I’m at PASS Summit this week, so it’s a good thing Jeff Iannucci teed up a topic for me. Jeff, of course, has the honor of putting together the full round-up, but this topic has drawn quite a bit of interest and I get to link to a lot of people.
Andy Brownsword has thoughts on who your reader is, and how that has shifted over the years.
Niko Neugebauer answers in the negative but adds a few caveats.
Mike Walsh says they are, so long as you’re willing to take the time and effort.
Reitse Eskens says yes, especially for the writer.
Marlon Ribunal says yes, and that AI assistance can make the experience better.
Brent Ozar thinks about how relevance has shifted and brings up a good point about managers: blogs provide a signal of your quality to people, including the people who might hire you.
Chad Callihan asks, what’s in it for you?
Mala Mahadevan focuses on a critical aspect: originality. Not necessarily in topic, but in how you present information and what questions you’re asking.
Rob Farley sees writing as more relevant than reading.
Lee Markum uses illicit cat technology to brainwash people into reading his blog. And also has some good thoughts on the relative cost of blogging versus other skill-sharing activities.
Andy Yun takes a trip down memory lane.
Andy Levy digs into history as well, and notes where human experiences can augment (or supplant) technical documentation.
In short, this might amaze you, but most bloggers think that blogging is still relevant.