---
title: "Personal blogs are back"
url: https://perrotta.dev/2025/11/personal-blogs-are-back/
last_updated: 2026-02-16
---


[Disassociated](https://disassociated.com/personal-blogs-back-niche-blogs-next/) ([via](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46009894)):

> Personal blogs are back, should niche blogs be next?
>
> A resurgence in personal blogging is the first step in rebuilding a vibrant,
> thriving, web, or if you like, blogosphere. Now the focus needs to be on
> restoring the flow of accessible and trusted information.

[Simon Willison](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46011877):

> Here are some reasons to start a personal blog:
>
> 1. It's a great way to learn. Teaching something to someone else has always
>    been the best learning tool, and writing about something with an audience
>    in mind is an effective way to capture some of that value.
>
> 2. It can be a big boost in job hunting. As a hiring manager two of the most
>    important questions I have about a potential candidate are: Can they code?
>    Can they communicate well? If a candidate has a blog with just two articles
>    on it that hasn't been updated in five years that's still a big boost over
>    candidates with nothing like that at all. In a competitive market that
>    could be the boost you need to make it from the resume review to the first
>    round.
>
> 3. If you blog more frequently than that it can be a really valuable resource
>    for your future self. I love being able to look back on what I was thinking
>    and writing about ten years ago. Having a good tagging system helps with
>    this too — I can review my tag of "scaling" or "postgresql" and see a
>    timeline of how my understanding developed.
>
> 4. It's a great way to help establish credibility. If someone asks you about X
>    and you have a blog entry about X from five years ago you can point them to
>    that.
>
> 5. Building a blog is really fun! It used to be one of the classic starter
>    projects for new web developers, I think that needs to come back. It's a
>    fun project and one that's great to keep on hacking on long into the
>    future.
>
> Notably none of the above reasons require your blog to attract readers!
> There's a ton of value to be had even if nobody actually reads the thing.
>
> As a general rule, assume nobody will read your blog unless you actively
> encourage them to. That's fine. What matters isn't the quantity of readers,
> it's their quality. I'd rather have a piece read by just a single person that
> leads to a new opportunity for me than 1,000 people who read it and never
> interact with me ever again.
>
> If you DO start to get readers things get even more valuable. I've been
> blogging since 2002 and most of the opportunities in my career came from
> people I met via blogging. Today I get invited to all sorts of interesting
> events because I have a prominent blog covering stuff relating to AI and LLMs.
>
> But I do honestly think that a blog is a powerful professional tool even if
> nobody else is reading it at all.

I do not have anything to add, really. Simon has nailed it.