Thread by @sethjlevy

1/ Ok I’ve got something I want to run past you all. I’m considering opening a blog. I have a few questions so I’m going to post some polls at the bottom of this thread and your general comments are also welcome. First I want to give some background on how I got to this point.

2/ About ten years ago I joined Facebook. I had resisted before that because it always seemed weird to tell “them” what I was doing with my life. Yes, big government makes me uncomfortable. Ultimately connecting with people from throughout my life won out.

3/ Shortly after that I joined Twitter because it was the other service and I thought it would be cool to have “sethlevy” but someone beat me to it so I registered @sethjlevy. Funny it never occurred to me that I could use an alias.

4/ Either way, I never really posted. I used twitter mostly to follow sports reporters so I could know what was going on in real time. I don’t think Bleacher Report was around then. I added more news reporters afterward but that’s what Twitter was pretty much until 2015.

5/ Just like with Facebook, for a while I avoided posting my thoughts out of fear that “they” may target me. The Obama IRS targeting had only reinforced my paranoia as a conservative that grew up listening to Rush. But 2015 was a watershed for me.

6/ I won’t go into a lot of detail but I felt Trump was our last hope on immigration and globalism/trade. I came of age during Monica Lewinsky and knew the monster HC was. For eight years the GOP asked me to back McCain/Romney and I was done with that BS.

7/ So I set my fear aside and started posting. A little at first. Mostly Retweets. Then I started responding to reporters. Then I posted a few of my opinions in original posts. At first I was mostly talking to myself but in time people started following me and interacting.

8/ As I did it more I was less restrained. I got better at composing my thoughts in such few characters until I discovered threading. Then one day I ran into Langdale. It’s not that I didn’t speculate before that but his audacious speculation opened my mind to what was possible.

9/ Throughout 2016 I fought like hell as people laughed. Trump can’t win! Trump’s a fraud! He’s not Presidential! He can’t win a primary! Can’t get the delegates! Can’t beat Hillary! The mocking only fueled my fire. Like me, Trump never stopped fighting!

10/ Then he won and almost immediately it became about survival. I watched as people like @Cernovich went weird. Trump is a fraud! He can’t succeed! Well I started explaining how he could and was succeeding. The coup plotters have him! Well I started explaining how he had them!

11/ Ultimately Comey was fired and Mueller was appointed. Giving credit, @langdaleca definitely helped inform my early view of Mueller. As I started watching what was happening things started to click. Realities started presenting themselves. There was a design to it.

12/ So I went about explaining what I was seeing and, as I did, people really started to enjoy what I was posting. I probably spend a minimum of 3-4 hours minimum per day reading and posting. Raising 4 kids and working doesn’t allow much more. I do it because I enjoy it.

13/ Here’s where I have some questions. I know certain people have strong opinions on whether people make any money for their work here. My feeling is if you give people an opportunity and they choose to contribute that’s great. As opposed to putting your stuff behind paywalls.

14/ So let me ask my questions.

If I wrote a blog, would you read it?

15/ If my blog had advertisements, would that bother you?

16/ If I opened a Patreon type account, would that bother you?

17/ Do you think my content is worthy of a Patreon type contribution?

18/ I appreciate you answering the polls and any comments you make, good or bad. I can’t imagine ever making a living doing this and I don’t think I deserve anything but if I got to take my wife out to dinner once a month that would be cool. /end