Ask HN: Is starting a personal blog still worth it in the age of AI?

I've had a blog for almost 20 years. Nowadays, it's the best record I have of what I'm interested in and working on. It has recipes I send to my friends, context for strangers. It's a beacon that attracts similar people, a call for them to reach out.

And it works! I get emails about my posts. I helped people travel along the same routes, and fixed people's technical issues.

Another blog of mine turned into a lifestyle business. I have met countless friends and two lovers through it.

So yeah, do your thing, put it online. Start simple, migrate as needed. I love static sites because they're low maintenance. Hugo and a theme would be good.

Learning to hit publish even when you're full of doubt is the cure for self-doubt. Stop letting doubt rule your life and do the things you want to do!

> Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

My recommendation, short posts at least once a week revolving around a single topic

> If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

I would not have built my own blog from scratch, I would just use one of the many fine options out there. Be realistic, you likely will not get many readers, at least not for a while. The value of blogging is what you learn about writing and the topic you write about it.

This one is demonstrably false. Your personal written style is what's important. Also, you have hands-on experience, which is also demonstrably more than any "AI" has. I urge you to ignore this kind of doubt or consideration.

- What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

For learning, "book report" type posts, just to solidify what I've read in my mind, maybe drive a little experimentation to ensure I've concluded correctly. I've decided not to collect any metrics so that I don't follow from behind, so that I don't end up doing clickbait. Career and network opportunities have not arisen from my blog.

My "public notebook" posts get more traffic, and I've referred back to them, but for me, these are mostly Linux sysadmin topics. I'd wager these are most valuable to people that find them for very specific problems, like seeing LLDP info from inside a WiFi access point or fixing GRUB problems on particular hardware.

- Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

I have not discovered anything for this, alas. I use Hugo, I have a couple of little shell scripts to do monthly counts of finished vs draft articles. I try to stay at or above 5 posts a month. I'm not sure that helps lower the bar, which I interpret as "provide motivation to post".

What would I do differently? Start a blog years before I actually did so.

I'm happy to correspond, my email is in my HN profile.

The most interesting blogs I read are the people that don't really care and are just creating things they find interesting.

When everything else is a computer, be a human.

If you want to have your content discovered online, I'd say you might be in for some trouble, although I don't think AI is the cause, only an accelerator on that. Blogs for readers learning are probably in decline, you're unlikely to get any outreach based on your posts for networking.

However if, like me, the writing process is the point – you're trying to clarify your thoughts, learn something new yourself, or have a document you can share with colleagues when they ask you to explain your opinions, I think blogging is valuable. While you won't get direct outreach, you can share it on your CV or send it to recruiters and you might get noticed when applying for jobs.

LLMs are likely more attentive readers than most human beings and in a way a blog might achieve even greater reach by virtue of being read by an LLM and incorporated into its "understanding of the world." (Or whatever is the right metaphor.)

It’s still worth blogging in the age of AI

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43166761

Blogging in 2025: Screaming into the Void

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46156379

Write the post you wish you'd found

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43154666

Ask HN: Is maintaining a personal blog still worth it?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42685534

>What made it worth it for you?

If by "worth it" you mean a measurable ROI, then nothing. If we expand it to more abstract concepts, then spinning up my own HUGO theme and writing about what I like is fun, so self actualization is what I get from it.

>What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

None, probably less than 100 people have read it, I only share it in friend groups, but it feels nice when those friends read it and give me feedback.

>Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

What do you mean by "lowers the bar"? The length of my posts can be pretty variable, cadence is "whenever" and the blog can go months without an update, and themes are also pretty varied, sometimes I talk about some piece of fiction I like, other times it gets more technical, and sometimes too I just recount the process of making something and the insights it gave me.

>If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

There's not much to change when blogging has not changed my life in any significant regard, I'm just glad I started.

Writing in public is performance art. Some people are naturally performance artists and need to perform to satisfy some internal urge. If you're not one of them, don't let anyone else convince you that you need to be one. It's ok to not blog. The idea that everyone should have a blog is completely unjustified.

I read another comment that said you should write blog posts at least once a week. That sounds a lot like a job. An unpaid job at that. Forget this silly peer pressure.

For me, the main motivation is that I enjoy reading other people's blogs, and hopefully my posts give someone ekse a similar enjoyment

I had a few attempts to lower the bar (tags for low effort, short and shitpost so far), but it feels like a crutch and hasn't worked long term for me.

Writing is also a great way to structure your thoughts, ideas and sometimes "bleed" a bit when you want to share a sensitive point of view.

