#Hashtag
To the amazing readers of #Hashtag - all 23 of you (we've had some amazing growth in the last month): things around here are changing *ever* so slightly. Of course, the most obvious is the layout. I don't know, but I just like this layout a lot more. Also: the image for the page. Less Michael Maddux, more #Hashtag. And wine. I've also upgraded my account with Squarespace, and as some of you know, bought the domain hashtaghashtag.org, redirected to michaelmaddux.org.
That's all going to change. In the coming days, michaelmaddux.org will redirect to hashtaghashtag.org.
Another change: I have begun inviting additional contributors.
This whole thing started back in January, 2014. I did a couple of posts here and there, and then geared up for a campaign. That ended, and in January, 2016, I began writing again, with #Greenwood being my first post here that was syndicated (it found its way to the Urbanist). 2016 was pretty sporadic, and I had to tamp it down again for the Housing Levy campaign. But I started up again toward the end of the year, and have kept going semi-regularly since. I enjoy it. It's fun. And the way I write helps me, personally, figure out my positions on public policy. (The whole being "stream of conscious" writing is pretty damn close).
There are a lot of jokes between me and myself that make up #Hashtag. The #Hashtag thing stems from my ridiculous use of hashtags on Twitter. The number of regular readers is actually a reference to me ribbing PubliCola and Josh Feit. Lines throughout my posts reference specific things, often in a self-deprecating manner, and that's going to continue for my posts.
But with new contributors, there are likely to be more topics covered - including perspectives with which I do not agree. My hope: contributors will gladly write counter-essays when they disagree with each other. My only requirement: that contributor posts are rooted in fact with proper citations. Public policy is something that should be full of nuance, and people should be able to view data and information and come to different conclusions (except, of course, when those conclusions are wrong). I want #Hashtag to be a place where people can do that.
In time, I think we'll all know who the regular contributors will be, and they'll get bios. But that doesn't mean this experiment is cutoff from everyone else! If you want to be a #Hashtag contributor, here are the basics:
- Essays and series must be rooted in facts with data
- Find your own gd pictures - throughout and as the thumb - to keep it popping!
- Be able to use spell-check
- Be respectful of other contributors
- Don't ever post racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic garbage. I'll ban a motherfucker for that shit
- Be under age 45
There's no money in this, but I'm also not going to try to get folks to subsidize the whopping $250 per year this is costing. If you have some HTML skillz, awesome! On the advice of my homie Hanna Brooks Olsen, I'll also begin trying to set it up so it connects with Medium maybe? I'm not sure how all of that works. Either way, if you're looking for a place to throw down here and there - shoot me an email (michaeljmaddux@gmail.com), and I'll get you set up.
We've got some great folks already lined up, and I'm really excited to see if this experiment works! So keep coming back - it's going to be worth it!
