A Return to Blogging

So, if you do some serious Google work, you’ll probably find some of my earliest online work. I was a blogger for a while during college because everyone was a blogger in 2006. You new-gen guys think that’s an exaggeration, but trust me, it is not. Blogging was Twitter before Twitter existed. We had Geocities, and Tumblr before it sucked, and WordPress before it sucked, and Blogger, and so many more.

I’ve always kind of dreamed of having a blog that people would actually come to read. For most of my blogging career, however, that dream was unrealized. I wrote, but they did not come. I can blame most of that on my ADD, I think. I had a very hard time sticking with one platform. I’d move from one place to another like I was trying to choose the best Linux distro. You can’t gain a following when you keep losing content and your blog is down more than it’s up. You just can’t.

The game is different now, however. I have this YouTube channel, and I have a decent-sized social media following. I have also made online friends with other bloggers. It turns out, bloggers link to one another, and that helps people find your blog. Who knew?

So, I’ve returned to blogging. Most of this is over on my personal blog, but I’ve also started to put more content on The Linux Cast blog. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I love it. I’ve had so much fun over the last few months blogging. Whether I’m talking about tech or books or mental health or whatever. It has been a blast. I’ve been a writer professionally for almost 20 years, but I had forgotten what it felt like to just write for fun. Sure, I’ve done some fiction writing every year, but I’ve even gotten away from that. This has been me putting pen to paper (or more realistically, words in vim), just because I have things to say. Do I have a ton of views? No. But there are people who read this, and I find quality is better than quantity. I’m not here to make bank, I’m here to blog.

I’ve also found that it’s just kind of fun to share some of your life online. I do this with my Linux stuff all the time, but I’m not only a Linux user. I’m also a reader, writer, and someone who likes movies and music. I like to share those things with others. Blogging has allowed me to do that.

There’s also something to be said for having a small part of the web that is entirely mine. Nobody can ban me because I say something they disagree with. Nobody can take it offline because they’ve sold the platform to some billionaire. This content could stay online until long after I’m gone. It’s a legacy, something that I can put out there that might inspire others to do the same.

Blogging is back. I firmly believe that it’s the best form of social media. And Elon can’t fuck this up.