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If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

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Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#531

Post by tiborsaas »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #251
crazygringo wrote: post #154

This article makes... no sense to me. Blogs are still around, everywhere, and show up easily in search results if a post matches a relevant query. And bloggers still list other blogs in sidebars. I genuinely don't understand the author's complaint. The only thing I can imagine is that there are a lot more alternatives for self-expression on the internet now, e.g. Instagram, Twitter, podcasts, etc. So blogs are perhap…

> Blogs ... show up easily in search results if a post matches a relevant query. No, they don't. This comes down to two main changes in how Google operates: 1) Google no longer respects search operators so that users can get fine-grained results, and 2) Google has chosen to progressively delist old content, even if many blog posts from the early millennium remain just as relevant today because no one has posted at le…

> 1) Google no longer respects search operators so that users can get fine-grained results

They do. Search for "javascript vscode" and "javascript -vscode" completely different results.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#532

Post by thedonkeycometh »

I don't understand their main arguments. Blogger is still around, and Wordpress also. Medium has a lot of content regularly. I'm unsure whether this Halcyon world they mention actually went away, or was just swept into Facebook, which is literally a log of what you're doing but not a meandering self-important prose (like the blogosphere past).

I run a blog, but its mainly a place to look up common problems I have faced to inform others (incl. future me) and work problems out to understand them further (again, shout out to future me). There's a lot of us that do this, and occasionally get a popular post into the wider sphere, but popularity is the least of our concern.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#533

Post by henrik_w »

aazaa wrote: post #178

The best way to bring back blogs is to start with your own. It looks like this is the author's fourth post and s/he hit a home run with the top post on HN. But that's rarely how things work. The thing few people tell you when you start blogging is how futile it will seem - for a long, long time. You'll start by posting something you put a lot of work into. You'll publish, thinking of all the comments and emails you'l…

I agree with a lot of this. Writing for yourself is the best advice: if you write about things that interest you, maybe people with similar interests will read your blog. Also, your own understanding of the subjects you write about will grow.

I've been blogging for eight years now, and it has been very rewarding. It's great to get readers, and it is great to end up on the front page of Hacker News. But it is also really good to have a blog to point people to when you look for a job.

One thing that is still true is how much work it is to write even a short blog post. It still takes me hours of concentrated work. But I am still doing it, becuase the value outweighs the cost.

More on my blogging here: https://henrikwarne.com/2017/11/26/6-years-of-thoughts-on-pr...

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#534

Post by mirimir »

AmericanChopper wrote: post #524
mirimir wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When are you thinking it was better?

The world hasn't had enormous user generated content platforms (where it's reasonably common to use your real name) for very long at all. But I would say it started out in a much better state than it is now, and has been progressively getting worse. It's reasonably common to have somebody held in high esteem by the various groups that are highly concerned with political correctness, suffer catastrophic falls from gra…

You mean "not strictly technical", right?

As Mirimir, I have voiced opinions about such topics. I'm not dogmatic, but neither do I avoid dark humor, so I suspect that I've managed to piss off some on every "side".

Anyway, I was thinking about decades ago. There were opinions that you just didn't voice, if you cared about your reputation. Back in the 50s, communism became a dangerous topic in the US. And homosexuality was a dangerous topic there until the late 70s. Although there were some flamboyant stars, and cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, they were just perceived as strange.

Further back, dissent among Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony led to the establishment of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#535

Post by sien »

cyberferret wrote: post #357
aazaa wrote: post #178

The best way to bring back blogs is to start with your own. It looks like this is the author's fourth post and s/he hit a home run with the top post on HN. But that's rarely how things work. The thing few people tell you when you start blogging is how futile it will seem - for a long, long time. You'll start by posting something you put a lot of work into. You'll publish, thinking of all the comments and emails you'l…

I've been blogging on and off for the past few years now (not going to publish the link here in case it is seen as self promotion). Mainly as a way of leaving my life story and thoughts for my family to have something to remember my life when I am no longer around (My dad had some incredible life stories, and I wish we had recorded them in some form before he passed). I think what is missing now is the rich set of to…

Inoreader is better than Google Reader was.

You might want to check it out.

https://www.inoreader.com/

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#537

Post by jasoneckert »

I've maintained a blog regularly for two decades without worrying about promotion, or whether anyone would read it. I knew that some of my friends and students would read it, but that was about it.

I still treat it as a way for me to gather my personal/professional thoughts or provide a summary of a topic or technology that others may find useful. And no, I don't give a rat's ass whether it's politically correct.

But over the past 2 decades, I've received hundreds of emails from people who came across it from all around the world. And some of my blogs have even been posted here on Hacker News. It's http://jasoneckert.net (which forwards to a longer URL that is secured) in case you are interested.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#539

Post by danjac »

renewiltord wrote: post #480
freehunter wrote: post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about giving things away for free, it's about doing things you like to do just for your own satisfaction. While there is a lot of that in the mods and open source space, there's also a lot of resume building, portfolio projects, etc. There's an insane amount of pressure to always be "shipping to production" no matter if your hobby is crocheting, gardening, writing code, blogging, building robots, playing mus…

I'm sorry you feel this way, but I do not think this is true for most creators. Too many of my friends have made wonderful things for the sake of it. And they're so self-effacing, they won't even mention these things.

Not judging you or your friends, but perhaps those who can do hobbies just for fun are in a position of privilege (enough time, money, financial and professional security) to be able to do so? The "hustle culture" is very real and is I think a side effect of the gig economy and the end of the 9-5 secure job with its strict boundaries of work and leisure time. If you still have that kind of job it's easier to have hobbies with no outcome than personal satisfaction (assuming no other "distractions" like small children). Most creators I happen to know are hustling, whether on Github or Wordpress or Etsy or IRL, either trying to make some money on the side or building a portfolio for their career or to help them score their next gig. Those that aren't are retired or have some secure, traditional 9-5.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs

#540

Post by nicbou »

polishdude20 wrote: post #225
aazaa wrote: post #178

The best way to bring back blogs is to start with your own. It looks like this is the author's fourth post and s/he hit a home run with the top post on HN. But that's rarely how things work. The thing few people tell you when you start blogging is how futile it will seem - for a long, long time. You'll start by posting something you put a lot of work into. You'll publish, thinking of all the comments and emails you'l…

I often notice when I start writing on a particular topic, I learn more about my thoughts and opinions of it and realize my thoughts are wrong or not really novel. Halfway in I give up since I feel like, "oh, this actually isn't really adding anything new to the conversation". Then I leave with a new humbleness about my beliefs but also a sense of "when am I actually going to know enough to warrant writing about it?"…

On the other hand, writing things down or explaining them is a good way to find flaws in your understanding.
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