Thought that I’d be hip. Reveal my thinking on yet another platform. Signed up to Substack last year. But frankly. My first attempt at a Substack post. Was sub-kak and misfired . The post was released (automatically). Before my thoughts were complete. What was I thinking? Deadlines? I think, for the moment, I’m going to continue blogging (as I have been doing on and off for the past for the past 18 years). If I am going to use Substack. Its going to be to point readers to my blog. And apologies to my few subscribers.
Talking of platforms. Its become increasingly clear, that Twitter is no longer the town square it once hoped to be. Neither are the thoughts expressed there. As coherent as they once seemed. Frankly, I am a bit relieved by the slow death of Twitter. Musk’s many dumb decision’s have released me from the rabbit hole that extracts my attention. It is time to move away. To yet another platform. My (incomplete) switch. Has been across to https://social.ds106.us/@weblearning on Mastodon with Jim Groom and Reclaim Hosting . I am very grateful to be a part of this community. The switch from Tweetin’ to Tootin’ is not complete. I still use the bird site for DM.
Making Thinking Visible has always been my rationale for blogging. Putting my thoughts down out into the digital ether. Contributing to the open web. This has changed me and shaped my identity. At one time opening up seemed incredibly difficult. It took me a while to pass through this threshold. It still remains difficult to put my thoughts out there. But I also saw. That unless I started expressing myself. Publicly. I’d remain a wallflower. A consumer of information.
Blogging, I hope. has allowed me to express my own rationale and understanding. These public words. Have given me the chance to be both critical and creative. To shape and hold together, a long form explanation, a sequence of thoughts. This sort of writing is expected in the education community. Is much harder than a short tweet. Or a thread of replies and responses. And so, here’s another blog post.
Something good emerged from my sub-kak post last week. And that was an internal recognition that the “open community”. While welcoming, pleasant, caring etc. Are largly located in the global north. I sometimes prefer to have my head space in the global north. It feels far more comfortable. The reality here in Johannesburg is gritty. Water is irregular. Electricity load shedding has been a feature for 15 years. And the open community in the South. Is small.
There’s a reason for this. I’m not too sure how to express this. Without giving offence. But, as I read many of the open newsletters from the US, UK, Europe. There’s an unthinking assumption – that their northern reality is the same mine. On a trivial level. Weekly newsletter’s that talk about the hot weather. Or the seasons. I know, for subscribers, it is summer. But its not summer everywhere. I also know that its exciting to have a long vacation. Our education system has an academic year runs from January to December.
Weather and academic calendar’s are a petty example. A more pressing example is remuneration. The labour that I have been offering the open movement. Is frequently un-remunerated. Under – recognized. The certificate you sent me does not put food on the table. I’m starting to wonder why, (like many others in the global south). We not not calling this out.
I hear the argument that being open is a choice. You are a volunteer. But doing the right thing is also important. And I’m convinced about the many good things about the open movement. But there are also many things that we don’t want to talk about. Its exclusions, bias towards the global north. A tendency to favour dominant languages. Extract labour. Without remuneration. These are issues that can’t just be ignored.