On working towards something quirky and different, with confidence

You can call me old fashioned. Or tell me to embrace where AI is heading, but as a creator and publisher I still feel uncomfortable with where it is heading. It feels too easy for these AI tech companies to benefit from what we create.

I’ve been thinking about this in relation to my “Rosieland” efforts where I’ve been writing about community stuff for four years now. I’ve been building up an amazing community building knowledgebase. I host events. I maintain a space to “hang out”. Etc.

I’ve given a lot away. I happily putting much of my content out for free. More recently, in the past 12-18 months the climate has been much harder to find growth. The world is in a (not so) funny place and it’s so hard to predict where everything is going.

Just a few years ago the world felt like such as simpler place. The pace of change is most definitely speeding up!

And now it feels like AI can benefit from everything we create and there is increasingly very little in it for us.

I’ve been on the verge of opening everything in the past few months, to now doing the complete opposite: putting practically everything behind an email or paid wall.

In the past I would have lacked confidence to do this. The pressure to give for free so people can see what is available and to help pull in paid subscribers is real. Even more so for women creators.

But now, I’m ok with it. I’m doubling down on creating something special to me and those around me. I understand and feel confident that what I’m creating has value, now and in the future.

What people get in Rosieland is what I research, think and explore right now. They don’t have to wait.

I share my quick thoughts in the community. The community knowledgebase is what I stumble across in my research, it has bookmarks, community lists, books & podcasts lists, notes and quotes that I like.

I then share more formalised thoughts as articles. Then eventually these ideas will make their way into something else, books, courses, etc. It’s a slow process to get to the end though, so the “community garden” that I offer in the meantime has immense value to anyone who opts in to it.

It’s not a newsletter. Though I send newsletters out. It’s not a community, though a community is a part of that. It’s not about being an influencer. It’s about me sharing in a way that I feel (comfort)able.

And it’s not going to get sucked up unfairly by AI. Going forward most of my work will be going behind some kind of wall.

The world deserves indie-pendent profitable quirky spaces. Much like many of us don’t really want big corporations that serve shareholders over the people who are impacted locally, I don’t want big tech with questionable practices having control over me and what I create.

🌈 Rosieland welcomes humans, not AI.

This doesn’t mean I won’t or don’t use AI, this is more my personal attempt at creating my own ethical boundaries that feel good to me.