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Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.
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If someone still wants to do this, more power to them. I definitely think there is value in just writing for yourself and putting it out there.
But then again, the internet has changed so much even in the last few years. I used to blog but gave it up.
Journaling offers me a similar outlet, and I dont have to bother with web hosting on a website that reminds me every time I look that nobody else is reading my stuff. (At least for me.)
But I recognize this is just my experience. I know it isnt like this for everyone. If it still helps someone find meaning, I say go for it.
I started blogging back in 2000 on a hand-edited HTML site. Since that time I've been through four CMSes (Pivot, PivotX, Bolt, and now Pelican). Sometimes I post about my life. Sometimes I post pictures. Sometimes I write about a project I've been working on. Sometimes I post a description and solution for a problem I've been having. Sometimes I feel a need to write about a funny or stupid thing that happened to me.
I guess the reason that I still blog these days is because I want to run a blog like the ones I used to love way back when. Not fancy. Not commercial. Not trying to make money. Just the sort of thing I wished I'd find in a web search for something like "will bettas hunt and kill tardigrades in the same tank?"
I'm not trying to be Someone. I just want my little piece of Net that I can publish on.
I had a blog many years ago. The culture around it was very curious and I wish I remembered it well. It was a bunch of blogs with links to all the other blogs that they would recommend and interacted with. Maybe blogs weren't contaminated by the thought we should be entertaining others all the time. Lurkers wasn't even a concept.
I loved having a personal web site when I was a teenager… but then the internet became all about commerce and I sorta jumped on that bandwagon. I got fed up a few months back and needed a creative outlet so I launched a new personal web site, part of that being a blog.
I love writing for it! It's different from journaling because someone else could find it. I know the feeling of discovering someone else's personal blog, and it's incredible. I love knowing that I'm writing and creating things that could do that for others.
I have no idea if anyone else is reading and, if so, how many people are reading. I don't have any analytics set up, and that's intentional. I don't want to track people, and I don't ever want to make a decision about my web site based on that data.
The old web was magical. There was something special about discovering a new web site and knowing that it only existed because someone's passion was too much to contain and had to spill out onto the internet. That's what I'm trying to recreate with my site.
I really liked this read! I blog, and I like my blog, but sometimes get stressed out because I feel like nobody's reading it (I've removed all analytics on purpose because I used to get obsessed with them). Blogging for the simple act of blogging, and not for engagement, is the best!
I've sent people short little emails about how much I enjoy their sites, and I imagine that's far better "engagement" than any sort of comment or like.
I currently journal and think an anonymous blog would be a neat idea, but I’ve never actually blogged.
Do any of you have a recommendation? Medium? Self host? I think the ability to search, reference, and download a copy would be ideal.
I've been writing notes about how to do certain things in some programming languages, how to do certain things on the command line, etc. and I have all this in Obsidian for my own reference. I started a blog a few months back (a static website generator) and I don't expect many people to come across it as the things I write about are pretty niche. But it's something that I can put time into now so when future me needs to reference something, it's just there (rather than haphazard notes that I will need to piece together).