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+title: Introducing zunzuncito, a microblog
+date: 2021-06-12
+author: Wolfgang Müller
+
+Writing things is hard. So hard, in fact, that the dearth of posts here is not
+for lack of ideas or things to talk about, but instead for limits on how I want
+to spend my time. There are plenty of things I'd love to write longer posts
+about, but doing that takes at least three to four days if not an entire week.
+True, this is partly down to my obsessing over documenting everything and need
+to get every detail right, but in a sense I also cherish that, so I don't want
+that to go away.
+
+Clearly not everything needs that kind of treatment, however. Some things can be
+said with brevity and perhaps do not deserve an in-depth look at that particular
+moment. But since I've long taken this site as a space to write longer-form and
+truly developed articles, breaking with that notion here seems unwise and
+inconsistent - this site is just not built for short posts. Still, I have long
+felt the need for a platform that is meant for that kind of content.
+
+## Platforms aplenty, all broken
+
+Modern microblog platforms like Twitter seem to mostly take care of that need
+for other people. I've tried a few times now to keep a Twitter presence going,
+but never really felt a deep connection to it. Attention-grabbing design choices
+always put me off of it after a few months. It wasn't really a space I felt
+comfortable in, I felt like I had to market myself to others.
+
+Mastodon is the same by virtue of being designed like Twitter, a decision I
+understand on a technical level[^1] but one that I deeply dislike on an ethical
+one. I do not think that Twitter's problems[^2] will be solved by federation
+alone. There will need to be changes to the core experience and a rethink on how
+social networks affect people. Neither is a space for me.
+
+## A humming microblog
+
+Instead, I decided to build my own. A place for all the smaller things
+that I would still like to share with the world. A place that I have full
+control over and can cultivate by myself.
+
+Check zunzuncito out [over here](https://zunzuncito.oriole.systems). It's
+named[^3] after the [Bee
+hummingbird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_hummingbird), the world's
+smallest bird.
+
+zunzuncito runs on [Zola](https://www.getzola.org/), a static site engine.
+Initially I wanted to use the tried and true combo of
+[lowdown](https://kristaps.bsd.lv/lowdown/) and
+[sblg](https://kristaps.bsd.lv/sblg/), but there were some annoying limitations
+like the lack of easy pagination. Make no mistake, however, using Zola still
+results in a number of limitations that make this a bespoke solution at best.
+
+I expect to be iterating on this design as I use it. If you want to follow
+along, check out the [git repository](https://git.oriole.systems/zunzuncito).
+
+[^1]: It arguably also was the easiest thing to do and an obvious marketing
+  decision. The platform wouldn't have grown the same had it provided a
+  completely different and new experience.
+
+[^2]: Really these are no longer *Twitter's* problems, but rather problems on
+  the societal level, as people have internalized the sort of culture and
+  context shared on these types of platforms.
+
+[^3]: Spanish [zunzún](https://es.wiktionary.org/wiki/zunz%C3%BAn) (an
+  onomatopoeia) +
+  [-cito](https://es.wiktionary.org/wiki/-cito#Etimolog%C3%ADa_2) (a diminutive
+  suffix)