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One of the problem with blogs is that a lot of remaining bloggers are technical people and they have these weird hangups about styling their posts so they are a

One of the problem with blogs is that a lot of remaining bloggers are technical people and they have these weird hangups about styling their posts so they are actually readable. They seem to think that because design has an element of personal preference it has no importance. As much as a I dislike platforms like Twitter and Medium, the content is a least readable by default.

BiteCode_dev 3y ago
That's a problem with substack. I like that for once I just write and don't try to code a blog platform, and substack takes care of it. Articles readable and mails are well taken care of. But code blocks are aweful: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/analyzing-sorting-a-million-32-bit https://www.bitecode.dev/p/analyzing-sorting-a-million-32-bi... So when they reach a certain size I link to github instead. And eventually I will have to code a platform because of course I itch to do so no latter what.
sph 3y ago
I disagree but I see where you are coming from. Some personal blogs are unreadable because of shoddy CSS choices, but I need them to have a little personality for me to spend a second on them. The most memorable ones for me are those that I can distinguish visually (they don't have to be necessarily beautiful) And Medium is a good idea in a vacuum, in practice with nag screens and article limits the association I make when I land on it is "fuck this place, and whoever write it only cares for engagement, not reader experience." And it's true. If you care about your readers, you won't subject them to Medium or Substack's silliness. I literally don't know a single good blog hosted on those platforms. At least on blogspot we had Steve Yegge.
szundi 3y ago
I always just press read mode
- noelwelsh 3y ago
  Nerds like you and me know about reader mode, but I would bet at least 90% of web users don't and even if they do it's another step in the way of accessing content.
  - eatonphil 3y ago
    > a lot of remaining bloggers are technical people If "nerds like you and me" are not the audience of these writers, who is?
    - noelwelsh 3y ago
      Any impediment you put in the way of readers is going to lose a certain percentage of them. Even nerds who know about reader mode are sometimes going to see a badly formatted blog post and just close the tab.

BiteCode_dev 3y ago

That's a problem with substack. I like that for once I just write and don't try to code a blog platform, and substack takes care of it. Articles readable and mails are well taken care of. But code blocks are aweful: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/analyzing-sorting-a-million-32-bit https://www.bitecode.dev/p/analyzing-sorting-a-million-32-bi... So when they reach a certain size I link to github instead. And eventually I will have to code a platform because of course I itch to do so no latter what.

sph 3y ago

I disagree but I see where you are coming from. Some personal blogs are unreadable because of shoddy CSS choices, but I need them to have a little personality for me to spend a second on them. The most memorable ones for me are those that I can distinguish visually (they don't have to be necessarily beautiful) And Medium is a good idea in a vacuum, in practice with nag screens and article limits the association I make when I land on it is "fuck this place, and whoever write it only cares for engagement, not reader experience." And it's true. If you care about your readers, you won't subject them to Medium or Substack's silliness. I literally don't know a single good blog hosted on those platforms. At least on blogspot we had Steve Yegge.

szundi 3y ago

I always just press read mode

noelwelsh 3y ago
Nerds like you and me know about reader mode, but I would bet at least 90% of web users don't and even if they do it's another step in the way of accessing content.
- eatonphil 3y ago
  > a lot of remaining bloggers are technical people If "nerds like you and me" are not the audience of these writers, who is?
  - noelwelsh 3y ago
    Any impediment you put in the way of readers is going to lose a certain percentage of them. Even nerds who know about reader mode are sometimes going to see a badly formatted blog post and just close the tab.