Almost 2 Million Views Later…

 Almost 2 Million Views Later…

Printscreen of views

Back in 2004, I took a contracting and consulting course. I don’t think I realized at the time that it would quietly lead me toward blogging, photography, web design, social media, storytelling, and years of documenting the world around me.

I had a few blogs before this one. Some I deleted while trying to figure out my voice, my direction, and what I actually wanted to say. That took time. A long time.

By 2008, this blog became the main one — the baby.

Not because it made money. It didn’t.

I never had enough followers for ads to matter, and back then ads often meant needing credit cards and systems I didn’t even have access to. I tried promoting other people, hoping community support would come back around, but most of the time it didn’t.

Still, I kept posting.

Through changing algorithms. Through shadow banning. Through censorship. Through watching the internet become more commercialized and controlled.

At one point, I shut things down for almost four years. I was honestly afraid — afraid of the political climate, the anger online, the fanaticism growing everywhere during the Trump era. Sometimes it felt dangerous just to speak honestly or ask difficult questions.

Screenshot of # of posts per year

But then I realized something:

If people like me stop using our voices, then fear wins.

Writers matter. Artists matter. Independent voices matter.

There’s that famous poem: “First they came…”

And history keeps reminding us how quickly silence can spread when people become afraid to speak.

So I came back.

Not because I think I’m always right. Not because I know everything. But because I believe in questioning things, fact-checking, observing, documenting, and speaking my truth as honestly as I can.

If I worked for a corporation, had sponsors, or depended on advertisers, I probably couldn’t say half the things I’ve written over the years.

That freedom matters to me.

Sometimes my blog is about activism. Sometimes photography. Sometimes politics. Sometimes grief, housing, work, poverty, climate, travel, or strange little observations about humanity.

People, places, and things. Nouns.

Even when I write about difficult topics, I still try to leave room for hope, humour, reflection, or some kind of positive direction forward.

Nearly 2 million views later, I still see these blogs less as “content” and more as libraries — collections of memories, stories, ideas, warnings, photographs, and moments in time.

A digital trail of one human being trying to make sense of the world while living through it.

And somehow, people kept reading.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by over the years, whether for one minute or many years.

Still here. Still creating. Still questioning. Still documenting.

— Tina Winterlik / Zipolita

Blogger, Artist, Photographer, Web Designer, Social Media Creator

Tina Winterlik Blog: http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com