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When I blogged, I was popular but felt like a scammer. When I stopped blogging, I wasn't popular but made some pretty nifty stuff. I'm not saying it's like that

by nhangen 15y ago

When I blogged, I was popular but felt like a scammer. When I stopped blogging, I wasn't popular but made some pretty nifty stuff. I'm not saying it's like that for everyone, but I'd rather be building stuff than become yet another talking head on a soapbox.

techiferous 15y ago
"I was popular but felt like a scammer" I think I know what you mean. I titled my latest blog post "Stop Using Single Point Estimates" but almost immediately regretted it. The tone was too rigid and link-baity. What I really wanted to say was, "Hey, point estimates are fine, but do you realize that you may be missing an opportunity by not using range estimates?" Really I just wanted to show people a different way of thinking about something. But it can be easy to pander to the up-votes. But mostly I stay true to myself and use my blog to educate, which is truly rewarding. My favorite post is "Roadmap for Learning Rails" because it genuinely helps people and that's a wonderful feeling. So I think if you are blogging and start feeling like a "scammer", step back and re-examine your goals. Instead of viewing it as primarily for self-promotion or making money, view it as contributing to the community and participating in the joy of education and sharing. Also, I'm realizing that the blog posts I feel the best about aren't opinionated as much as informative and helpful.
- nhangen 15y ago
  I think the clear delineator for me in this space is: "Am I writing to get on the front page of HN, or am I writing this because I think it needs to be said?" I haven't had a piece on the front page here, but I could see how someone could get addicted to that. I've often thought about writing one of those opinionated pieces as my entry back into blogging, but decided it wasn't worth writing. So I agree with you 100%.
  - mattmanser 15y ago
    Joel Spolsky (I think) wrote a good article about why he adopts a stance in his blogging even though he knows it's always got exceptions to it. Can't find it for the life of me though. There is something to be said about presenting a clear message. It's easier to follow the flow and a critical reader should be able to take the point an author is making without blindly accepting the conclusion.
motter 15y ago
For my blog, posts are generally spun out of something that has been helpful in my own work and warrants a write up. For instance, my recent post on optimising Django's SQL query generation was a collection of useful tools and approaches. Seen in this light, a couple of the benefits are: the sharing of useful knowledge, and exploring things I encounter in daily development in more detail. As well as building things, it's nice to be able to work on my written communication.
- mattmanser 15y ago
  http://blueprintforge.com/ http://blueprintforge.com/ for those who were wondering. BTW, worth linking it in your profile. It's well written, content is engaging too. I'm a bit surprised that article didn't hit the front page tbh.
  - motter 15y ago
    Thanks! Good point, I'll add it to my profile.

by nhangen 15y ago

techiferous 15y ago

"I was popular but felt like a scammer" I think I know what you mean. I titled my latest blog post "Stop Using Single Point Estimates" but almost immediately regretted it. The tone was too rigid and link-baity. What I really wanted to say was, "Hey, point estimates are fine, but do you realize that you may be missing an opportunity by not using range estimates?" Really I just wanted to show people a different way of thinking about something. But it can be easy to pander to the up-votes. But mostly I stay true to myself and use my blog to educate, which is truly rewarding. My favorite post is "Roadmap for Learning Rails" because it genuinely helps people and that's a wonderful feeling. So I think if you are blogging and start feeling like a "scammer", step back and re-examine your goals. Instead of viewing it as primarily for self-promotion or making money, view it as contributing to the community and participating in the joy of education and sharing. Also, I'm realizing that the blog posts I feel the best about aren't opinionated as much as informative and helpful.

nhangen 15y ago
I think the clear delineator for me in this space is: "Am I writing to get on the front page of HN, or am I writing this because I think it needs to be said?" I haven't had a piece on the front page here, but I could see how someone could get addicted to that. I've often thought about writing one of those opinionated pieces as my entry back into blogging, but decided it wasn't worth writing. So I agree with you 100%.
- mattmanser 15y ago
  Joel Spolsky (I think) wrote a good article about why he adopts a stance in his blogging even though he knows it's always got exceptions to it. Can't find it for the life of me though. There is something to be said about presenting a clear message. It's easier to follow the flow and a critical reader should be able to take the point an author is making without blindly accepting the conclusion.

motter 15y ago

For my blog, posts are generally spun out of something that has been helpful in my own work and warrants a write up. For instance, my recent post on optimising Django's SQL query generation was a collection of useful tools and approaches. Seen in this light, a couple of the benefits are: the sharing of useful knowledge, and exploring things I encounter in daily development in more detail. As well as building things, it's nice to be able to work on my written communication.

mattmanser 15y ago
http://blueprintforge.com/ http://blueprintforge.com/ for those who were wondering. BTW, worth linking it in your profile. It's well written, content is engaging too. I'm a bit surprised that article didn't hit the front page tbh.
- motter 15y ago
  Thanks! Good point, I'll add it to my profile.