old Internet

There are likely other similar initiatives I haven't mentioned. If you know of any, let me know by emailing me (the envelope icon in the bottom right corner). Watching such initiatives makes me wonder how much effort Big Tech must have put in over recent years to "hide" the world of blogs and the small web from internet users.

Few things on the Internet have given me as much joy over the last three years as running my blog, discovering other blogs, and talking to their authors. It's the Internet as I remember it from my childhood: open, amateur, and discovered anew every day.

It's fantastic that I'm not alone in it, but that there are so many of us. And it's probably quite a good thing that we're hidden somewhere under a thick layer of algorithms that don't particularly care to find us in this digital thicket.

I don't know about you, but I'm liking it more and more.