Why a blog?"undefined" anchor link
For a long time, I have been thinking about starting a blog.
Lot of reputed developers own one where they write about technology, market, labor conditions, general -or critical- thoughts or whatever.
As a self-taught developer, I have learnt a lot from the community sources, mainly forums and blogs, but currently I don’t think I am contributing enough, and I think I have the conditions to do so.
There are lots of reasons for blogging, and I would like to take some time here to develop them:
-
As I previously said, make the developer community grow. Share your knowledge, your doubts and your achievements.
-
Improve your communication skills. The dev game is far from just programming, you have to deal with non-dev people -surely, you will do more often than you think- and they are not speaking our language, so always keep an eye in the communication for different audiences. Learn how to explain what you contribute in non-technical language.
-
Blogging will encourage the keep up to date need. Researching new languages features, frameworks, libraries, technologies, trends, etc. to create content will help you not to fall behind.
-
Being original will enhance your creativity. If you don’t want to do rehashed content, you will innovate, a really useful cross-disciplinary skill. A blog gives you the opportunity to solve problems from a different angle, thinking outside the box.
-
Writing about any topic requires critical thinking. Choosing one solution means discarding all the others. This strengthens your ability to clarify the reason for a choice and make informed decisions.
-
Publishing blogs allows you to establish an online presence and develop a personal brand in the tech world. This will benefit your career by positioning you as an expert in your field.
-
Be the example of what you want the rest to be.
I stand for that every developer should have a blog, specifically, their own blog, so it’s time to apply it to myself.
Where to create the blog?"undefined" anchor link
At first, I was tempted to use some of the platforms that offers this service. The first thing I noticed were, obviously, the advantages:
-
Starting is very easy. Just create an account, write what you want and publish it.
-
Built-in stats: it takes no effort to have information about the reach of your publications, percentage of read ratio, views, etc.
-
You are already in a community, their community.
Well… if there were only advantages, the decision would be clear, so I wanted to look deeper. These are some of the disadvantages:
-
You don’t really own the content you generate. By writing on a platform, you are giving your words to a company that will, logically, prioritize their income. This can lead to policies that go against your interests.
-
Your content could be locked by a paywall. Personally, I want my articles to spread freely.
-
Your content could be censored. The service owner could hide, delete or shadow ban your articles due to conflict of interests.
-
These companies are noted for their lack of concern for permalink and content portability. Years of work could vanish without you having anything to do with it.
Conclusion: create your own blog"undefined" anchor link
Own your blog, own your work. It is easier than ever buying a domain and hosting a self developed web page. The content durability and search capability will be in your hand.
Contributes to the community and keeps growing yourself.
Special mention
"undefined" anchor link
During the process of writing this post, I read this Scott Hanselman article regarding the need to have a blog as a developer, where he clearly takes a stand in favor of creating it yourself. Check it out for yourself, it is a must-read.