I have been blogging for the past 21 years. I like it, writing is really something I enjoy doing. It may be simple or complex posts, and the consistency varies depending on my times or ideas that pop up in my mind.

Short answer is YES

The economics changed though. You're not writing for SEO anymore (AI won), you're writing for humans who specifically want non-generic thinking. Smaller audience, but they'll actually care.

This is actually why I started curating AI discussions from HN - cut through the generic AI content with actual substantive threads: https://hackernewsai.com

I am a customer facing staff cloud consultant (specializing in app dev - “application modernization”) and when I have new personal insight, I randomly ramble to ChatGPT and ask it to give me a “devils advocate” response or a “steel man’s response”. I go back and forth and give it my responses.

I ask it to write a blog post about our discussion. I have instructions like no em dashes, no “not $x. But $y”. No call to action etc.

I still edit the output heavily. Once I am satisfied, I post it to my blog.

My blog doesn’t have my name attached to it anywhere or any contact information.

I do review it sometimes.

What I feel is a really good post after a bunch of edits and giving it time to marinate, gets copied to LinkedIn - with no link back to my blog.

Even then I don’t care about “engagement”. It’s so I will have a corpus of well thought out posts if I am looking for a job later.

The other types of posts are just links, with a quote from the article and if I saw the article on HN, I link to the comments.

I don’t need network opportunities through my posts. I’ve been in the tech industry for 30 years this coming June and I’ve been in consulting 6. I have plenty of industry contacts and a solid reputation.

FWIW: the other blog is just recording my frequent travels and concerts with my wife.

Also with the shoveling of it down the people's throats, more people want authentic human experiences.

- Like you mentioned, it helps me learn more about a topic/explore it more deeply, I usually begin with an intuition and then explore outwards.

- Folks positively mention my articles - both current connections and new connections.

- They sometimes spark interesting discussion which helps refine my knowledge further.

> What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

- Hard to say, I don't have a high signal here. Usually just having some content for people to skim was enough, but folks would tend to mention nearly random articles depending on their interests.

> Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

- I'm not a great blogger in that I have no established cadence. I didn't want pressure to deliver crap (biweekly), nor did I want necessarily to put posts on too high of a pedestal (monthly+).

> If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

- Highly recommend going with simple tech. A static site based on Markdown does wonders. Offload discussion threads to sites like HN or reddit - the comment section of your links.

* All posts have worked to consolidate knowledge and help me think.

* Since you're just trying to build a public notebook, what are you trying to lower the bar to? Your own writing motivation or something else? If the former, just write to the length/cadence/themes you're interested in and don't write what you're not interested in.

* Maybe I'd go back and tell pretty-much-teenage-me to stop being so cringe because this stuff will still be there 20 years later.

For example, at the moment I have 43 drafts, and about 10 published posts.

I basically use my blog more as a way to store up potential future ideas. I grab threads that catch my interest. In that thread, I would have written up some long rant-y comment and realize a few things:

1) No one will ever read this.

2) Why am I giving this site free content?

3) I can use this for my blog. I should save it for later.

So, I grab all of the info that sparked the comment and throw it into my drafts. The hope is that if I have some downtime later on, I'll work on some of the drafted ideas I have stored.

Besides that, I also use my blog as a way to document the various things I've learned, discovered, or setup for my home lab. Having some online documentation of that information (that can also serve as a dual role of showing that I am technically knowledgeable) can help me down the road, when I re-forget all of that information.

The way I approach my blogging is: 1. Establishing my domain expertise in public (with timestamps) 2. (Very important) things I find interesting and I learn, so I can refer to them later 3. Practicing writing and explaining your thoughts, this specifically will become invaluable in the age of AI 4. Practicing the art of writing in itself, learning grammar, building your vocabulary 5. Especially if you self-host, like I do, explore different systems. Dynamic blogs with Wordpress, a minimal Python web app you wrote yourself, or perhaps static site generators? You will learn a lot about web services, HTML, CSS, HTTP, and more regardless

My personal blocker is that I have a bunch of unrelated hobby topics and don't want to maintain multiple blogs. Someone interested in landscaping and woodwork might not be interested in programming..

The main value of a personal blog was never distribution. It’s externalized thinking. Writing forces you to make assumptions explicit, notice gaps, and resolve contradictions. That doesn’t get replaced by AI — if anything, AI makes undisciplined thinking easier to hide.

The posts that tend to compound aren’t “explainers.” They’re records of decisions, trade-offs, failures, and mental models you’ve actually tested. That’s where perspective comes from, and that’s the part AI can’t synthesize for you.

