What's the point of having a low traffic blog?
I don't really mean "what's the point" judgmentally, though it's probably not possible to not sound a little judgmental, because I'm asking why I am (and maybe you are) bothering with something here.
There are two clear alternatives to the public blog, and they're both easier: social media (where my stuff will definitely get read by more people), or just keeping thoughts and ideas privately on my computer or in my diary (where I really would be free to write anything I wanted). There almost is no difference from keeping this post private and making it public, you'd think, because fundamentally what's the difference between no person reading it and, say, three or four people reading it over the course of its life?
I think there actually is a really big difference between four and zero though, it's only the scale of the Internet that makes it feel like there's not.
I've written things, for Twitter, or Bluesky, that have been seen by thousands of people -- one particular post conceivably seen, or at least glanced at, by millions of people -- and this did not really make me feel any kind of way, honestly. In fact a lot of people read that viral post wrong, even though it was just a handful of words, leading to a kind of anti-satisfactory feeling (which social media generates in so many of us).
There is something satisfying in putting a document at a permanent URL. I've always felt this way, it's why I first started tinkering with websites more than twenty years ago. Social media got me away from that, because it was easier, but even LiveJournal posts (which contain all the fanction I ever wrote) have successfully served as links that survive to this day. I need to get copies of those before they go away forever, but it's comforting that in two decades they haven't yet.
These thoughts could still be private. Again, very likely, this post won't be seen and they virtually will be. What's the appeal in public posting? I've gotten this far to say I'm not quite sure, but I guess I'll be thinking about it.
There is something about organizing your thoughts for other people that is valuable to your own thinking, but (and I think this is more important) it makes them more real for you, too.
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