09/10/2024, 7:04 PM
as of yesterday, (Monday September 9th, 2024) social media site cohost.org has announced it'll be going read-only on October 1st, and will be shutting down entirely by the end of the year. shutdowns of social media sites are never gonna be a fun time, but this one hurts real bad for me specifically. i personally migrated over to cohost due to the fact that tumblr, my previous social media of choice, has an extremely transphobic staff team, and as a trans woman i simply wasn't ok with supporting that. cohost felt like a safe haven in that regard, it was completely independent, the staff weren't bigots, it wasn't made by some tech bro startup looking to make some cash. it was made for the people, by the people, as they say. free forever, no ads, support only if you want. but because of that philosophy, it became harder for staff to run the place due to lacking funds, as well as burnout and lack of motivation. which, to be fair, i totally get it. it's hard to keep something up and running when, y'know, you kinda need money to do that. but sound reasoning or not, it's still heartbreaking to see such an awesome site have to go like this. as of right now, you're still able to view and post to the site if you already have an account, but you can't sign up anymore. for me, the worst part is going to the section where you can sign up for cohost plus, the premium subscription that helps (or i guess, helped) support the crew, and seeing all the hope in the promotion for it. listing features you'd get, as well as features that are yet to come... and now never will. there's something about that that makes me want to cry. maybe i'm too sensitive, but something about that just... breaks my heart. let it be known, cohost may not have lived a very long life, but it was and always will be the best social media site. in an ecosystem where corporations are constantly using users to gather and sell data, cohost was willing to break the mold by not being run by total scumbags.
so... thanks, cohost. we'll miss you.