11/11/2019

The archive contains older posts which may no longer reflect my current views.

Blogging for now

I check my blog every day, not through vanity (I don't have stats) but out of interest to see what's in the "on this day" section. It's why I added it after all.

There has been discussion for some time about how the default, reverse chronological view isn't very effective as we just funnel readers to what's new rather than what's good.

I think that gets away from what blogging is, or was always supposed to be.

A personal blog is an online journal, your day to day thoughts published on the web rather than in (or in addition to) a physical notebook. It is an unfinished story, a scratch pad, an outboard brain; and while there are highlights it is more the journey that's the important aspect.

It brings back the question of who the blog is for; the answer should invariably be yourself.

CJ Chilvers wrote that he started journaling for the wrong reasons, "for legacy", and that we should journal for now. I think the same applies to blogging.

Blogging for legacy, blogging to have people just come and read the best bits, is the wrong reason and implies writing for others rather then yourself. A highlights reel does a disservice to who we are in the moment and that who is always changing.

This doesn't mean, however, that we can't use a blog as a way to talk to our future selves, an aide memoire if you will. I find it interesting to look back but probably don't respond to past me as often as I should.

12 comments: click to read or leave your own Comments