[HN Gopher] Some Blogging Myths ___________________________________________________________________ Some Blogging Myths Author : GavinAnderegg Score : 47 points Date : 2023-06-05 19:12 UTC (3 hours ago) (HTM) web link (jvns.ca) (TXT) w3m dump (jvns.ca) | snewman wrote: | Great post. I'll propose one more "myth": _writing a blog doesn | 't benefit you personally, except by drawing attention_. I've | found that writing about a topic can also be a great way to | solidify your own thinking on that topic. There ideas that I've | understood much better after blogging about them. Basically, | you're using the entire Internet as your "rubber duck". | z3t4 wrote: | About the "posts need to be 100% correct", I sometimes read | through my old blog posts and find a bunch of errors. If it was a | post on HN you can no longer edit it, but if it's your own blog | you can just edit and make corrections! Sometimes I add a note | like "Me from the future..." it feels like time travel. | SeenNotHeard wrote: | > I still don't know if all of those statements are true (is it | true that PHP programs can't have long-lived persistent TCP | connections? maybe not!) | | They can, depending on how the PHP program is coded. PHP even | supports non-blocking I/O. | zabzonk wrote: | i wrote blogs simply becauase i enjoy writing and having fun, and | i would have thought that is the primary motivator for most | bloggers. and i really enjoyed writing training courses. given up | now because of health and other problems. | | a couple of mine: | | https://latedev.wordpress.com/ | | https://punchlet.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/hello-world/ | gavinhoward wrote: | I'm a blogger too, not as famous as Julia, but I'm too famous for | my tastes. [1] [2] [3] [4] | | I agree with Julia's points perfectly! In fact, some of those | four posts were "boring" (I thought), but got a lot of traffic. | | I just want to add two more myths that are unfortunately pushed | in today's clickbait culture. | | _Myth: You need to make your posts clickbait._ | | One of the posts linked about used clickbait-ish titles | ("Considered Harmful"), but they weren't _very_ clickbait-ish in | general. Yes, my thesis may have been opposite of mainstream, but | I don 't think the titles were clickbait. | | _Myth: You need to make your posts appeal to people 's emotions, | i.e., make them ragebait or similar._ | | Those four posts are my highest traffic posts on HN, and they | were all level-headed posts. | | I had an earlier version of my "Considered Harmful" post, and it | was ragebait, but it didn't get much traffic (thank goodness!). | | Be constructive. | | I think if there's a theme to Julia's points, it's that: be | constructive and useful. Sometimes, that means being boring. | Sometimes it means having a short post, sometimes a long one. | Sometimes, it means repeating something. Sometimes, it means | skipping concepts. | | My $0.02. | | [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34662666 | | [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30965805 | | [3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28736238 | | [4]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29671325 | GavinAnderegg wrote: | Julia Evans is a better blogger than I'll ever be, but I've been | trying to get back into blogging. These tips are great, and all | things I need to keep in mind. "You need to be original" and | "writing boring posts is bad" are two thoughts that often keep me | from writing on a subject. | pncnmnp wrote: | I am facing a similar dilemma. Lately, I have been writing | about data structures and the "original" aspect has really | taken over my writing. Breaking down the content into a | readable format and complementing it with intuitive figures can | become a challenge. I have two almost-ready drafts sitting on | my computer, but I cannot gather the courage to post them as I | feel like they might be missing more analysis. I am not sure if | this is necessarily good or bad. I have been trying to treat my | blog as something I enjoy, with content that will still be | relevant in a decade or so. Perhaps, I need to take Julia's | advice and write more boring posts, like some of my favorite | things in my bashrc. | Minor49er wrote: | Maybe you ought to adjust the approach. Rather than have a | complete and finished reference now, post what you have so | far to show what you have been trying. Someone may reach out | with additional insight. Though whether or not you get any | feedback at this stage, it can lead up to a post that covers | everything that you want once it's ready | | You can always edit old posts or just create follow-ups and | link them together. Or just keep it as an open topic that you | periodically post smaller updates on | mattrighetti wrote: | > writing boring posts is bad | | This is highly subjective, what you think is boring might be | super interesting to another person. | didgetmaster wrote: | The mistake that too many people have, is thinking that your | blog has to appeal to the masses. Unless it goes 'viral' and | attracts millions of views they think it is a failure. | | Instead, focus on topics that might only be 'not boring' to a | small subset of the population. HN tends to attract people | with very particular interests. I often browse through a | hundred or more posts before finding one that truly interests | me. | | My own blog is dedicated to those who are passionate about | data management. This is a small group indeed, but who cares | if less than 1000 people read my posts. All it takes is a few | to learn something meaningful from it to make it worthwhile. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-06-05 23:01 UTC)