I’ve been binge-listening to Cal Newport’s Deep Work podcast lately, and it’s caused me to rethink my engagement online. There’s no need for me to rehash the Emergency over on Twitter, or the ways that Facebook’s algorithm has continued to deteriorate into a string of ads over time. Cal’s podcast has reminded me of how great the era of Web 2.0 (blogs and RSS feeds) really was. So I’m making a conscious decision to start moving more in that direction, though I’m not jumping ship entirely. I believe the internet is starting to figure out what we’ve lost by committing to social media and will be heading in that direction anyway.
What does this mean for you, my faithful readers? I’ll be doing more posting here, for certain. My plan is to write a short blog post most weeks, probably on Thursdays, maybe with a collection of the most interesting reads of the week at the bottom (eg the things I shared on social media that week). Behind the scenes, I am also moving things I follow on social media over to my RSS reader, Inoreader.
I won’t be engaging in back-and-forth conversation on general social media. That side of my internet presence has really mostly been over on Discord for a while now, and I think it’s time to make that official. There are lots of advantages to participating in a closed community that’s dedicated to a specific topic, but one disadvantage is that they are harder to stumble across. So if you’re interested in chatting with me about LDS literature or other things, reach out via email or comment on a post here.
I’m sure I’ll eventually need to update this policy, but I intend to follow these guidelines for the next year at least. Here’s an overview of the other places you can find me online and what to expect:
Professional Accounts
These accounts are public and can be followed by anyone. If you follow me on one of these accounts, you’ll get updates about my publications and blog posts, my writing process and submissions, and the best articles I read and thoughts I have related to religion (Latter-day Saint and others) and/or speculative fiction. I do not post political posts or personal updates on these accounts.
I’m not going fully updates only on these accounts, but close to it. I tend to post from a third-party scheduling platform (currently using Buffer which mirrors to both accounts) and check for responses only occasionally, and that’s likely to decrease as I head into grad school this fall. If the internet ever settles on a viable Twitter replacement and Buffer supports it, I’ll probably move over there, but I’m tired of chasing the Mastodon/Post/Blue Sky train for now.
Blog RSS feed
Twitter: @lizbusby
Facebook: lizbusbywriter
Goodreads: lizbusby
Personal Accounts
These accounts are available only to those who I have met in real life, excluding current students. If you follow me on one of these accounts, you’ll get irregularly flooded with pictures when I update my kids’ Chatbooks, in addition to occasional local posts and queries and minimal griping/complaining. Only major professional news (publications, new jobs, etc.) will be cross-posted to these accounts.
Facebook: lizmuirbusby
Instagram: lizmuirbusby
Inactive Accounts
I don’t regularly update these professional accounts, but they exist. Maybe they will be reactivated someday.
Instagram: lizbusby
Post: @lizbusby
BlueSky: @lizbusby.bsky.social
