If this post is deemed spam/redundant given the circumstances, feel free to lmk and I'll just take it down. I've lurked here a little bit the past few days but have only really seen discussion amongst devs etc (which is understandable).
I've been considering starting up a personal blog/portfolio website. For weeks I've been tinkering with WordPress and finally found a set up I liked. I planned on doing some planning/writing then paying for Premium tier in a couple months and going live. Now all this drama has gone down and I'm not sure what to really think. It's a strange environment to want to start out in. I looked at WP alternatives out of curiosity but they all seem like too much work for me to feasibly set up and get going myself. I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to commit to WP still but there doesn't seem to be any other good options available. Would you advise someone like me just starting out to wait a bit or should I just carry on as normal?
Carry on just not on wordpress.com
Despite everything, WordPress is still the best solution out there by far. Its open source nature makes the real impact of these issues pretty minor. It’s the lost trust in the community and the fear of further issues that have shaken people, but we are also seeing some robust responses from that same community. AspirePress is looking to become a serious project, there is a large team behind it already.
I don’t see any issue with you starting a small blog/portfolio. WP isn’t going anywhere just yet (although, honestly, I can’t help but think everything that’s going on right now isn’t going to bode well for its future).
I would just avoid using WordPress.com for your blog/portfolio. Find a cheap host, quite a few have easy WP installations, then get to work building your site.