Twenty years is a long time by any standard, but for the internet it’s downright ancient.
It seems a little unnecessary to say it’s been an eventful twenty years because, over the course of twenty years, yeah, there’s gonna be some things happening, both personally and globally.
Every now and then I kill some time digging through the J’s Notes archives of nearly 4,000 posts made before 2011 and I’m astounded by a few things:
- I’ve come a long way as a writer.
- My production is nothing compared to what it used to be.
- My tastes haven’t changed too much.
- So much of what has been published on the internet in the past is is dead and gone.
The first three kinda run together and makes sense – as one grows they ideally hone their craft (whatever it may be) and how they use it changes as they do. J’s Notes used to be my social media platform where I shared everything I was finding interesting before Facebook and Twitter came along. It was a lot more political when I was. It was a lot more personal when I needed it to be.
J’s Notes was also a catalyst for so much of my life. I turned an interest in weblogging/blogging into an interest in New Media that transitioned into Social Media and getting a reputation for knowing a thing or two about this stuff – which allowed me to turn it into a career.
I’ve made a lot of friends thanks to this too. Like, real world, off-line friends. Heck, I met my wife because of this stuff.
So there’s a certain degree of nostalgia and memories that keeps J’s Notes limping along – certainly more than my inability to throw anything away (I have t-shirts older than J’s Notes).
I’ll be shocked if I’m here again twenty years from now saying “woah, 40 years already?!!” but 2001 Jason wouldn’t have expected to be here now writing this.
Here’s to 20 years of shouting into the darkness of the interwebs!