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Why blog if nobody reads it?

andysblog.uk

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Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#171

Post by FpUser »

n_ary wrote: post #14
simonw wrote: post #11

Writing on a blog is a very inexpensive way to establish your credibility about different subjects. This pays off later down the line when you can link people to things you've written in the past. Credibility is a very valuable commodity. It's worth investing in ways to build more of it. Don't assume people will stumble across your content (though they will eventually via Google). Actively send links to people who yo…

Agreed, after a year or two, blogs become your experience logs to prove experience and credibility once the landscape is killed by GenAI slops and SEO scams. Anyone can generate a big portfolio of projects these days(be it graphics, video, software, writing etc) but blog posts from 2023 and before are proof and undeniable.

>"Anyone can generate a big portfolio of projects these days"

LOL. I could easily do it "back in those days". The difference is that in my particular case (I specialize in developing new software products for clients) I also have long list of names with actual phone numbers, emails, addresses etc. So anyone can call and verify.

Never blogged. Have no time / desire

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#172

Post by theshackleford »

righthand wrote: post #74
ghaff wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pretty much hate the mindset of don't do something if it might make someone else money even if you otherwise want to do it. One of several issues I have with the non-commercial creative commons license.

I didn’t say don’t do something. I said do something and understand a modern consequence. Go ahead publish but don’t be surprised when your work isn’t attributed correctly in the future and empowers people you may not agree with. Blogs aren’t the only form of publishing and sharing. Maybe after the AI winter subsides it might make sense again. A world where people were encouraged to publish to share knowledge ended u…

> Go ahead publish but don’t be surprised when your work isn’t attributed correctly in the future and empowers people you may not agree with.

Why would I be surprised when this has already been occurring for a very long time? What exactly is the part here that is modern?

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#173

Post by Daub »

If a blog lays unread in a forest, has it a function?

I would say yes. In my experience, writing your ideas down is an excellent way of learning exactly what those idea are. Until such time as they have been clearly stated, their existence is 'fuzzy'.

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#174

Post by cutemonster »

deadbabe wrote: post #70
n_ary wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, after a year or two, blogs become your experience logs to prove experience and credibility once the landscape is killed by GenAI slops and SEO scams. Anyone can generate a big portfolio of projects these days(be it graphics, video, software, writing etc) but blog posts from 2023 and before are proof and undeniable.

A dark pattern on your self hosted blogging website is to backdate blog posts and make yourself seem very good at predicting future trends. There is no reason why you have to write a blog over a long period of time, you could quickly pump out several blog posts and link to them to establish credibility quickly.

Links submitted to Reddit or HN then a bit work as proofs of the publication date

since one cannot backdate timestamps on Reddit and HN. Hmm but you can still rewrite the content a bit

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#175

Post by kristopolous »

For people trying to assess how popular this is, those that type in the comment box here are inherently part of a self-selection bias.

Kind of "people who post on the internet, post on the internet".

That includes me, but it's worth pointing out.

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#176

Post by scoofy »

simonw wrote: post #11

Writing on a blog is a very inexpensive way to establish your credibility about different subjects. This pays off later down the line when you can link people to things you've written in the past. Credibility is a very valuable commodity. It's worth investing in ways to build more of it. Don't assume people will stumble across your content (though they will eventually via Google). Actively send links to people who yo…

This is exactly why I started my blog about golf.

I was starting https://golfcourse.wiki and I read a bunch by Jimmy Wales, and he focused on his own credibility and openness being a linchpin to wikipedia.

I thought I might as well start a blog then, because in a world of golf media, with few exceptions is mostly a just corporate funded advertisement-as-entertainment slop. I figured I could at least stand out by openly talking about golf in a very different way, by just writing for me, with my target demo being my best golf friend, who sadly passed about the same time I started the blog.

I've got myself a small audience (a few hundred subscribers, and maybe a fourth of that read regularly. I'm more than happy with that. My ideas are almost diametrically opposed to much of the golf world, but I spend a ton of time on almost all of the articles, and I'm very proud of them. I think it lets people who might use the wiki know how serious I am about the wiki as something good for golf not as some way to get rich. I think it does a good job, and it's a good way to waste a few hours/days/weeks.

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#177

Post by gitprolinux »

jinushaun wrote: post #111
ZeWaren wrote: post #6

I document technical things on my blog and hardly anyone reads it. But later on when I need that thing again, I just go there and I have the perfect documentation available for the topic (it's perfect since I wrote it hahaha).

That’s why I blog. It’s basically long-form GitHub gist, publicly available on the internet.

I blog for own tech support. TopCoders.cloud

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#178

Post by alok-g »

ZeWaren wrote: post #6

I document technical things on my blog and hardly anyone reads it. But later on when I need that thing again, I just go there and I have the perfect documentation available for the topic (it's perfect since I wrote it hahaha).

Hopefully you are also contributing knowledge to AI so that it becomes more discoverable to others as well.

Re: Why blog if nobody reads it?

#179

Post by alienchow »

When I can't convince someone in a technical discussion of my viewpoint because they have their heels dug into a random viewpoint on a blog post penned by a random nobody, I write a blog post and link it back without mentioning the author's identity. Suddenly my words would carry weight.

Not sure how to feel about it tbh.

I also write to keep snapshots of my ideas and thought processes, regardless of how nonsensical they may be.

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