5 ms·
> But also, a lot of us write to exorcise our informational/emotional demons (to use a metaphor). It's taking care of oneself. And a lot of the time that looks
by BugsJustFindMe 5y ago
> But also, a lot of us write to exorcise our informational/emotional demons (to use a metaphor). It's taking care of oneself. And a lot of the time that looks like piles of words.
I find in my old age that I have little patience for people who publicly write for themselves and not for others. If you want to masturbate, cool, I love it, do it in private. If you want to enrich others, the less you waste their time the more people you'll be able to reach.
- marcellus23 5y agoIt depends where you do your writing. I don't think there should be any expectation that a personal blog is anything other than "writing for yourself."
- wheelinsupial 5y agoOne of the requirements of achieving the top levels within the analytics team at my company is to be considered a thought leader and evangelist. This is accomplished by blogging, tweeting, LinkedIn posts, and speaking at conferences. It’s very obvious when it comes up in my feeds that people are doing it to appeal to their managers and review committee. We are in no way a leader in analytics, so I feel bad for those who consume this content, which is put out by people with 3-6 months of professional experience who are trying to pass it off as authoritative and universal.
- travisjungroth 5y agoDo your analysts help with causality? Top companies have some people that talk a lot and others listen to. So if we have our employees talk more and get people to listen to them, we'll be a top company. Brilliant! Could there be a confound? No way!
- wheelinsupial 5y agoWe pay below market where we are. If we are considered a top analytics company because our people promote themselves, then jokes on me and I need to put myself out there.
- munificent 5y agoI think your comment presumes a well-defined difference between "public" and "private" that doesn't really exist. It's not like web pages spontaneously run into your home and throw themselves in your face. Simply publishing a blog to the web for those who happen to seek it out lets the audience themselves decide what is public what is private. The audience still has complete control over the use of their own time.
- afarrell 5y agoWeb pages which are accessible without a login are public. So are advertisements posted on the street outside your house.
- munificent 5y ago> So are advertisements posted on the street outside your house. Those take up physical space and a region of my visual field, which are both finite resources in ways that the web is clearly not.
- mkr-hn 5y agoI have a good middle ground between your positions: conversational writing. Contrasted with public journaling and lecturing. Some people have to start with one or the other to get the writing out, but editing it into a conversation with the reader makes for better reading.
- 1123581321 5y agoHow would you know which type you are currently reading?
- andai 5y agoI think that type of writing is more like digestion... the author is enriched by the process, but the product is not fit for consumption. I think most journaling falls under this category -- there is a reason it is called a "brain dump", heh.
- runald 5y agoThis is funny because a lot of the classics fit in that category, especially the ones that was dug after the author's death and was published despite the author's will. If what you say is true, then some lovers of classic literature are nothing but voyeuristic consumers.