Archive this!

I got an email the other day from the National Library of Australia, asking if I would grant a license for my blog to be archived in PANDORA for perpetuity. Not really understanding the awesomeness of this, I turned to Twitter… to find out that this was in fact, a Big Deal.

The National Library of Australia archives web sites of “national significance” in PANDORA. Blow me down, youse guys, definatalie.com is of national significance! It’s always been very important for me to write with an Australian voice, about Australian things, especially considering the under representation of independent Australian fat feminist female voices in the bloggosphere. A lot of Aussies blog, but we aren’t especially visible because our country has some funny ideas about traditional media being untouchable and righteous, even when it has some serious issues (ethics, sexism, racism, classism, access… the list goes on.)

I think because many Australians are suspicious of the internet, and blogging, it’s been hard for me to find an audience while keeping my focus local. I’ve been blogging for a few years now and it’s only in the last year that I’ve been able to connect with Aussies and other southern hemisphere dwellers. In previous years my online network had been largely US-centric, which frustrated me beyond what many of my US friends could comprehend.

Hugely instrumental in my recent surge in readership, Twitter has been a revelation. Many of the early adopters of Twitter were people from Brisbane, my own city. It was amazing having more local people to talk to and meet up with, and even more amazing seeing lots of those people start blogs as well!

To be included in PANDORA is a huge honour, and despite being aware of the drawbacks, I granted the NLA a license to archive definatalie.com. I don’t blog for SEO, I don’t blog for money. Sure, I take (an embarrassingly modest) revenue from advertising but that’s to cover my hosting and domain expenses. I am passionate about self expression, and I am enthusiastic about using the internet to connect with people because my interests, location and circumstances can be very isolating. The internet is a powerful and positive medium for people to engage in discussion on topics that have a hard time seeing light of day in mainstream media. It’s also been an incredibly empowering medium for self promotion. You wouldn’t know about me otherwise! It’s amazing to think that my observations and ramblings won’t die when my domain runs out, and it motivates me to keep writing about the things that are important to me.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that I have written a comments policy for my blog. It’s been a long time coming, and with all the traffic of the recent weeks it’s definitely overdue. If you’ve never said hello before, please do. It’d be nice to meet you :D