4 ms·
Why I Blog
- ExpiredLink 14y agoI'm going to write a blog post entitled "Why I don't read blog posts that start with 'Why I'.
- jonathanwallace 14y agoI don't plan on reading it.
- RegEx 14y agoI much prefer "Why I" over "Why you should" or "Why everything you're doing is wrong".
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- lbarrow 14y agoI don't think these are very good reasons to blog. He's assuming he'll definitely get a lot of readership, specifically from his coworkers. That's not really a reasonable assumption. Steve Yegge wrote a great essay on why people should write blogs (https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/you-should-write-blogs https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/you-should-write-b...) that hits on many of my own thoughts on the topic. His basic argument is: * Writing blogs clarifies your thinking and improves you writing skills * All the reasons people usually give to not write blogs are bad What more needs to be said?
- hkmurakami 14y ago>He's assuming he'll definitely get a lot of readership, specifically from his coworkers. That's not really a reasonable assumption. IMO coworkers asking one another questions about various topics regarding general programming stuff happens pretty frequently (especially regarding gotchas), so I think his justification is pretty reasonable. (you often end up having to write emails explaining these sorts of things anyways, so you might as well just have a blog post you can point to).
- jseliger 14y agoRight. I'd also add that many of my own blog posts start from e-mails or random conversations. In the case of e-mail, it's often a fairly straightforward transition to a post.
- hkmurakami 14y agoI really like to reasoning, and it doesn't have to be limited to programming. I'm often asked for resume help especially from friends who live abroad who are applying to US companies or US schools and have explained things multiple times to them. I really should write a "how to" on boilerplate resume writing, provide templates, etc!
- sergiotapia 14y agoRight on! The reason I write blog posts on my website is because it has measurably impacted the amount of freelance work I am offered and it's also a way for me to write down something I learned in a clear, succinct manner. Six months down the road when I forgot how to do something, I can just read my blog post and Sergio-from-the-past will be more than willing to hold my hand and explain things to me. If other people find it useful then excellent!
- jiggy2011 14y agoI'm interested to hear you say that your blog got you measurably more freelance work. I considered blog writing to increase visibility for freelance work , but in the end I just concluded that the only people who would be interested in reading it would be HN types who are good enough programmers that they wouldn't need to hire me anyway. Do you find success from writing technical blog posts, or do you focus on other aspects such as business etc to try and get a more diverse set of readers?
- sergiotapia 14y agoI write 100% technical blog posts, and I also guest write for a prominent [$programming-laguage] blog. People search the common problem, I provide well written solutions. I guess that proves to potential clients that: A) I can speak English at a native level. B) I'm a good engineer with an interest in my field. C) The most important one: I'm a good communicator. In a team environment you want someone you can communicate with, first and foremost.
- jiggy2011 14y agoCool, so you find that people are more interested in hiring you even if they don't necessarily understand your posts because it shows that you are knowledgeable? Do you have a link to share to your blog so I can see a good example? :)
- mkwayisi 14y ago> I write 100% technical blog posts, and I also guest write for a C# blog I don't consider writing articles like "BitCoin - Have you heard of this new P2P Currency?" technical.
- mgoforth 14y agoI highly recommend companies to setup an internal wiki for many of the same reasons. A culture of knowledge sharing makes for a great work environment especially if the information is easily searchable.