Why Do You Have a Blog?

[Stonehead]

Why do you write a blog? It takes so much time and energy to create, and without the widespread audience of mainstream social media, it's unlikely that many people will actually read it. So why put in the effort?

I wrote some thoughts about the merits of creating a website that won't be seen. (If this self-promotion is too shameless, let me know and I can delete the link)

I think writing is a good way to organize your thoughts, and sort out your beliefs. I've heard that journaling is good for mental health, and my theory is that blogs can have a similar effect. The styling and layout of the blog then are analogous to decorating your journal with stickers and highlighters.

No one questions why you would bother to put stickers on a journal you won't show to anyone, so I think that's a sufficient answer to why anyone would write a blog.

More than that though, I think putting more art into the world is good, regardless of how many people (if any) actually see it. I don't really have a good argument in favor of this, it's just a gut feeling.

What do you think? Do you have a blog? Does anyone read it? Why do you put so much effort into your blog?

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

Hi.
Similar to what you have written.
My blog is a bit frequented, but many of my projects (many of them are much more dear to me than my blog) are vastly invisible. They are done to be done, and this is okay. I loved to make them, and occasionally somebody might stumble over them and be enlightened that such stuff is made - it might seem unlikely sometimes, but I can tell you that it happens :).

There is a passage in Burgess Earthly Powers where they talk about vanity. One character asks if the world would lie in ruins, and nobody would remember Beethovens 9th Symphony anymore - wouldn't it still be part of the world? It wouldn't sound anymore, but it was there and touched the world, and thus became an inherent part of it.

[zj]

I'm in the works of adding a little journal / blog-ish to my site, and you summed it up perfectly! My site is also not very frequently visited, and while visitors are great, the best part of having a website is in my opinion how deeply personal you can make it.

I've always loved coming across old blogs - last week I stumbled upon a blog post from 2010 in my search for some obscure thing, and had a little look. I got to see this random person's reflections about college in 2010, and I even found a post from 2018 excitedly talking about the birth of her second child :')

Even if nobody ever sees what you write, having somewhere to express yourself and your thoughts is both fun and comforting. :)

[Memory]

I have a blog on bearblog which I recently switched to, actually.

Previously, I was typing raw coded entries LOL. It was fun while I was doing it, but it was a bit of a pain and I was seeking somewhere that would take care of all the styling and sorting entries itself so that I could instead focus solely on writing the entries. Bearblog is cool in that I can customise the look of it myself through CSS, but I don't have to worry about formatting anything!

It also has an analytics tab! You can pay a small amount of money for detailed analytics, but the free version works well enough. I never realised how many people read my blog/diary entries until moving to bearblog!

As for what I write... It's usually attempts to sort through my own thoughts, or ways to "explain" myself to myself. Updates regarding my life are common entries too, such as fun things I've been doing, cool things I've bought, or otherwise "minilogs" as I like to call them (which just means several unconnected ramblings).

One thing I note is that I never use my blog space to vent. I like to try and keep my entries easy and fun to read for others, just in case I have an audience. And venting goes inside a personal hand written diary, the hand written aspect of it proves better to deal with my venting as I have to take my time with it. I like putting good things into the world which is why I love having my blog, because it allows me to not only understand my own thoughts, but also perhaps comfort someone else in the process.

[shevek]

I think writing is a good way to organize your thoughts, and sort out your beliefs. I've heard that journaling is good for mental health, and my theory is that blogs can have a similar effect. The styling and layout of the blog then are analogous to decorating your journal with stickers and highlighters.

I fully agree with this
In my case, I think I am just not used to not having one.. I made my first tumblr account in 2010, I was 14/15 years old at that time. I have always had fun arguing for or against something in a little essay, or sorting my thoughts that way, or presenting a topic I care about in that way. I also write a lot of long texts elsewhere, like messages to friends or forum posts.
I don't really care about if anyone reads it or not, my default view is that it won't be seen so I am positively surprised whenever someone messages me. I actually enjoy the obscurity and disinterest, since being famous online in whatever way doesn't seem like something I would enjoy. I know some bigger Neocities sites have posted in the past about not feeling like they can be themselves on their well known websites and blogs, so they create separate identities and accounts elsewhere where they feel obscure enough to be a bit more intimate.

I also see blogs as a little track record of how thoughts and opinions evolve, or a sign of how you improve at things. I also appreciate that it is something people can discover if they really want, and learn stuff about me that they wouldn't think to ask or wouldn't wanna ask. It's like a little repository of how I handle stuff, some of my views and values, and surely a lot of the entries say things about me that aren't even explicitly written about. A person could write about their favorite reptiles, and something about their way of words and view on it can give you the idea that they're a neat or smart person, or the way they describe their Sunday breakfast conveys that they are a really kind person, you know? Maybe it gives strangers more content to talk to me about, or an incentive to become closer.

[Stonehead]

I also see blogs as a little track record of how thoughts and opinions evolve, or a sign of how you improve at things.

I hadn't even thought about that. Future me will probably be my most passionate reader.

Previously, I was typing raw coded entries LOL. It was fun while I was doing it, but it was a bit of a pain and I was seeking somewhere that would take care of all the styling and sorting entries itself so that I could instead focus solely on writing the entries. Bearblog is cool in that I can customise the look of it myself through CSS, but I don't have to worry about formatting anything!

My site is made in notepad...

As for what I write... It's usually attempts to sort through my own thoughts, or ways to "explain" myself to myself. Updates regarding my life are common entries too, such as fun things I've been doing, cool things I've bought, or otherwise "minilogs" as I like to call them (which just means several unconnected ramblings).

