Micro.blog Compared to Pckt.blog

TLDR; I'm just brainstorming out loud. I know from websites, CMSs, cross-posting, social media, etc. I like to overthink things to a point. I'd welcome your replies if you have curiosities or ideas, but I don't need answers or solutions.

For a few years now I've used Micro.blog to post short form thoughts onto the internet. It has a nice, simple macOS app I can use on desktop as well as an iOS version on my iPhone. When I post something with it, a copy lives on my personal Micro.blog which I have redirected to micro.chrisenns.com. But those posts also live on the Micro.blog social network at micro.blog/iChris. I also have the posts automatically cross-post to my Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads accounts.

In addition to short form thoughts, if I ever write a proper post on my blog, chrisenns.com, I write a quick "here's a new blog post" with a link to it on Micro.blog and share that out.

Cool.

My content is mine at Micro.blog and my blog, but it's still shared out to wherever people feel like following along.

As a service, Micro.blog kind of straddles a lot of worlds because it can be used to host long form blog posts, interact with people on Mastadon (Federated) and/or Bluesky (Atmosphere), and cross-post as I mentioned. I currently pay $5/month for it.

Enter Pckt.blog

I dig all the apps being built on ATProto. I don't see the same enthusiasm around building apps in federated spaces like Mastadon, but maybe I don't follow the right accounts?

At any rate, I stumbled on Pckt.blog and really enjoyed the interface for writing posts with a URL and hitting save/send. Lots of thoughtful design touches, a minimal interface that gets out of the way, and fun ways to customize your blog without having to spend days getting it set up.

That part is like any other blog CMS other than it integrates with ATProto for your login. But even that I suspect could be ignored if you just wanted a blog on Pckt? I'm not sure.

Pckt.blog has a fun /Notes/ feature that's a little like Micro.blog's social network. You can participate if you want. You can see my Notes my visiting my Pckt.blog profile (I think that's the right term?), but it's not like a full social network you can just visit and browse the same way you can with Threads or Bluesky. As far as I'm aware.

I currently use Pckt for free, but have been feeling the nudge towards the $4.50/month or $44/year support level the more I use it.

Where's My Canonical Home Now?

As I dive in and use Pckt for posts about ATProto and the web, I find myself beginning to wonder what I should be using as my canonical home base on the web. I like Micro.blog and it's served me well. I like being able to cross-post from it. I don't think there's a way to cross-post into Pckt's Notes from Micro.blog—and I'm not even sure if that would be a good thing for Pckt to open up to anyway.

I love native apps. A Pckt app for macOS / iOS would be a super fun way to add and read content on Pckt. Is it necessary? No, probably not for Pckt's mission and goals.

But I really don't need yet another home on the internet. I've finally managed to shed most of my random domain ideas. 😆 But I do want to play with it all somehow.

But I want to play more on ATProto.