My relationship with Internet from Orkut to Substack
Today marks my first post on my own web address (thesachinraj.in)
Writing this feels like I have owned a new real estate for myself. I am sure people must feel like this when they buy their first house or something. I know this is not just the feeling of newness either. The Internet has been no less than a home for me - it has given me solace in times of darkness, strength at times of ineptness and good company in solitude. And this has been long due - I have always wanted this - to have a space for myself on the internet where I could write and express myself freely. I think it is my time to contribute and produce for the world that has given me so much. To commemorate the occasion, I thought it’d be interesting to reflect upon my relationship with the internet.
Advent of social media platforms:
I have always liked reading on the Internet and have admired people who write well. If I recollect today of my earliest interaction with the Internet, it’d be from my period of adolescence reading pages like “I hate when someone flirts or talks to my crush” on Orkut and later “The Ultimate Quotes” on Facebook. At one point in time, I was very active on social media platforms myself and was pretty good at it. I have liked receiving thoughtful comments from friends on the content that I had been posting. But I had stopped using social media because I realized that I couldn’t be in an environment and not be affected by it. It was not only about creating my content but consuming some of the content that I have never really subscribed to and being affected by it in some or another. I have realized I have no control over what I’m consuming and only creating for appreciation and algorithms and not for myself. These platforms stopped fueling my soul.
Email Newsletters/YT Videos:
The next meaningful electronic transition in my life came when I switched to subscribing to newsletters and creators on YouTube. Today most of the things that I know and learn from the Internet are through these platforms. I have now long been reading the world through the prism of newsletters. I like the distraction-free interface of old emails over all the "cool" social media platforms. I derive so much value and enjoy watching YT videos too and hold some of the YouTubers in very high regard.
Blogging/Vlogging/Podcasting:
There are various products/services people make and provide on the Internet. For me, it has always been the choice amongst what I have been consuming the most - texts in the form of blogs/newsletters, videos on YT and very recently podcasts. Of all these contents, I consume texts the most so naturally it’d be wise to start with online writing and maybe someday host a podcast. I had however on one of my worst days uploaded a video on YT as well to see if that could make me feel good but it didn’t feel natural to me - I looked very uncomfortable in camera and the underlying message didn’t seem to be communicated either so consequently that video was taken off from the face of Internet. I feel the right place (for someone who’s just starting out creating content on the Internet) should be a place which isn’t too overwhelming or too isolated. Both the feelings of being seen by too many known people or not being seen by anyone at all could be paralyzing for a lot of us.
Brief stint on Medium:
Inspired by a writer named Richard Reis on Medium, I have thought of writing 52 pieces, one each week in the year 2020. I have failed miserably with that resolution just two months into the year. I deleted all that I had written soon after. My life was very chaotic back then, and there was little dedication let alone discipline to do justice to the task that I had undertaken. But this stint gave me some sense of writing online, how to structure my thoughts and make it publication-ready.
Buying my first domain:
I wanted a piece of the internet in my name. The next question that I had was what name should I have for the domain. I have thought enough of this and this question alone was not letting me move any further. I eventually thought that it doesn’t matter if I love or hate my name; I’m never going to make the effort to change it ever so I thought this’d be a good idea for the domain to be in my name itself. I have prefixed it with the determiner “the” in my name to give a unique structure to my domain name. Having decided on the name for my domain, I researched around and found Godaddy to be a suitable website to buy my first domain. The domain that I’m using to write this piece was bought almost a year ago but I haven’t started using it because I couldn’t come up with the right place to host my website. The obvious option that I have had was WordPress but it’s been too expensive for me.
Enter Substack:
I have been reading and following various writers on Substack. I thought of Substack as another Medium. But it was Dave Pell who, when moved his entire newsletter called NextDraft to Substack brought my serious attention to learning that one can also host their website on Substack. And Michael Dean’s List enlightened me that this can be done just for USD 50 for a lifetime.
I am glad that I have finally taken this plunge to make and start this space and I am very hopeful about its progress. Thank you, Substack for providing this platform and much obliged to the world of the internet for coming into existence. May you live longer than all of us!