Social media sucks. For one thing, social media is full of posts about social media sucking. And specifically, one of the things about social media sucking, which you read on social media, is that social media sites keep forcing you to read what they want, not what you want.

I recommend an easy solution to this form of social media suckage: Read your friends’ blogs regularly.

It’s really easy. Just create a bookmark folder in your favorite browser, title it something like “Friends’ Blogs,” and add a link (to the top-level page) whenever you find out someone you know or like has their own blog. I mean that inclusively; maybe it’s their cool work site, or it’s more of a photo feed than a blog, whatever. Anything that gets periodic updates, that is curated by someone you at least sort of know, will count.

It’s fun! After a while you’ll have a dozen or more links: cool people you used to work with, someone who used to be in a band you liked, the neighbor who weirdly shares a birthday and a last name with your kid, your BFF from high school.

Then maybe it’s Sunday night and you’re caught up on the things you have to do, you want to read something fresh, and it’s all written by people you know. It’s not mediated by Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or really anybody.

Personal blogs are the low-fi blogs of our era. Enjoy.