Welcome to 2026, losers! 🥳

I’m (Mr. Wapojif) kicking off the year with thoughts on blogging and the wider creative online world. Many people do still blog and I’ve been following various people on WordPress for the last 10+ years, which is pretty incredible. I’ve made some lasting ENEMIES thanks to this platform.

There’s no denying blogging is considered old hat. With more popular social media sites (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, podcasting) lowering attention spans and upping the need for in-your-face attitudes. I’m behind the game big time.

It has made me question whether to jump the blogging ship and try my hand at YouTube videos or whatnot, but the result would be the same. There’s a hell of a lot of white noise out there, millions of individuals having a go, and whatever platform you use you’re unlikely to get much attention (unless you luck out).

This grounds my love for blogging in personal enjoyment and as a cathartic release. As a raging autistic introvert, this blog has helped me make sense of society/existence and process the madness going on in the world.

I started it all in February 2012 to unleash my continuous creative desire (if you have it, you have it) and self-deprecate. Back then I thought I was dumb, then realised I’m a goddamn genius (joking, btw), before later getting an autism diagnosis. That’s when I realised this is all a hyper-fixation. A special interest. To that extent, it’s a way for me to stay sane, rather than a means to get famous, rich, and widespread recognition. Now 41, I don’t really see much worth in any of that (unlike in my 20s, when I wanted to get published as a novelist—it all feels irrelevant now).

This is why I continue with the blogging. Random thoughts, satire, silly humour, a small community of peeps I like and respect.

Why not change? If it was anything, it’d be YouTube. It’s been a fascination of mine going on 20 years, but it is also full of dross. “Rage bait” was the word of 2025 and I can see why, with all the videos crying out desperately for attention with clickbait video titles and deliberate provocations. It’s an effort to try and stand out from everyone else, but it does lack integrity.

Instagram I still love, but it’s also the same mix of great work by very creative people offset by tens of thousands of low effort accounts. By which I mean half naked people doing barely anything to trigger off men going “u iz ded fit bae”.

I’m in full-time work with a demanding new phase of my career, so going off to learn how to make great YouTube videos isn’t manageable. And, again, it’d result in about 500 views per video or whatnot. It’s also not something I’ll necessarily enjoy, as I am a writer. I’ve been writing for 30 years, thinking back circa 1995 when I was doing fanfiction of Brian Jacques’ Redwall fantasy series.

This decision ties in with bad news I got the other week. Someone I admired a great deal, a brilliant budding physicist turned philatelist of ever-growing renown, passing away at age 34 (please consider a small donation here to make a difference: Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK). This is a quote from an interview she gave that I think is spot on:

“I’m really good at only comparing myself to what I think I’m capable of, not what those around me are doing. There’s always going to be some twat that’s better than you, but as long as you did your best then who cares?”

She was very grounded in her community. And that’s a realisation, a need for restraint, to be happy in yourself and be rid of the need for constant validation seeking. What does it matter? I do this for personal enjoyment and to entertain the people who read this ridiculous stuff. I don’t get millions of views, but that’s not what this is about.

I will be shaking things up a bit in 2026 with new features. Some of these may work and stick around, others won’t. Nothing will be AI generated, it’s all me and my daft brain. As I want to distance myself as far as possible from standard social media activities. No selfies, no clickbait, just a continuous pursuit of the absurd.

Oh, but I may (finally) enter some UK writing competitions. It’ll be my one final attempt at World Domination.

Peace and vegetables,

The esteemed editor Mr. Wapojif

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