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Why I still blog after 15 years

jonashietala.se

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Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#111

Post by bongodongobob »

Kye wrote: post #39
JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "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.

You bag groceries and spend your time looking to break through in the industry your degree is in. You are infinitely more likely to be successful finding a real job than wasting your time and energy hoping to win the influencer lottery. If you wanted to be a content creator what the hell did you get a degree for?

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#112

Post by s1artibartfast »

Kye wrote: post #108
DowagerDave wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

none of those things are accessible to someone who has say, a 4-yr fine arts degree. They're also extremes and not typical, unless your car is at the dealer, your backyard is on a make-over show, or that tree is hanging over your house & powerlines

Yep. Once you have any level of education past high school, lots of the better jobs just won't hire you. They assume you're biding your time until a better job comes by and any time or money spent training you will be wasted. The "labor shortage" is a fantasy created by people with jobs to offer having unrealistic expectations.

Surely someone with a college degree that wants to be a plumber can simply not disclose their degree?

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#113

Post by SoftTalker »

nineteen999 wrote: post #106
JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "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…

> The idea of content creation as a full time career is relatively new, and I hate it. I do too, but IMHO unfortunately us older generations have a lot to answer for when it comes to this. My teenage daughter plus all of her friends all want to be content creators. It's the 21st century equivalent of becoming a pop star or being a TV personality. As an industry we've automated away a lot of the jobs that these kids o…

And it's not really new. Being a YouTuber or TikToker was obviously not possible before those platforms existed, but people were musicians, actors, or other sorts of performers, or wrote stuff that they tried to get published, it's all the same drive. Some wanted to do it to become a star and get paid, others did it for the love of the craft.

The internet is a new avenue for this, that's all.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#114

Post by ghaff »

nineteen999 wrote: post #106
JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "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…

> The idea of content creation as a full time career is relatively new, and I hate it. I do too, but IMHO unfortunately us older generations have a lot to answer for when it comes to this. My teenage daughter plus all of her friends all want to be content creators. It's the 21st century equivalent of becoming a pop star or being a TV personality. As an industry we've automated away a lot of the jobs that these kids o…

>21st century equivalent of becoming a pop star or being a TV personality

Which were always lottery professions at best. Being influencers/YouTube stars/etc. may seem more accessible these days but it's probably mostly an illusion. There are (mostly) plenty of jobs but most of them are probably pretty unglamorous.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#115

Post by jl6 »

7speter wrote: post #101
jl6 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I think your comment kinda provides the reason why the term “content” is used; there are so many verticals out there that its just easiest to say “I’m a content creator.” From there, if the audience remains captive, you can explain that you make videos about sewing sweaters with embedded controllers for cats. Also, don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty conflicted on the term. I just like to believe people are using it in go…

It makes perfect sense to use the word content where it’s a convenient abstraction. But humans don’t watch/read/play or fall in love with abstractions. The specifics matter.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#116

Post by Kye »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #110
DowagerDave wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

none of those things are accessible to someone who has say, a 4-yr fine arts degree. They're also extremes and not typical, unless your car is at the dealer, your backyard is on a make-over show, or that tree is hanging over your house & powerlines

I guess my fundamental question is why arent these jobs accessible? They dont reqire any degree at all, so it seems like they should be open to both the 4 year art graduate and a high school graduate. I live in a high cost of living area, but these are typical prices here. Call 10 autoshops and thats the typical rate. Even people on yelp operating out of their house arent much cheaper. Heck, residential plumbers char…

I'm not sure how you imagine the process of getting into one of these no-degree businesses goes. You don't just "start doing it." First, you need tools and transportation. Then you need to know what the hell you're doing. Then, probably, some certifications. And now you have to find people to pay you in a highly competitive market full of scammers who make it even harder to sell services.

The usual path is to work for someone else until you have the skills and tools and certs to strike out on your own. That someone is not going to hire you if it looks like you won't stick around as soon as a better option comes along. And no bank will give a startup loan to someone who's never done it before.

People make great money doing these things because they've done all this for years and built up the tools and skills and certifications and referral network to make it. You don't start charging $200/hour any more than you start out in SV making $1m/year.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#117

Post by aksss »

aprdm wrote: post #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

I more worry about AI hoovering up my hard work and that makes me think about the honesty of my beliefs about why I write.

In my hobby domain, authors were traditionally very protective of obscure sources, it was all about getting the book published, becoming recognized authority. There would be a sense of pride in having an expensive limited-run book. They were/are gate-keepers extraordinaire.

I kind of hate that hoarding of knowledge. But maybe my approach wasn’t about the virtue of making info available to all, but more like Bezos’ theme of, “your margin is my opportunity”.

I still appreciate some recognition and am not writing to feed a machine. Someone back during the Industrial Revolution remarked that the machines and engines are supposed to aid people but when you go into a factory you see the people climbing all over the machines to fix them, and sometimes at great risk of injury, like we are here for the care and feeding of the machines.

Just makes me think.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#118

Post by Kye »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #112
Kye wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Once you have any level of education past high school, lots of the better jobs just won't hire you. They assume you're biding your time until a better job comes by and any time or money spent training you will be wasted. The "labor shortage" is a fantasy created by people with jobs to offer having unrealistic expectations.

Surely someone with a college degree that wants to be a plumber can simply not disclose their degree?

Oh, they'll know.

All that book learnin' changes you. With life and experience and life experience, you can stop coming off as a stuck-up out of touch asshole to people doing this kind of work.

My entire generation got endless refrains of the message that these are the kinds of jobs you fail into if you don't get a degree. That doesn't break easily. It seems like the next crowd gets similar messages.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#119

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

JohnMakin wrote: post #36

> "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…

I write stuff that I'd like to read.

I've found that most others, don't want to read it. It seems that it needs to be short-form video, if I want to get eyeballs.

Meh, whatevs. I still do it. Making decent video is a a lot more work than writing.

https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#120

Post by aksss »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #89

I 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 love my blog.

Ha, ditto. I’m sure I’m my own biggest fan and reader. I’m making content I want to see more of on the Internet, and am proud of it! :)

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