Hi guys👋.

I haven’t written on Medium in a while, but whenever I’m here reading an article, I usually see a couple notifications, so that means I’ve still got people interested in and discovering my writing through Medium. I thought I’d share an update so anyone who wants to read more from me knows where to look.

I don’t like Medium. I’ve never liked it. The mobile app is shit (at least when last I tried it). I hate the WYSIWYG editor. Reading comments on a post is unnecessarily complicated. I also don’t agree with many of the product decisions (like their push for paywalled stories) and the general look and feel of the site, so I never really felt comfortable here. The one major benefit Medium gave was its wide reach (community and SEO).

A while ago, I found dev.to and began writing there. I like it for its more specialised dev community and simpler writing experience. Been writing there for about two years now:

Shalvah - DEV Community Profile

Dev.to is lovely, but it still felt like I was writing in someone else’s world. It’s a forum, and I’m merely a contributor. As I’ve spent more time online, gotten better at coding and writing, my desire for my own space on the Internet has grown. I considered building a custom blog the way I want it, but I knew I’d get tired of it and rebuild it from time to time. And when it comes to blogging, what I really want is to focus on writing. Articles, not code.

I wanted a platform where I could host my content and have a greater sense of ownership. I also wanted something that was easy on the eyes — simple UI, no distractions, just a lovely reading experience. Considered a few, but what won me over was swish.ink, recently launched by my friend The Dreamer. It’s still new, but it gave me a straightforward editing experience and a pleasant reading experience.

So now I’m writing at blog.shalvah.me, via Swish. For now, I’ll be syndicating my articles to dev.to for a wider reach (there’s a great community), but at least I’ve got a place that feels like “home”. Check me out there. I don’t plan to set up a blog newsletter, so if you’d like to stay updated on my posts, you can add blog.shalvah.me to your Tentacle. (Disclosure: I built Tentacle.😄)

So, yeah, it’s been real, Medium. Thanks to everyone who’s read, enjoyed and commented on my content here. Hope to see you on the other side(s)!

Hey, I'm Shalvah👋. I write about my software engineering learnings and experiments. To get updated when I publish new posts, you can follow on Tentacle: tntcl.app/blog.shalvah.me.

(Confession: I built Tentacle✋ It helps you keep a clean inbox by combining your favourite blogs into one weekly newsletter.)