I'm here because I cherish free speech.

In addition to the other hats I wear, I also homeschool my teenaged son. Last year, we read Fahrenheit 451. Censorship and thought policing never end well.

I only recently learned about Minds.com. I read it was big on free speech... that censorship wasn't an issue here. A social media site after my own heart.

Look, I'm going to be honest. I'm not a particularly controversial person. I don't say the kinds of things that typically get people banned, or shadowbanned, or suspended, or whatever other flavor of policed thought a particular social media outlet is using to keep their users in line.

That said, I was already fed-up with mega-corporations like Facebook and Google basically spying on everyone they can for the sake of both profit and to funnel information to government agencies that have little respect for the Fourth Amendment. Once the heavy censorship started, though, I knew it was time to start looking elsewhere for a solid alternative. I wanted to find one not just for my own use as an author and website developer, but also a social media network I can recommend to friends, family, and anyone else who's tired of the dominance of a few businesses who, in my opinion, have gotten too big for their britches.

I've only been here a single day. I don't know if this is "the one," but so far, it looks promising. I'm seeing posts written in languages and characters that I don't even recognize — which means people are coming to Minds from around the world. In addition, I'm seeing posts by fellow creatives, as well as all kinds of other interesting people who just want to have a place to say what's on their mind. And I guess that's kind of the point, isn't it?