Almost 14 years ago, I started a blog and a podcast called The Briefcase after years of thinking about it and months of work. The site is still up, though I haven’t made anything for it in 13 years. I wrote this post when it launched: How to launch a blog in 2012.
Some of it feels eerily similar to what I’m doing right now:
I feel a little insane debuting a blog in the middle of 2012. The rise of the bloggers happened over a decade ago. In a world of tweets, instagram, and 1 sentence emails, asking people to read more than 3 sentences seems like a lot ask.
I feel a little insane debuting a CMS in the middle of 2026. WordPress launched 23 years ago (9 decades in internet years). In a world of AI, TikTok, and emails written (and read) by machines, asking people to build something themselves seems like a lot to ask.
And yet, it doesn’t. There’s something in the air. People are tired of ads, they’re over subscriptions, and done with slop. In 2024, vinyl records sold more than CDs. It’s now a billion dollar industry (did you see that coming?). Non-nerds are installing Linux. Musicians want friction. Writers are buying typewriters to write without distraction. How much of social media is people watching other people pursue hobbies in earnest?
There’s something in the air. I can feel it. If you can feel it to, then Roe was built for you.
So, after years of thinking about it and months of work… I’m launching Roe CMS in the middle of 2026. It’s in beta, a little rough here and there but it’s the best CMS I’ve ever used. It will never be as easy as Wix or Squarespace or Substack and that’s on purpose. Friction is the way. Give it a try. If you run into trouble, I’ll help you get sorted: roe@weareontheweb.com. Big things are coming.
The age of the centralized social platform is dead. Buy your domian. Launch your site. Use Roe if you wish. Reclaim your attention and space on the interwebs. Long live Geocities. Godspeed in all your endeavors.