đď¸ Hold Your Own Keys
On January 22, 1994 Justin Hall walked back to his Swarthmore College dorm room and sat down to try his hand at a complex project: publishing a basic HTML website using a shared campus internet connection.
Justinâs computer and website server was Appleâs new Powerbook 180 (with 4 MB of RAM and a 120 MB hard drive). His website, âJustin's Links from the Undergroundâ, was extremely personal, a public self-discovery medium as he came of age alongside The Internet itself. Justinâs website marked the dawn of a new era and the birth of the personal blogâbut it also marked the moment the gatekeepers died.
The Death of The Gatekeepers
Since 1994, more than 500 million blogs have been published on the World Wide Web. Today, we mostly take this medium for grantedâbut blogs are at the center of a cataclysmic cultural shift that has occurred over the last 25 years.
A thousand years ago, there were a handful of powerful gatekeepers who directed which information was spread all over the world. Want to share your opinion on how to make the world a better place? Get in line for the King. Five hundred years ago, Gutenbergâs printing press took the gatekeeper count from a few to a few thousandâbut with the dawn of the personal blog, 7 billion people became their own gatekeepers overnight.
Today, everyone has a voice. Not just the voice youâre born with, but the voice that scales infinitely online. If you have anything you want to say, no one can stop you. People may or may not be interested, but you donât need anyoneâs approval to publish an anecdote or manifesto online.
Control Your Own Medium
For all intents and purposes, the gatekeepers are gone. Unfortunately, some people seem to have forgotten thatâadopting new gatekeepers like Facebook, YouTube, or Medium to publish content. Shared platforms are phenomenal for reaching new people, but there will always be a missing element of ownership and control when another entity holds the keys to your content.
This is why, when youâre building your own online influence, I always recommend that you establish an independent online home that you own and control.
Like your own storefront or the front door of your house, this becomes your headquartersâthe place where you conduct commerce and welcome guests, where you hold the keys.
