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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

#591

Post by mirimir »

AmericanChopper wrote: post #584
mirimir wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> You mean "not strictly technical", right? Yes I did, sorry. The rest of your comment here highlights why I believe freedom of expression is so important. Society would not have progressed if it were not for people brave enough to defy those social norms. I guess the intolerance for alternative points of view has not changed, but over the past ten years or so we have seen the establishment of an entirely new set of…

> ... over the past ten years or so we have seen the establishment of an entirely new set of sacred social norms ...

That depends on who you are, and where you hang out.

By "sacred social norms", I presume that you mean what some call the "social justice movement": liberal perspectives on "race", culture, sexuality, gender, and other human rights. It's true that those norms now apply for liberal mass media, academica, and large enterprises. And increasingly, they've become part of state and federal law.

Those norms reflect activism over at least the past 200 years. However, change hasn't been steady or even monotonic. Recent reverses occurred during the Reagan era, driven by the Moral Majority. And again during the Bush II era, driven by them and the New Right.

American society has also become increasingly polarized since the 60s. Although the mass media has become increasingly liberal, the Fox News Network and associated talk radio developed. And since the early 90s, development of the Internet has dramatically increased polarization.

So now we're in the Trump era. By 2016, American society was already so polarized that the liberal mass media was totally blind sided by Trump's election. And even after three years, they're still convinced that it was a Russian plot.

Anyway, it's hard to say whether the intolerance of the "social justice movement" has caused the backlash, or whether the backlash has driven the intolerance. But either way, both sides are ~equally intolerant.

And yes, it's a disturbing development. At some point, it may drive the US to partition. Much like India split off Pakistan, but on a larger scale.

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

#592

Post by kickscondor »

dvtrn wrote: post #569
kickscondor wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you promoting things, dvtrn? Good to meet you.

Where are you promoting things ...on a platform (it was a tweet), ironically. I tore my jekyll-based site down earlier this year because I have a bad habit of redesigning it every other Tuesday. it’s a strange compulsion, but your site and a few others I found on indieweb.xyz have been some good motivation to work towards some degree of content permanence that I own and control (plus a general frustration and growing…

Twitter is fine by me. The Indieweb is a cool ideal. But I’ve still made great discoveries through Twitter as well. (Perhaps that speaks to the ingenuity of humans despite the platform tho...)

If you get your own site up, let me know!

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

#593

Post by [deleted] »

Digit-Al wrote: post #521
okareaman wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how you define a blog. Could you clarify? I often delete or edit posts, so I have control. I download my FB data so I have an archive. I have a link to my FB on my Twitter and all my posts are public and I get people from Twitter reading it. I have 60 followers I don't know who read it. Not sure what else it needs to be to meet your definition of a blog.

No true blog \s

[deleted]

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

#594

Post by JSavageOne »

Is it really the case that blogs are dead? It seems that a decent chunk of the posts on HN are from blogs.

The reason I don't blog as much as I used to is because nobody reads anything I write. The traffic is a joke. Thus is doesn't seem like a wise investment unless there is some ulterior motive (eg. demonstrate proficiency in some field).

Also anything I feel compelled to write about is generally something controversial, especially relating to politics or work culture, and it would be career suicide to write that under my real name. Therefore if I want to write anything that's actually interesting, I have to write under a pseudonym.

If I could bring anything back to the internet, it would be internet forums. Real communities. Reddit and HN serve their purpose, but there's no sense of any real community.

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

#595

Post by sien »

zimmund wrote: post #557
sien wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inoreader is better than Google Reader was. You might want to check it out. https://www.inoreader.com/

Google Reader was free. I can't afford 50 usd/yr just to read RSS feeds (yes, there's a free plan, but it's limited and at that point I'd rather stick with RSSOwl or similar -free- tools).

Fair enough. I had the free plan for ages and really only changed to the paid one so they would get something after I'd used it for years.

Edit : Their free tier has 150 RSS subs allowed. So it's pretty reasonably. I have the middle tier for $US 20 a year that sets that to 500 subs.

Also, I have no interest in the company financially, just very pleased that there is a better than Google Reader replacement.

