Live data from Hacker News

Why I still blog after 15 years

jonashietala.se

71–80 of 230 posts

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#71
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> content creation I seriously hate the term "content" used for "creative output". It is a terrible, derogatory word, that makes me sad. Content is only there to have something to sell, to fill the blank space around ads, the actual content of the content doesn't matter. That people refer to themselves as "content creators" is a sign that they see the value of their creative output only to make money.

Nobody ever thought to themselves: I sure could go for some content right now.

Heh, my brother-in-law have described “content” as being the “love language” of our boomer dads.. the sharing of material (surprisingly often on TikTok these days) that none of us really care about yet continually gets sent out to us. Seemingly the favoured way to keep in touch.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#73
With all the AI generated content, we will be having AI models using AI generated text on the internet. Blogs from people who are hopefully not using AI to generate text might be the only valid source of truth in a near future

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, it's surprising that they can't even conceive of doing anything without profit motive as an incentive. This isn't the first time I've heard of this kind of inter-generational dialogue. Perhaps Millennials and Gen-X are uniquely idealistic (or naïve) generations.

The "Hawk Tuah" girl is a perfect example to me. She had a funny moment, and I think 15-20 years ago it probably would have just been a funny meme for a few years and a "oh you're that girl from the meme" at parties for her entire 20's. Like that's exactly how that would have played out. Now she quit her job, has sponsorships, got a major podcast deal - over a single viral moment. It's nutty to me, personally, but pe…

I watched her podcast and some interviews, and it's clear that, while not the most educated person, she exudes charisma and has a relatable sense of humor. She seems like a natural entertainer.

As for education, she's from the south and her mom is an absent drug addict so I give her a pass (I have the same background and it is extraordinarily difficult)

I think she's a special case, and she'll prove that over time. I'm happy someone in her position got a chance to share her personality with the world. Wishing her the best.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#75
Writing, updating and saving your progress in several drafts is the only place where you write for yourself, but as soon as you publish them online it automatically becomes for everyone using the internet. And

> I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read

is the exact opposite mindset sentence (or whatever people want to call it) of what I wrote in my Medium account bio, which is "I write for myself so that everyone can read it."

Here is the link -> https://medium.com/@shahzaib

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#77

> "I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read." This is now to me the "old school" internet creator attitude (that I still possess). I don't blog as much any more but do create content elsewhere - a lot of it is for my own enjoyment and creative outlet, to blow off steam, whatever - the fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary. I do try to do things people want, but only if I…

Genuine question: If you write only for yourself, what motivates you to actually finish, and more importantly, polish a post? I write for myself all the time, in private: I have a journal, a paper notebook, thousands of notes in Obsidian. Yet doing a blog post feels like a massive undertaking every single time, especially the later writing and editing: explaining stuff that is obvious to me and no one else, replacing…

just dont do any of that. write at the level you want to write at and publish what you have. its a kind of self esteem work to say “what i write for myself is fine to make public”

and then being public also inspires slightly higher quality

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#78

> "I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read." This is now to me the "old school" internet creator attitude (that I still possess). I don't blog as much any more but do create content elsewhere - a lot of it is for my own enjoyment and creative outlet, to blow off steam, whatever - the fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary. I do try to do things people want, but only if I…

Genuine question: If you write only for yourself, what motivates you to actually finish, and more importantly, polish a post? I write for myself all the time, in private: I have a journal, a paper notebook, thousands of notes in Obsidian. Yet doing a blog post feels like a massive undertaking every single time, especially the later writing and editing: explaining stuff that is obvious to me and no one else, replacing…

I don’t write too much anymore, one of my blogs got a lot more exposure and attention than I was comfortable with and people online in general are weirdo freaks and annoying to deal with. I guess I didn’t fuss too much with that stuff, the quality was likely poorer than it could have been. Same with my video stuff, I just don’t care that much if it’s polished. Audience feedback sometimes helps but isn’t that motivating to me.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#79

> "I keep this blog for me to write, not necessarily for others to read." This is now to me the "old school" internet creator attitude (that I still possess). I don't blog as much any more but do create content elsewhere - a lot of it is for my own enjoyment and creative outlet, to blow off steam, whatever - the fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary. I do try to do things people want, but only if I…

> content creation I seriously hate the term "content" used for "creative output". It is a terrible, derogatory word, that makes me sad. Content is only there to have something to sell, to fill the blank space around ads, the actual content of the content doesn't matter. That people refer to themselves as "content creators" is a sign that they see the value of their creative output only to make money.

This seems unnecessarily negative and pessimistic. "Content" is the stuff or substance that people want to consume as opposed to all the associated stuff (branding, SEO, "hooks", whatever). "Content creator" recognizes that there is similarity between long form video essays and shorts and blogs and live streams - and that people who do one often do others.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to the hyper capitalist world that has been created over the past 60 years. This is the result of always needed growth in your economic system.

this seems like a complete non-sequitur to me

But now you've added a sequitur!

(It's OK to leave a thread dangling in the wind.)

Post reply on HN