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If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

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Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#21

Post by vlkr »

susam wrote: post #6

Well, blogs are still very much there. I began blogging in 2006 and I still continue to write blog posts, mostly to take notes, share my thoughts, etc. I still follow my favourite bloggers via RSS feeds. I don't think the culture of blogging ever went away. The blogosphere along with its tag clouds are still very much there. I think what has changed in the last two decades or so is that a lot of new users have come o…

I think many (personal) blogs were killed by social media. You don't blog about your last weekend anymore, you just post some pictures on instagram or in your whatsapp groups.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#23

Post by SuoDuanDao »

solarengineer wrote: post #7

How do you all discover blogs? I used to discover blogs via the Yahoo Directory, blog rolls (where we mention others' blogs as external links to follow up), Live Journal's listing, and cross-referencing of blog posts. Google search used to surface blog posts too. Now it's all on Medium - where I don't grudge those who want reliable hosting+discoverability and want to get paid for content, and where Medium charges for…

typically in the comments sections of other blogs, when someone links them. Slatestarcodex, Ecosophia, and Charles Eisenstein are my current favourites.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#24

Post by krapp »

dvdkon wrote: post #16
SPBS wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top comment: > You'll check the analytics. Abysmal. Nobody is reading! > You may write a few more posts, but it's always the same story. A lot of work goes in, but not much comes out. I never understood this sentiment. Who cares if no one is reading? You blog because you have something to express on the internet, not because you're seeking attention from others. Content creation for the sole purpose of views is i…

The goal might not be to maximise "views", but if nobody reads it, why bother? No need to be popular by whatever metrics, but with no readers you might just not publish at all. (Unless you see writing itself as valuable in itself.)

The vast majority of blogs during the "golden age" of blogging went almost entirely, if not entirely, unread. In hindsight, I don't know why people bothered, but they did. I blogged on my own domain for years and I don't think anyone read any of it, but I still enjoyed it.

Of course a lot of blogs were hosted on services like Blogger or Livejournal (which I also had,) and being able to create networks and friend/interest groups definitely increased visibility, but even then most things went unread and uncommented on.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#25

Post by veidr »

Yeah blogs are still here, BUT: (like email (sob) and telephone-calling (hooray)) a lot of people that once did blog don't anymore.

Not in the "I had kids so my blog went dark for a few years" sense, but in the sense of "ooh twitter was invented and now I just emit a halfassed one-sentence brainfart or 5-second tiktok cellphone video and get way more dopamine hits".

I've been reading blogs and perusing my self-curated NetNewsWire RSS feeds for 20+ years, and blogs never went away, RSS never died, Google Reader getting googled didn't really matter, etc.

And there are probably technically more blogs now than ever before.

But still, the blog kinda died, in the sense that it would be a lot more surprising to learn your friend's 80-year-old grandma has a blog today than it would have been in 2011.

It went from an increasingly-mainstream thing to a decreasingly-mainstream thing.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#26

Post by giansegato »

vlkr wrote: post #21
susam wrote: post #6

Well, blogs are still very much there. I began blogging in 2006 and I still continue to write blog posts, mostly to take notes, share my thoughts, etc. I still follow my favourite bloggers via RSS feeds. I don't think the culture of blogging ever went away. The blogosphere along with its tag clouds are still very much there. I think what has changed in the last two decades or so is that a lot of new users have come o…

I think many (personal) blogs were killed by social media. You don't blog about your last weekend anymore, you just post some pictures on instagram or in your whatsapp groups.

Which means - whether we like it or no - that social media were and are superior products when it comes to this specific use case, otherwise people won't be using it.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#27

Post by scary-size »

slightknack wrote: post #14
tinyprojects wrote: post #11

I've built a service that lets you create a micro-blog from a paper journal: https://paperwebsite.com/ It's given me great joy just publishing my unfiltered thoughts on the internet straight from my pen, which sounds similar to the "unfocused blogs" the author was talking about. Perhaps in this highly edited, Instagram world we now live in - the raw, unedited nature of a blog is a bit more scary. I still love them th…

I vote that we add our blogs / other good blogs we have come across as children on this comment. I'll start, here's mine: - https://slightknack.dev/blog Here are some others: - https://journal.stuffwithstuff.com - https://www.gwern.net/index - https://danluu.com - https://tonsky.me/ - https://lemire.me/blog/ - https://waitbutwhy.com/ - https://www.kalzumeus.com/archive/ - https://blog.codinghorror.com/

Here are mine:

- https://franz.hamburg

- https://www.project-daily.com

Some blogs I follow via RSS (using the awesome NetNewsWire app):

- https://brendangregg.com

- https://brandur.org/

- https://ferd.ca/

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#28

Post by raspyberr »

Like everyone else responding, I think there's so so many blogs and personal sites around. Once you start looking and actually exploring the internet you'll find plenty. There's been a bit of resurgency with "indie web", digital gardens, etc. If anything there's probably more blogs now than there were before.

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#29

Post by tlarkworthy »

SPBS wrote: post #13
asicsp wrote: post #5

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23205588 ( May 16, 2020, 614 comments )

The top comment: > You'll check the analytics. Abysmal. Nobody is reading! > You may write a few more posts, but it's always the same story. A lot of work goes in, but not much comes out. I never understood this sentiment. Who cares if no one is reading? You blog because you have something to express on the internet, not because you're seeking attention from others. Content creation for the sole purpose of views is i…

my kids should "dad, look at me" before they do anything. the desire for external validation runs deep. If no-one hears a tree falling, does it make a sound?

Re: If I could bring one thing back to the internet it would be blogs (2020)

#30

Post by sergioisidoro »

Medium, in an attempt to monetise blogging and give financial incentives to writing with paywalling, has absolutely damaged my perception of blogging. It was the perfect platform, and so nice to find interesting blogs and articles that only wanted to share information and stories.

But then it started eating away the blog platform space, and then took all that hostage with paywalls. There's not that many companies I really dislike, but Medium is starting to be up there in the list.

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