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

#596

Post by 1bc29b36f623ba8 »

JSavageOne wrote: post #594

Is it really the case that blogs are dead? It seems that a decent chunk of the posts on HN are from blogs. The reason I don't blog as much as I used to is because nobody reads anything I write. The traffic is a joke. Thus is doesn't seem like a wise investment unless there is some ulterior motive (eg. demonstrate proficiency in some field). Also anything I feel compelled to write about is generally something controve…

Blogs aren't dead, but they've become a niche product the last 5 years. In 2006, pretty much every stay-at-home mom with an Internet connection would have a blog, but as social media gained more traction most of those with small reader numbers moved to those platforms instead, as they we're more efficient to reach small groups of acquaintances.

There are still a lot of blogs around, but they seem to be targeted at specific groups, with technically minded people and fashionistas being the two largest.

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

#597

Post by searchableguy »

antigirl wrote: post #433
derefr wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Those blogs from the time before were written for the purpose of writing, not for the purpose of getting lots of viewership. Or, to put that another way: blogs are/were effectively people publicizing their diaries. (Or, in the case of a work blog, publicizing the contents of their https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventor%27s_notebook ). > Today that need is filled with Facebook/Twitter/ Not really? Facebook/Twitter/e…

Twitter is not just incomplete/out of context thoughts. It can be. But not always. Follow the right people. I find it’s great for Javascript patterns and new findings. Of course the content is not discussed in great detail but you can get a quick jist from various sources. The same with instagram for photos. I much prefer to see photos in series but quick snapshot from various sources in one platform. This is what’s…

I am curious about the story behind your username. I don't understand it.

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

#598

Post by AmericanChopper »

mirimir wrote: post #591
AmericanChopper wrote: post #584

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You mean "not strictly technical", right? Yes I did, sorry. The rest of your comment here highlights why I believe freedom of expression is so important. Society would not have progressed if it were not for people brave enough to defy those social norms. I guess the intolerance for alternative points of view has not changed, but over the past ten years or so we have seen the establishment of an entirely new set of…

> ... over the past ten years or so we have seen the establishment of an entirely new set of sacred social norms ... That depends on who you are, and where you hang out. By "sacred social norms", I presume that you mean what some call the "social justice movement": liberal perspectives on "race", culture, sexuality, gender, and other human rights. It's true that those norms now apply for liberal mass media, academica…

I mostly agree with you. But I do take issue with this:

>But either way, both sides are ~equally intolerant.

When I was growing up it was the intolerance of Christian morality that prevented people from living their lives and expressing themselves the way they wanted to. The intolerance was a largely bipartisan (see the PMRC with Tipper Gore and Paula Hawkins for instance), but it was really the Democrats that gave way to social progress first, and the Republican party still today retains a reputation for Christian puritanism. The modern flavor of puritanism most certainly comes more from the other side of the isle (whether you want to call it the "social justice movement" or anything else). The basis of each of those political stances is the same. People should not be able say anything they want, or live any way they please, because allowing them to do so would risk causing offence. I've supported gay marriage since the 90s, and for the same reason that I support freedom of expression today. In the past those views (which I have not changed) aligned me much more firmly with the "left" than the "right", and the reverse is true today. I would argue that modern "progressive" (or whatever else you want to call it) politics has no room for freedom of expression, because it won't tolerate anything seen as "offensive", "hateful" or "dangerous". Which is basically the same premise that has obstructed all of our past social progress up to this point.

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

#599

Post by TACIXAT »

tiborsaas wrote: post #531
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

That is an odd example. You are comparing the search for js with the search of js vscode.

Everyday I run into a Google hell. Tonight I was trying to find info on how Github uses let's encrypt for https on custom domains. The only thing that comes up are questions about how to enable it.

I switched my default search to duckduckgo. I always thought DDG would never catch Google, but never realized Google would make their results so useless as to make DDG competitive. (Sorry DDG, I love you.)

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

#600

Post by tiborsaas »

TACIXAT wrote: post #599
tiborsaas wrote: post #531

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

That is an odd example. You are comparing the search for js with the search of js vscode. Everyday I run into a Google hell. Tonight I was trying to find info on how Github uses let's encrypt for https on custom domains. The only thing that comes up are questions about how to enable it. I switched my default search to duckduckgo. I always thought DDG would never catch Google, but never realized Google would make thei…

No, I wanted to get results which doesn't mention vscode and it worked just fine. Try "pandas" and "pandas -python"

If on some rare occasions I don't find what I want in Google, I just assume either my mental model is broken or the topic doesn't exists. I also try other engines in same cases, but when I'm that lost it doesn't help, I change something else.

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