That's a good way of putting it. Sometimes you don't fully understand how you feel about something, and you need someone (yourself) to explain it to you.

[Daryl Sun]

I also see blogs as a little track record of how thoughts and opinions evolve, or a sign of how you improve at things. I also appreciate that it is something people can discover if they really want, and learn stuff about me that they wouldn't think to ask or wouldn't wanna ask. It's like a little repository of how I handle stuff, some of my views and values, and surely a lot of the entries say things about me that aren't even explicitly written about. A person could write about their favorite reptiles, and something about their way of words and view on it can give you the idea that they're a neat or smart person, or the way they describe their Sunday breakfast conveys that they are a really kind person, you know? Maybe it gives strangers more content to talk to me about, or an incentive to become closer.

This is how I approach my current blog as well. Not only can I track the things I've discovered and learned over time, I also get to share my various interests with other people, and maybe start conversations.

For example, in my blog post last week, I mentioned having difficulty finding online stores that sell DRM-free music files. Four separate people, two on Discord and two on Mastodon, gave me their recommendations. Unfortunately, the websites they suggested aren't available in my country, but it's the thoughts that count!

[BlazingCobaltX]

I run my Tumblr like a botched diary and I've had fun in recent years looking back on my earliest posts. Even though they can be cringe, and I don't always know the context of a post, it is fun to look back on the things that were. In that sense, a blog (or an elaborate journal) is like a time capsule for a specific person. Even if people don't read your blog, I think there's an inherent biographical value to running one.

[georgemoody]

I use it to get my mind off current topics surrounding my life, and to keep them archived somewhere at the same time, since my memory is not particularly strong in remembering minute and old details.

as for other people reading them, I don’t care extensively about that aspect of blogging, but giving strangers something to briefly think about is better than having entries sitting somewhere and be unseen.

[doomvega]

I don't think anyone reads my blog except myself. It's a way for me to reflect on my day, on my actions, or w/e so I can actually remember them down the line. I have a lot of issues remembering things so it's been helpful and insightful to look back on my blog.

[di]

I am naturally curious about other people and how they view the world. I love reading blogs I can relate and also not relate to, it's like reading random dispatches from other people's minds.

It's interesting seeing what moves people to post, whether it's like a diary entry or it's written for an audience. I like finding links out to other places on the web through blogs.

So it's only natural I have my own.

[H0ppin_H00ligan]

I've posted long rants about stuff to places like tumblr before and it kinda made me sad to see nobody interact with them so i write about them on my personal neocities so that i don't have to worry about numbers going up and all that junk.

Honestly, i quite like blogging on my own little space because i don't have to worry about my posts getting taken down because i said "suicide" too many times and not "sewerslide," i don't have to worry about word counts, algorithms, all that "ALL PROFITS UP AT ALL TIMES" jargon a lot of the internet prioritizes nowadays.

[Arcadia Page]

The reason why I started my blog was really simple. Back in 2010 I was working on a webcomic, and I thought that having a blog would be a good way to share with readers what I was working on and what my process was like (That blog is still available in case you're curious). So here I am still blogging 16 years later for kind of the same reason. Since I self-publish books, having a blog is a good way for sharing my writing and thoughts in between my bigger projects.

My blog does get read because sometimes people find my books, and they end up finding my blog, or they stumble across it via a Google search. But like anything, my blog has had seasons of being actively found and then falling quiet. But either way, I feel impelled to keep blogging because it's a mode of self-expression that I enjoy. I just like doing it. I like sharing what I'm doing, what I'm learning, or just the weird stuff in my life.

And as already mentioned, I do like going back and reading my blog posts from 10+ years ago as well. Reading my old blog posts is just so eye-opening, And sometimes reading the old posts inspires me to write new ones.

[MrsMoe]

I think in my case, it's because I've been struggling with loneliness throughout a good portion of my life.

People have been telling me for years to get a journal or to write down my thoughts when they get too much for me, but I have a serious problem feeling motivated to do things that'll have no effect on anyone (other than myself). If I write my thoughts in a book and then hide it away somewhere, then I'm basically tossing these thoughts into the void, thus my feelings of isolation persist. I enjoy having a blog because it allows me to talk about my life, my troubles and everything I make while knowing for sure it's reaching out to someone. Call it attention-seeking (and maybe it is), but I'd rather expose myself in order to meaningfully connect with others than to just lock myself away.

[noahie]

I used to host my writing on Substack, but became dissatisfied with the platform for a few reasons.

First, the lack of customization sucks. Every Substack publication looks the exact same. Boring.

Second, the user tracking is extremely rampant on there because of Big Tech's inane surveillance ethos. I felt like I really was doing a disservice to my readers.

Third, RSS is a far superior delivery method over email newsletters. RSS is simpler, no frills, no tracking, and gives the user more control over how they consume content.

Fourth, and most importantly, is the fact that I was imprisoned in their walled garden. My writing would've only gotten featured if it served their algorithms. That meant that I would've had to be needlessly provocative, which is something the world needs far less of. Additionally, I was obligated to post on Substack Notes, their knockoff version of Xitter. No, no, and no again.

When I discovered Neocities and how easy it actually was to start a blog, I knew this was where I had to go. It's paid dividends as well. Over the course of a year on Substack, my publication received maybe 2,000 views. I've been on Neocities for almost a year and my site has almost 80,000 views. Recently, I've also gotten on the first page of TWO tags: philosophy and stories. Nowadays I get over 1,000 views per day.

When I was on Substack, no one read my stuff because I was a meager internet serf. On Neocities, I am now an internet aristocrat, and it feels so, so good.