I appreciate the author's reflection on blogging for 15 years, but I didn't fully connect with the vibe. I've been maintaining several blogs (both personal and business) for years, and even had a personal webpage that shared personal content before the 2000s. It reminds me of artists like Edgar Allan Poe, who, despite their struggles, couldn't stop writing. When it's in your nature, there's no 'off switch' no matter the circumstances.
Why I still blog after 15 years
81–90 of 230 posts
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with what she did or that she does not have talent. It’s more crazy to me that this is seen as a natural progression of someone’s online career.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#83> "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 can answer for me (I've been blogging just over 20 years at this point). There's a couple of main reasons for me to write a blog instead of just an obsidian note.
Firstly, the process of writing a blog post makes me think through my assumptions as I'm explaining the concepts it covers to other people. On more than one occasion I've realised while writing, that my understanding of the topic wasn't entirely correct, so it's useful here.
Also I blog so the information is available to others. If I spent a decent amount of time working things out, it's possible that a blog could save other people in similar situations effort, so that's handy.
Lastly I blog so I can point people to a post instead of explaining a topic in detail, it's a handy time saver for things that come up a lot.
As to benefits, well it wasn't deliberate but blogging contributed to me getting my last two jobs, so in that sense I guess it's paid off pretty well!
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#84> "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…
Perfectionism would cause someone to polish something like this.
If that doesn't hit home don't polish just post.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#85> "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…
If I publish what I write then it forces me to actually put some effort into making it readable but I don't necessarily think of the audience when I'm writing. Just more of from a perspective of spelling and grammar. Personally it's the knowledge of the fact it will be public is the accountability I need to put in that extra effort and future me is grateful I can comprehend what current me is saying.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#86With 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
I think the discussion around AI-generated content is worth exploring beyond the obvious concerns. If you're original and use AI as part of your creative toolbox, that's great, what matters is the work you produce and the unique touch you give it. There’s no rule that says we have to post an unfiltered output of an LLM.
On the research side, it would be fascinating to explore measures of randomness or originality within LLM models. I'm sure many researchers are already investigating how genuinely novel content like new poetry can influence and evolve these models over time.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#87> "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…
It's the flip side of every other employment possibility having such poor prospects. Do you spend 4 years getting a degree no one will hire for so you can bag groceries to pay off debt, or do you bag groceries to live while trying to break through as a creator? For most people, there aren't many options available. All the best opportunities are in cities no one can afford to live in anymore.
I always struggle to understand this sentiment. There seems to be a huge labor shortage, particularly for physical and skilled labor.
Auto mechanics change 120/hr for labor, someone recently quoted me 40k to spend a week landscaping my residential back yard, and an arborist wanted 3k for a single day of chainsaw work pruning a big tree.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's the flip side of every other employment possibility having such poor prospects. Do you spend 4 years getting a degree no one will hire for so you can bag groceries to pay off debt, or do you bag groceries to live while trying to break through as a creator? For most people, there aren't many options available. All the best opportunities are in cities no one can afford to live in anymore.
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.
>Still, it's surprising that they can't even conceive of doing anything without profit motive as an incentive.
Realistically, what percentage of the workforce in any field would continue working if they stopped getting paid (or took a 75% pay cut)? 1%? 0.1%? The reason people work is to make money that they can spend on the things they need to live, and hopefully have some left over for the things they enjoy.
I love programming, building hardware, tinkering, etc in my spare time (as one of my hobbies), and I'm employed as an embedded engineer. I like my work. If my company stopped paying me, I would be looking for a new job immediately. Does that mean I don't enjoy my work? No, I just have this job to make money so that I can afford to live and do all of the things I enjoy.
I would argue that yes, people who believe people should enjoy their work without a "profit motive" are naive, or at least sufficiently wealthy to forget what it's like to rely on income from employment.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#89I love my blog. I post like maybe 4 times a year when I feel suitably inspired.
I find HN far and away the most random aggregator. Reddit is very reliable for me. When I share my posts on HN they almost never get traction. But then they randomly do months later when someone shares the same post! Kind of annoying.
My blog is artisanal handcrafted HTML and CSS. I honestly find it much easier and simpler than generators.
I currently host on Cloudflare for free. I was previously on Netlify.
Re: Why I still blog after 15 years
#90> "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…
for me, i've saved myself time and energy at least 10 times by writing stuff down and publishing it on my blog/forums. i know i help people, but i mainly do it for Future Sergio.