I use Medium sporadically, and I think it's a good platform to use if you don't already have an audience, since it's easy to repost to larger publications and gain distribution.
Once you gain an audience, or if you already have one, then using an open source platform is the way to go.
WordPress is probably the best choice, since the ecosystem is just so much larger than anything else out there. I would really suggest finding a managed service over deploying it on an ec2 instance or something. Security is a constant battle on WordPress sites, and it's just better to have someone else deal with that.
If you don't care about distribution or growing an audience and are just blogging for fun, then something like Hugo might be a good choice.
If it helps, I’ve used Redux in a couple production apps and loved it. Boilerplate can be a bit tedious at times, but in exchange you get a lot of sanity and clarity in your code.
There has certainly been a lot of anti-vaping money backing ballot measures like the recent one in SF. I’ve been meaning to look into who is actually funding this. The tobacco companies seem to be on board with the trend and many are manufacturing their own devices. What’s bad for Juul would likely be bad for them too.
This is spot on. It's just like any other marketing tactic - it works well until everyone else starts doing it.
As for the pricing of posts, the lowballing is getting more and more dramatic, because there are many more "influencers" now. The only brands really shelling out are large corporations with large budgets looking for something very specific. Smaller brands can just reach out to a bunch of influencers offering only product in exchange for a post, and someone will say yes.
I can say from experience that an Instagrammer with 100k followers is unlikely to get anything near $2700 to post a photo. This was probably true several years ago, but these days the number is closer to $1000.
When you have to use design principles to argue against the fact that many people think the "poorly designed" poster looks better, your principles have failed you, and maybe it's time to reconsider them.
I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who has actually suffered from severe, crippling depression, and in my experience, the greatest danger is feeding into this fantasy world the depressed mind conjures. My post is acknowledging this "real danger".
I also never claimed there was "one simple hack". As someone who deals with depression on a daily basis, I offered what I think are a few of the most important tactics for keeping it at bay.
I speak from experience, so please don't write off my comment as "ignorant".
Blaming your lack of fitting in on being black, and buying into this bullshit your head is telling you is your real problem.
I've felt the exact same way you describe in this post, but instead of "black", insert "short", "ugly", or any number of excuses I can come up with for why I don't fit in, and people don't like me, and it's not fair, and it's everyone else's fault. Bullshit. People aren't friendly to you because as a severely depressed person, you're probably a real bummer to be around. You probably look awkward, uncomfortable, and generally unapproachable.
You need to stop blaming society for your isolation and start working on shifting your shitty perspective. Some things that have helped me immensely are exercise and mindfulness meditation. Talking about your feelings helps too - as long as the people listening aren't just going to co-sign and feed into the depressive, self-pitying garbage that you're spitting out.
P.S. Feel free to contact me if you want to change.
The entire point of AA is not to focus on the singular behavior of problem drinking, but instead to produce a complete psychic change. The central theme of the "Big Book" is that simply removing the alcohol from an alcoholic is not enough. The alcoholic must instead completely change their way of living and interacting with others. The program is designed to address the root cause of many specific issues the founders saw to be common among alcoholics.
Furthermore, it is highly encouraged to seek outside help (psychiatrists, therapists, etc.) if needed.