For years I’ve been passively looking at alternative blogging platforms; I’m one of the many that were dragged kicking and screaming into WordPress’ Block Editing Gutenberg nonsense. I adapted, and even got used to it– besides, I’m not a developer, so it was easier for me to roll with it. There are options, like Classic Editor plugin and ClassicPress, which I kept on the backburner.

WordPress was on thin ice ever since.

I’ve also been keeping tabs of the current Internet climate, so I’m not in the least bit surprised when this happened:

Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools,

according to 404media. The initial link is paywalled (nagscreen-walled, really), but other news sources have picked up the story. And on top of that, there’s rumors that AI training may have already been happening. [1] [2]

And that’s it, the final straw.

I haven’t expressed my stance on AI stuff on this blog. I can see how it can be helpful in most cases. But as a Creative (if only in writing), compounded with the current state of how AI is being implemented?

I’ll keep this short: Ultimately, not a fan.

And I do not consent to having my data trained on AI/LLM/Skynet. Sure, I can opt out, but why is shit like this never opt *in*? And, as Web 3.0 continues to algorithm its way into as much profit as possible, I don’t trust WordPress to honor my decision. And there’s just the whole principle of the thing.

So I’ve halted any scheduled posts, made my backup, and I will move in the next few months.

There are options– it’s just a matter of budget, and how and where I want to set things up. I practically grew up on WordPress, so ClassicPress is calling my name– and I can get behind their mission!

But this can also be an opportunity to pivot into a new adventure with new tools. That sounds exciting! I do have half a mind to jump into a whole ‘nother CMS.

And hey, when all else fails, there’s always DreamWidth. They have yet to let me down, unlike LiveJournal. I may even have it as a “mirror” of sorts.

So, that’s it. I’ll update one last time to let y’all know where I’ll be next.

Ja ne.