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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

#191

Post by Andrex »

dijit wrote: post #2

Interesting points, and it's wonderful that we can use blogs for other purposes and that they can evolve over time. I think people get hung up on the tech stack of a blog, so while I appreciate the timeline, I think we put too much emphasis on that in general.. Personally; have one sole purpose for my blog: to turn the arguments you conclude in the shower into something productive. It's somewhat cathartic to write do…

Agreed on getting hung up on tech stack. On the other hand, it's a mostly-harmless way to try learning new tech, which is fun.

I've bounced between almost a dozen different stacks and platforms and these days I've wound up back at WordPress (self-hosted).

I do have an itch to start my own platform though, based on Haven.org. (I'd contribute but I'm not a Ruby dev!)

Feels like I just go through phases. Gutenberg's been a little annoying to learn and WP always felt heavy for what I need, but it's also always offered whatever functionality when I need it.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#192

Post by insane_dreamer »

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 fact that other people may want to watch it is secondary

I don't do much social networking (deleted FB, Twitter) but I still have an IG account because I like seeing pictures of interesting places, so I mostly follow thru-hikers, world travelers, cyclists, etc. I've seen the transition where some of these world travelers just start posting content for themselves, and others just happen to enjoy them. Then they slowly get more viewers because whatever they're doing is interesting, and eventually it reaches a point I guess to where money can be made, then it switches to content creator mode. And then it's not about sharing what they're doing or their interests with others, it's about views and catering to the viewers. It's not wrong or bad--I guess it's nice they can fund their lifestyle through that, but it becomes "ad-funded entertainment", which is a huge turn-off for me, that's when I unfollow.

If I find an account interesting, the first thing I do is look at the follower count. If it's a high number, I don't follow the account because it's already clear what that account is.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#193

Post by insane_dreamer »

ReleaseCandidat wrote: post #48
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…

> 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.

> That people refer to themselves as "content creators" is a sign that they see the value of their creative output only to make money

and it is that way.

the worse thing is that you have a younger generation thinking that it's the future of work or something. "Why do I need to do well in school when I'm going to make cute TikTok videos and people are going to pay me lots of money" (almost verbatim words from a 12 year old boy)

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#194

Post by hbarka »

ReleaseCandidat wrote: post #48
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…

> 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.

What term would you prefer?

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#195

Post by insane_dreamer »

Boxxed wrote: post #162
bityard wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't explain why, but I always cringe a little when I hear someone say that they "consume content." Maybe its because I can't tell if brings up animalistic connotations (a pack of feral hipsters picking at the remains of an endangered podcast on the Serengeti), or if they are intentionally being elitist ("It would be a waste of time to simply read Chomsky's work, an educated person would make the effort consume it…

A friend of mine was playing the game Slay the Spire and was loving it -- he said something along the lines of, "It's very well designed, and there's so much content!" That always kind of skeeved me out. I think because there's this odd self-awareness of it all?

This is exactly why my 12 yr old by likes Genshin Impact (a Zelda type game on the phone): "it always got these new characters" etc. Like infinite scrolling, it's an endless loop to get more gems so you can level up so you can get more new characters as they come up so you can get more gems so you can level up ad infinitum. It's basically like an advanced candy crush that you can just zone out and mindlessly do forever. I hate it.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#196

Post by insane_dreamer »

golergka wrote: post #138
doctorwho42 wrote: post #55

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.

Economic growth is another way of saying "improving people's lives". An economic system which always needs to improve people's lives is a good thing, actually. When you compare modern first world to 60 years ago, people's lives have significantly improved. And if you do the same in developed countries, the difference is unbelievable.

> When you compare modern first world to 60 years ago, people's lives have significantly improved.

I disagree that most people's lives have "significantly improved" compared with the 1960s. We have more things, but I don't think that our lives are that much better, or even better at all. In the 1950s and 60s most families could get by with a one income household -- try that today.

Even medically - on the one hand our physical health has improved through advances in medicine and life expectancy has increased considerably (mostly due to vaccines). On the other hand we have a huge increase in mental health problems. Per-capita suicide rates in the US are higher today than they were in the 1960s.

(If you're in the top 10% then yes your life has "significantly improved". If you're in the bottom 50% then probably not.)

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#198

Post by shiroiushi »

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…

I really hate the use of the word "consume" much more than the word "content" in this context.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#199

Post by shiroiushi »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #196
golergka wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economic growth is another way of saying "improving people's lives". An economic system which always needs to improve people's lives is a good thing, actually. When you compare modern first world to 60 years ago, people's lives have significantly improved. And if you do the same in developed countries, the difference is unbelievable.

> When you compare modern first world to 60 years ago, people's lives have significantly improved. I disagree that most people's lives have "significantly improved" compared with the 1960s. We have more things, but I don't think that our lives are that much better, or even better at all. In the 1950s and 60s most families could get by with a one income household -- try that today. Even medically - on the one hand our…

>I disagree that most people's lives have "significantly improved" compared with the 1960s.

Obviously, you're only looking inside the US. People's lives in the US haven't improved by that much because the US has been squandering its advantages for the last several decades. Outside the US, especially in developing nations, people's lives are far, far better than their parents' and grandparents'.

>In the 1950s and 60s most families could get by with a one income household

Only in the US, because of its post-war economic boom. In most other places, everyone had to work.

Re: Why I still blog after 15 years

#200

Post by shiroiushi »

Karrot_Kream wrote: post #169
ghaff wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

I think both of these things are true: * It's more accessible to be an influencer today than a pop star 20 years ago * Becoming an influencer is a lot like being a lottery winner. Bands on the radio had massive audiences. A decent Youtuber is getting 10k views on their video, which is a much smaller piece of the pie than any band that aired on the radio in the early 2000s. But for every Youtuber with 10k views there'…

Conversely, there's far, far more "decent Youtubers" with 10k views now than there were bands on the radio 30 years ago. Only a very lucky few bands ever got airtime like that. 10k-view Youtubers are common.
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