Ironically writing on Substack, which is busily monetizing longer-form web content, Jeet Heer asks, "Can we bring back blogging?" From where I sit, I would observe that it actually wouldn't take very much work - all people would need to do is start blogging again (like I have been since 1995). It's not hard, but you do need to avoid services that throw up paywalls or worse in front of readers. In this response, Chris Aldrich cites with approval a comment about the need for "a sort of flywheel of engagement" and writes, "if we want a real resurgence of thought and discourse online, we’re going to need some new tools to do it." Perhaps, he suggests, "some of the building blocks the IndieWeb movement has built." Maybe. But in the end, I think, we ourselves have to choose openness. Image: Aggressive Growth Marketing, Can blogging be automated?