5 ms·

How do you all discover blogs? I used to discover blogs via the Yahoo Directory, blog rolls (where we mention others' blogs as external links to follow up), Li

How do you all discover blogs? I used to discover blogs via the Yahoo Directory, blog rolls (where we mention others' blogs as external links to follow up), Live Journal's listing, and cross-referencing of blog posts. Google search used to surface blog posts too. Now it's all on Medium - where I don't grudge those who want reliable hosting+discoverability and want to get paid for content, and where Medium charges for this. But I dislike that the content is "locked up" at Medium. I don't quite know how to explain this dislike, and I welcome any points of view that might help make this dislike go away.

nxpnsv 5y ago
I have discovered many blogs reading HN...
- s_dev 5y ago
  Yeah -- off the top of my head: danluu.com, plover.com, ciechanow.ski, essays by pg and many others have very high quality writing and are insightful. I don't accept there is a shortage of blogs.
  - flybrand 5y ago
    I’ve got one topic that gets a lot of referral traffic, and then people follow the other more rambling personal stories. Twitter and YouTube drive a lot of traffic too.
    - manuelmoreale 5y ago
      I had the same experience. Have a few very popular posts that rank quite high even on Google (with absolutely no SEO bullshit done to them) but they represent maybe 5% of what I wrote about. People find me through those posts and end up sticky around for the more personal/rambly stuff.
  - ant6n 5y ago
    there's a shortage of blog reading, meaning theres less of an incentive to write.
SuoDuanDao 5y ago
typically in the comments sections of other blogs, when someone links them. Slatestarcodex, Ecosophia, and Charles Eisenstein are my current favourites.
Tomte 5y ago
From other blogs. People link to other blogs all the time, and every few weeks I find a gem this way.
Lex-2008 5y ago
probably worth mentioning this HN thread: "Ask HN: Favorite Blogs by Individuals?" with 273 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27302195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27302195
azhenley 5y ago
I find blogs by periodically asking my friends for suggestions. I recently made my list of favorites: https://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/favblogs.html https://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/favblogs.html
quakkels2 5y ago
I like to start with a blog I already know and like, and then I use a tool I built to spider the RSS feed to find links to sites that also have RSS feeds. I figure that if I find a blog interesting, they'll probably link to other blogs that I'll find interesting. The tool is hosted on heroku: https://rdengine.herokuapp.com/ https://rdengine.herokuapp.com/ I give a rationale for it here: https://quakkels.com/posts/rss-is-wonderful/ https://quakkels.com/posts/rss-is-wonderful/
chenmike 5y ago
I don't think you have to justify or challenge your dislike for Medium. It's pretty reader-hostile. I get why authors write on it but I personally click away every time I get hit with the paywall.
JacksonGariety 5y ago
Check out my blog: https://hegelsbagels.net/ https://hegelsbagels.net/

nxpnsv 5y ago

I have discovered many blogs reading HN...

s_dev 5y ago
Yeah -- off the top of my head: danluu.com, plover.com, ciechanow.ski, essays by pg and many others have very high quality writing and are insightful. I don't accept there is a shortage of blogs.
- flybrand 5y ago
  I’ve got one topic that gets a lot of referral traffic, and then people follow the other more rambling personal stories. Twitter and YouTube drive a lot of traffic too.
  - manuelmoreale 5y ago
    I had the same experience. Have a few very popular posts that rank quite high even on Google (with absolutely no SEO bullshit done to them) but they represent maybe 5% of what I wrote about. People find me through those posts and end up sticky around for the more personal/rambly stuff.
- ant6n 5y ago
  there's a shortage of blog reading, meaning theres less of an incentive to write.

SuoDuanDao 5y ago

typically in the comments sections of other blogs, when someone links them. Slatestarcodex, Ecosophia, and Charles Eisenstein are my current favourites.

Tomte 5y ago

From other blogs. People link to other blogs all the time, and every few weeks I find a gem this way.

Lex-2008 5y ago

probably worth mentioning this HN thread: "Ask HN: Favorite Blogs by Individuals?" with 273 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27302195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27302195

azhenley 5y ago

I find blogs by periodically asking my friends for suggestions. I recently made my list of favorites: https://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/favblogs.html https://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/favblogs.html

quakkels2 5y ago

I like to start with a blog I already know and like, and then I use a tool I built to spider the RSS feed to find links to sites that also have RSS feeds. I figure that if I find a blog interesting, they'll probably link to other blogs that I'll find interesting. The tool is hosted on heroku: https://rdengine.herokuapp.com/ https://rdengine.herokuapp.com/ I give a rationale for it here: https://quakkels.com/posts/rss-is-wonderful/ https://quakkels.com/posts/rss-is-wonderful/

chenmike 5y ago

I don't think you have to justify or challenge your dislike for Medium. It's pretty reader-hostile. I get why authors write on it but I personally click away every time I get hit with the paywall.

JacksonGariety 5y ago

Check out my blog: https://hegelsbagels.net/ https://hegelsbagels.net/