If starting today, I’d optimize for low friction and long half-life: short notes, irregular cadence, one theme you’re actively working on. Treat it as a public lab notebook. If it’s useful to your future self, it will eventually be useful to someone else.

Realistically if you start now, you’re years away from a devoted readership and that’s fine. You’ll gain from publishing and if you’re diligent, you’ll gain from watching your writing improve.

For me, I like writing and can’t get paid enough in publishing or as a writer to do it professionally. So it’s worth it for me because I have a lot of fun writing. I spent a good part of my life hunting for eyeballs and now I’m content just writing whether anyone reads it or not.

I’m not sure that I’d recommend any particular theme, cadence or style for a new blogger. And I definitely wouldn’t recommend a style of post. Rather those sorts of things will come organically as you get used to writing and start building a community. When you’re getting started, just focus on writing, trying to build habits and learning how to edit yourself. Most writers will struggle with one of the three on their way to developing a voice so if you’re going through hell you’re likely on the right path.

If I were starting today, I’d focus less on hunting eyeballs and more on writing for the joy of it. I’d also spend a lot more time writing about subjects that I’m not interested in because that’s really good practice. And finally, I wouldn’t worry so much about writer’s block - it happens, it sucks but it goes away when you stop worrying about it.

On the subject of writer’s block, if it’s something you struggle with I have a great exercise for you. When you’re stuck, interview yourself about the finished piece you’re stuck on. Pretend it’s done and interview yourself. I would have started doing that twenty five years ago and I’d be a far better writer now because of it.

Finally, keep everything you write and read it regularly but there’s nothing wrong with pruning your blog regularly. If things you wrote two years ago are embarrassing today that means you’re a better writer. Go with that.

I write whatever comes to mind, organize my travel photos, record my daily step count, and manage my bookmarks.

if you don't expect anyone to read it from the start, then you won't be disappointed, and you won't have to doubt whether what you've written is meaningful or mature enough, or whether it's embarrassing to show your imperfect self.

It won't be, because I assume from the beginning that no one will read it. But I still want to write, because as a freelancer who works from home all year round, I say a few words a day. I need a place to express myself, a channel for my emotions.

There is no money in blogs if there ever was. The money moved away to social media a long time ago. Leave the blogs to human people talking to each other and showing off their gardens and pets and hobbies.

I don’t do it often anymore (lack of time) but used to be a somewhat active blogger. It helped with my own understanding of the topics I wrote about.

Argue in the comments.

Write more, with your improved ideas. Get better at arguing.

Get better at understanding arguments.

Get better at understanding generally.

Essentially: Exercise your brain, and use that to make yourself a better person.

I've really enjoyed writing recurring posts. For example, each December, I write up lists of the most interesting books and papers I've read during the year. These usually generate a decent amount of interest and are something I look forward to writing each year.

> If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

I wish I would have started earlier. Writing a blog has kept my writing skills sharp.

1) AI absolutely makes new blogs hard to get any traffic, unless you are already famous somewhere else

2) That said it’s still worth writing even if it’s just for yourself

Sharing your writing publicly is a form of self expression and owning who you are at a certain point in time.

Do as you wish but do it for yourself. Blogging for some kind of external reward is like reading for an external reward.

Today's AI is built on human-made content, and if we want "more" AI then we will need more human-made stuff. So it's a moot point. Unless you are OK with AI causing a plateau in human progress, don't let it get in the way of you (a human) from making progress.

That said, I cannot really comment on your first or third blockers. I have the exact same problems.

Writing is cathartic, but you already know this.

I have a small personal blog myself.

If you don't mind it, go for it.

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I am curious on how people can output so much content, did they work on their blog while at the office or during working hours for remote work?

Opportunities. You don't need many readers, you just need the right readers. I'm a big believer in making your own luck - putting things in place that make luck more likely to strike. Having a collection of writing online that people might stumble onto is very effective way of doing that.

> What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

I've written a bunch about this in the past. TLDR version:

- Stuff I've learned: TIL style posts that describe something I've learned recently

- Stuff I've found: links to things that are useful, with an explanation of why they are useful

- Stuff I've built: descriptions of projects I've completed

What to blog about: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/6/what-to-blog-about/

My approach to running a link blog: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/22/link-blog/

> Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

TILs are an incredibly liberating format. You don't need to be describing something that's never been written about before - just something that's new to you today.

> If you were starting today, what would you do differently

I'd use static publishing on GitHub Pages on myname.github.io so I don't even need to run any web hosting or buy a domain name.

