The fact that so few people blog these days makes blogging even more influential than it used to be.

You can establish yourself as something of a global expert on some topic just by writing about it a few times a month over the course of a year!

Don't expect people to come to your blog. Practice https://indieweb.org/POSSE - Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere - post things on your blog and then tweet/toot/linkedin/submit-to-hacker-news/share-in-discord etc.

Also, don't worry too much about whether you get traffic at the time you write something. A lot of the reputational value comes from having written something that you can link people to in the future. "Here are my notes about that topic from last year: LINK" - that kind of thing.

There's a lot to be said for writing for its own sake, too. Just writing about a topic forces you to double-check your understanding and do a little bit more research. It's a fantastic way of learning more about the world even if nobody else ever reads it.

POSSE is the way.

I don't have a blog, but I POSSE by keeping stuff I write in Obsidian.

The internet is a circular loop of "engagement", the same crap comes up everywhere. People as recommendations for the same stuff, argue about the same things.

I got tired of rewriting the same thing from memory so now I have it pre-written (And sourced in some cases) in Obsidian. I can just copy-paste from there with minor modifications and updates and spend less energy in shooting down the most common misconceptions.

Might turn it into a blog later, but I've tried it a few times and I always end up bikeshedding about blog engines and themes and deployment :D

This. I've been doing mostly non-technical blogging since blogging was a thing, and this all tallies with my experience. And that last paragraph is key: "There's a lot to be said for writing for its own sake, too."

In short, when you are blogging you are actually writing for yourself. If other folks find it useful/interesting/amusing, that's gravy.

There is also something to be said for having the writing there when someone wants to find out something about you. I get hardly any traffic on my blog, but it still has helped secure jobs because the right person was looking for info on me and liked what they read.

You're one of my biggest inspirations for blogging

I quit writing a while ago, but resumed in 2025 after reading your excellent series of posts on AI topics

I hope I can keep learning to be able write with the clarity and depth that you do

It's unfortunate that POSSE is actively discouraged by platform algorithms. Posts with links get a fraction of the visibility.

I’ve found it really helpful. By far one of the best things I’ve done is starting writing. There’s a long history of journaling or having a diary. And you’re totally right. Being able to send someone a link to something wrote is immensely valuable.

>Just writing about a topic forces you to double-check your understanding and do a little bit more research. It's a fantastic way of learning more about the world even if nobody else ever reads it.

This is such a wise and golden advice