In order to register with NoBlogs, you require an email-account either hosted on their servers through A/I’s email-service, or some other non-commercial, privacy-friendly option.<ref>Accounts through commercial services like Gmail are rejected.</ref> In order to get an email-account with A/I, you need to request one and also provide a rationale for why you want to use their services. This was the reason I provided:
I suppose I don’t “need” your services. I have radical ideas about society, but I’m not an activist. I’m not a dissident under threat of repression. I “don’t have anything to hide”. This is to say that I could simply be using Instagram, Gmail, Medium, Amazon, and so on – and somewhere in my daily life I probably will. I’ve read your manifesto and perused the rest of your website, and it’s truly the work of paranoid minds. It’s paranoid, complicated, a bit demanding, and sadly probably sorely needed. I’m aware I’m not to talk about privacy or any of that sort, but I humbly ask to be excused for a moment: I’ve historically not been the most privacy-minded person out there but I’m very much aware that some people care a great deal about this ever-more scarce resource, however actually finding services that truly care about such things as privacy and freedom of expression can be difficult. But it’s evidently possible, because even someone as transparent as me – who plasters their name, location, occupation, political belonging, and pronouns everywhere you can write bios – managed to find out about Autistici/Inventati. I forget the specifics (and they’re not important anyway), but I think I saw a site hosted on NoBlogs being promoted in the footer of some website,<ref>The blog was GreenAction, and the website I found it on was antifa.cz.</ref> and at the time I was curious about alternatives to WordPress, Blogger, and the Bear-platform I’m currently using. Platforms such as yours need to be spread, and perhaps my use of your services will cause someone to stumble upon it similarly to how I did. As well, there being alternatives is good but they won’t see much success if no one uses them, and in the end, I think that one draw of the major social media platforms is that “everyone’s there” – so perhaps it’s time to diversify.
I fully agree that the politics at play when it comes to the ways and channels we use to communicate with each other and take part of news, thoughts, culture, and information generally are highly important, but at the risk of disqualifying myself, I will say that perhaps the more (immediately) important issue is even knowing that alternatives exist and that they’re just as usable as the major, established actors. With that said, your politics are also important, because it ultimately determines how you will come to view and shape your services. I want a world without capitalism and without economic and social hierarchies, and I’m reminded of a supposed Marshall McLuhan-quote:
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.”
A capitalist company might create a capitalist platform, whatever that means and however it’s achieved (and it may be incidental and without the knowledge of the company), reinforcing the ideals and perceptions promoted by capitalism. Perhaps, then, an anti-capitalist platform may foster other, different values. It’s all part of a culture after all, and it’s my belief that there’s much work to be done in that area if we wish to see a different society; it can be seen when it comes to the struggle against climate change and in the struggles of all manner of minorities (be it racial, sexual, gender, ethnic, or whatever), that passing laws is good and well, but we must also fundamentally change our attitudes toward other people and the world around us, otherwise e.g. discrimination is simply replicated in “politically correct”, “presentable” ways, be it with denial or with fancy words and rhetoric that belies what someone really means.
I realise that I’m being incredibly long-winded, as leftists stereotypically are, so I will be a bit more concrete. Should I gain access to your services I will also want to start a NoBlog-blog which will, like most of the blogs I’ve run, be about my thoughts and ideas, particularly when it comes to politics, and – perhaps – the odd post about goings-on in my life. I’m a leftist so the blog would also be leftist. Aside from that, I said above that I’m not an activist, but there’s a left-wing political project I’d like to get off the ground (but probably never will) and for that I require a website where I can collect information about the project and various related material. No specifics as of yet, because I’m still thinking about it, and nothing might come out of it anyway even if I do end up doing something with it. However, your offer of unrestricted, within reason, web-space is quite generous. And as I said above, I want to be a user of something other than the major platforms so it may spread through osmosis.
A bit about myself. I’m a resident of Sweden. I’m a member of the Left Party, although I very much stand to the left of it. I otherwise lead a normal life: I live on my own, sell my labour, sit and bake in the sun, and scroll through Reddit. I’m not very politically active, but I do feel a restlessness and a want to do more in this world, because I see the necessity of action; I just haven’t taken the time or initiative to do it, as unfortunate as that is.
Finally, a short passage about why I’m requesting access to A/I’s services in particular. I’m in full agreement with your anti-fascist, anti-discrimination, anti-capitalist, and anti-authoritarian values mentioned in various places across your website, and my use of your services will be in promotion of these values as well. I mentioned above that I use the blogging-platform Bear, and that platform also has a focus on privacy and non-commercialism (in regards to the platform, not the content users host on it), While it’s not apolitical to be against commercialisation I find that I probably align better with A/I’s stances, compared to the mostly non-existent stances of Bear (and for that matter e.g. Twitter or Facebook, although those two fulfil other purposes than Bear).
Finally finally, thank you for reading. I apologise for the lengthy submission.