Writing a blog entry to simply clarify your own thinking makes it worth it.

Re blockers:

- Novelty: I routinely search for very niche, "boring" information, and am disappointed by how few in-depth blogposts I find.

- “AI can explain most topics better than I can”. I doubt it! I rarely find current AI as valuable as a good blog post. It tends to be shallow and regress to the mean, and b/c of hallucinations it's untrustworthy, so a lot of time is wasted fact-checking.

- Fear of shipping: if it isn't relevant, nobody will read it (unless you're already famous)

Re questions:

- What made it worth it for you?

Clarifying my thoughts, connecting with strangers who think about the same things, the leverage "having a platform" produces (it opens a lot of doors), and gaining prestige in certain niches.

- What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

I don't think this is simple to answer until the heat death of the universe. Traffic stats is a very poor estimator of value delivered. Which posts I am most proud of, and how much traffic they got, are weakly correlated.

- Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

Things that you are obsessed with. It's a tonne of work writing a good post, and sometimes you publish it and nobody cares, so it has to be intrinsically rewarding.

- If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

I don't know! Probably put less effort into trying to appear intelligent/impressive, which rarely works anyway.

These are my off-the-top thoughts based on over a decade of blogging.

Too many to list such as jobs, recognition in the community, but the best ones are some sort of a personal satisfaction without the need to say anything aloud. The other two things I will always remember are (i) my cousin once accompanied me to a conference where I spoke, and after seeing the people lined/gathered around to talk, “What the heck are you, what do you do!” and (ii) recently, my daughter, “Papa, I searched you on Google and you are kinda Internet-famous, you are everything if I search your name.”

> What kinds of posts actually worked (for learning, career, network, opportunities)?

Two ways to look at it, (i) I don't care, I will just write or (ii) focus on a topic/community/vertical and keep writing about it, even if someone has written about it, write your own opinion. Watch for topic upticks in that vertical/interest and write about it, even if it means adding something to the ones that is already written. @simonw does it best https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/22/link-blog/

> Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

Make it open-ended. When you want and inspired, keep writing perhaps a long-form article or just stay short like @kepano https://stephango.com/style

> If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

Stay simple, minimal, comments optional/avoid. Separate content from your styles. Keep all of your content which you can just walk-out from a platform/service/framework if need be. https://brajeshwar.com/2021/brajeshwar.com-2021/

> “Nobody needs this” / “It’s not original”

We need it more than ever. Who cares if it's not original, AI slop isn't original either.

> “AI can explain most topics better than I can”

Don't write tutorials.

> A bit of fear: shipping something that feels naive or low-signal

Life is about overcoming your fears.

Then I took a look at all the blogs, Linkedin posts out there and thought “wow the bar is actually really really low for creating useful”

If that lame Linkedin influencer who talks a good talk, but doesnt actually say anything of substance is spouting nonsense everyday, then you have a duty to drown out that noise!

> •“Nobody needs this” / “It’s not original” […] •What made it worth it for you?

I would still recommend it: it does save me time having to explain myself in detail, as I can just post a link to whichever blog post is the essay about whatever.

> •“AI can explain most topics better than I can”

AI can be more persuasive than most humans, but it doesn't make it more correct, the lack of correctness is a common criticism of AI slop by just about everyone.

> •A bit of fear: shipping something that feels naive or low-signal

Allow yourself to be naïve, we're all that at some point. Here's one of mine, where in 2018 I look back on predictions made in 2012. Some held up well, some, it turned out, were physically impossible: https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2018/07/17-16.09.05.html

Naïve errors: Optical-wavelength metamaterial cloaking, fabric or otherwise, is not possible, the bandwidth is too narrow; Robot cars may be technically available in many countries, but they're sure not "rapidly displacing human drivers because they are much safer and therefore cheaper to insure".

Close but no cigar: Nameplate solar power didn't reach par with global electricity use in 2024, but it did get to 1865 TW, which would have been 82% of global electricity use at the time I made the prediction. Actual global electricity use is 50% higher today than in 2012.

Correct: China's GDP did in fact more than double between 2012 and 2022: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=GDP+china+2022+%2F+GDP+...

> •Any practical format that lowers the bar (length, cadence, themes)?

Something you find interesting. Look at my blog and you won't only find deep thoughts, you'll also find this because it was fun at the time: https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2018/12/21-09.27.02.html

But not just jokes, because I'll also write about bioprinted fairy drones: https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2021/05/22-21.06.36.html