In January, I wrote about settling into WordPress instead of jumping ship. The manual HTML work, migrating my posts to Neocities, was infeasible. I just wanted to blog. WordPress was the path of least resistance. But now I’m thinking about un-settling from WordPress (again).
Simplicity
One big reason for leaving is largely the same as the reason for staying: I just want to blog. I want the easy, simple path of blogging without friction, with no resistance. And I found a blog platform that is the exemplar of simply blogging: Pika.
Pika is blogging distilled to its essence: typing text. I’m finding practically zero resistance to writing on the web.
WordPress wants me to build a website, launch a creator campaign, start an e-commerce venture, and learn a whole new Full Site Editor to do it all. And it puts blocks in my typing path. I just want to blog.
Pika wants me to just blog.
My desire for a simple blog host isn’t new or radical. When I started Jason Journals about this time in 2017, I initially chose Blogger. One key reason was its great simplicity compared to WordPress.
When I left WordPress in 2022, I migrated to Blogger for the same reason: simplicity (also great nostalgia).
Stability
I left WordPress in 2022 because it suddenly and radically upended its plans and pricing structure. Then over months, those changes wavered. It totally unsettled me.
Once again, WordPress unsettled me in 2024 with news about it selling authors’ posts to A.I. companies (unless you opt-out) for A.I. model training. Then, at least at first, I learned opting out would exclude my posts from the Reader.
Trust in WordPress and its owner Automattic — a big company — is eroded.
I’ve also continued to struggle with WordPress’s transformation from humble blogging host to competitive website builder. It’s an unsettling paradigm shift.
Summary
Pika is the humble blogging host I’ve wanted.
It’s not a “big tech” company or an overgrown content management system. It’s a refreshing retreat from website administration. It’s a place I think I can call home, where I can relax and just blog.
And as of today, I’ve subscribed to Pika Pro. I chose the monthly option for now so that I can fully test everything without over committing. Yet simple blogging is something I can fully commit to.
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