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Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
341–350 of 459 posts
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#342Someone found my passport, was able to google me, match photo to the one on the site, and find an email address. I had it back the same day.
Keep meaning to start a blog but haven't gotten around to.
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#343I’m not dismissing or minimizing what a blog can do for you. I just have a different perspective.
I had a fitness blog on Blogger between 2008-2011. I was a part time fitness instructor. I found it relatively useless. By then, normal people stopped going to random websites. I started posting everything to Facebook and I had a lot more engagement and virality.
I stopped teaching in 2012 after getting married. Fast forward to 2019, my wife got into the fitness industry and I see how it has changed - YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc.
The “aggregators” have taken over.
From a tech perspective, if I cared about my “brand”, it would be to set myself up for independent cloud consulting. I would be trying to establish myself as a “thought leader” by posting vapid crap on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The department I work for at $BigTech (consulting) does have a very easy open source approval process that allows us to publish our “reusable artifacts” from consulting projects on to their open source GitHub organization with an MIT license and then we can fork it under our own profile. I do take advantage of that to have sone type of public presence.
If I were to start a career focus blog, I would host it on Micro.blog and talk about my open source work.
I have a blog there now that’s more of a public journal than anything else. My wife and I will be “digital nomadding” flying across the US for the foreseeable future every March -September. I really don’t care about “engagement” or if anyone actually sees it. If I wanted to showboat about our travels I would post to FB and Instagram.
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#344GPT3:
For many, having a personal website or blog can serve as a platform to share their thoughts, ideas or expertise on a particular topic, and this can lead to increased exposure and visibility in their field. This, in turn, can help open up new job opportunities or collaborations.
Additionally, creating content for a personal website or blog can also foster a commitment to learning and self-improvement, as it encourages individuals to stay informed about their areas of interest and to continually develop their skills in these areas.
GPT4:
1. Exposure and Visibility: Having a personal website/blog can increase your online presence, making you more visible to potential employers, clients, and networking opportunities. Your website can act as an online resume, showcasing your skills, experience, and projects.
2. Job Opportunities: A well-maintained blog can attract job offers, especially if the content you post is relevant to your industry and demonstrates your expertise. Employers may notice your work and reach out to you regarding potential job opportunities.
3. Networking: A personal website can help you connect with like-minded professionals in your field. By creating content relevant to your niche, you can attract an audience interested in the same topics and build connections with them.
4. Personal Branding: A website/blog helps you establish your personal brand, which can make you distinguishable in the job market. Your online presence can become synonymous with your area of expertise, making you a go-to option in your field.
5. Increased Learning: Writing blog posts can help you learn and solidify your understanding of various topics within your field. Researching and composing articles about your industry can increase your knowledge and make you more well-informed overall.
6. Monetization: You can use your blog to generate additional income through advertising, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing. Some people can even turn their blogs into full-time businesses.
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#345I've been running a blog at https://xeiaso.net for almost a decade now. It has been the single best decision I have ever made in my career. It allows me to skip technical screening interviews. It has made interviewing at companies _easy_ because I have _already proven_ that I understand what I'm talking about. Learning how to write well also makes it so much easier to explain things succinctly, especially when workin…
You're Christine? I'm sure nobody would have turned your down for a technical screen!
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#346I had many fun experiences thanks to my blog. From having random visitors contact me when I lived a few years in another country, to having the feds monitor my blog because of random notes I posted on a weekend project.
However it feels a bit like nostalgia. Nowadays everything is drowned in SEO-spam. My advice would be to maintain a blog if you find it fun to write. I find it useful because it helps me structure my thoughts.
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#347Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#348Nothing, just some ego stroking I check the stats
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#349My website doesn't do anything for me. I don't think that makes it purely vanity though. I just make it for fun.
Re: Ask HN: What has your personal website/blog done for you?
#350My personal blog has been cited in academic publications.
I'm not an academic, so it's quite the complement.