WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org: An Autistic and Bipolar Blogger’s Dilemma

Me being autistic and bipolar I find I have difficulty making up my mind most days. That or I rapidly change things. I initially launched this blog on Blogger, then a day later discovered Ghost so moved it there. After a few weeks moved it here to WordPress.com. I had read WordPress was the most versatile site to use so I figured may as well try it as traffic on ghost was hard to generate and few customization options. Also Google AdSense was taking forever to approve or anything with the site.

So, I arrived here at WordPress.com not knowing the difference. Everything was very easy to set up and took a few hours to move everything over. I was impressed WordAds was embedded and approved immediately. I was a bit in sticker shock over some of the cost.

It was after I was up and running after a day or two someone told me I should have signed up with WordPress.org and did my own hosting through Bluehost. After looking into it I keep debating if I messed up or not. I signed up here for a year.

I do like the community and reader features here. I’m also not a total tech guy. While I have no doubt I could teach myself and figure it out, I like there are some options here to driving traffic. My goal is to monetize and at a minimum pay for my costs to run the site with this blog. I’d like to be able to blog full time eventually but no idea if that is realistic or possible with Wordads vs. Adsense or any other ads.

So here we are. I was just looking over Bluehost thinking of switching again. I don’t know why I do this. Well, I do know why but its frustrating I can’t just make up my mind. I also changed my layout 4 or 5 times some of you may have noticed. Though I really do like this layout a lot more than the other ones I had here.

Since I paid for a year on this one I’ll stay here for a while anyway. Plus I don’t want to lose what few subscribers I have. I may move again, I may not. Does anyone else struggle with this? I’m genuinely curious, or what brought you to WordPress.com instead of .org?

I often hate how indecisive I am. That’s one of the biggest struggled with neurodivergence. At least for me anyway. My brain moves 100,000 miles per hour and always trying to think ahead of the game. Problem is I think I found a solution way too quickly and jump on it only to find out later there may be a better option. I do like it here on WordPress.com just not sure if its the right fit for a long term home for my blog. Though I love the connections I’ve made here already and don’t want to lose those or the community I have here.

I guess I’m answering my own question in the process. Oddly I brainstormed this with ChatGPT who recommended I stay here for a while until I build a good readership at least. Which is probably solid advice.

I notice the vibe in this community is way more laid back then any of the social media I’ve been on, including Bluesky and I love Bluesky, but even when folks disagree with me on comments here they are much more chill about it which I have to say kinda throws me off. Someone recently disagreed with me on a previous blog and my hackles immediately went up and I may have gotten defensive, just because I was expecting an incoming attack which never happened. Thankfully I refrained from coming across to angry or aggressive which I’ve tended to do (that neurodivergent sense of justice) in online arguments, this never became an argument but stayed very civil which I appreciated.

So, that will be an adjustment for me, though a welcome one. I find I’m often more self aware than most people and that seems to make folks uncomfortable, as well as my direct approach when dealing with people. I tend to just say things or ask thing like “are we still friends” or something like that, but I’d rather just know than try to pick up on clues.

So, back to the blog topic, WordPress.com suits me for now. I’m not sure what I’ll say or do next week or three months from now, but I have been very happy with the ease of use and how streamlined everything is. Plus the jump in traffic has been really nice. Like I said before, I think building a reader base is probably my most important thing for now over focusing on technical aspects. I just worry about being on a “platform” and owning and being in charge of my own content instead of some corporation, though in my research, the WordPress folks don’t operate like social media companies do. Also I don’t think I write anything too wildlly controversial or dark. But hard to say the way things have been in recent weeks.

So anyway, I’m here for now and hope to get to know everyone and hope everyone reading enjoys my presence here. Thank you all again for stopping by and reading my ramblings. Until next time.

Ok I lied. I wrote all this around 5am this morning and in the hours since I moved everything to Bluehost and WordPress.org. I will say its a lot more work than I anticipated, but I want to have maximum earnings and control of the site and use of Adsense. So we’ll see how it all goes. I may regret this. I may move again. No telling what my brain will do.

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