Regarding being offline, I don’t see a point in writing a blog that is public, but that no one reads, and it being writing I have to edit and filter for online publication. Like, why not go back to writing in private files on my computer/phone or by hand on paper?
And I think the answer to that, the point for many people, is the sense that you are "done", finished, and you can move onto the next thing.
Being online feels like being a brand sometimes.
This does bug me too. In preparation for re-starting my own blog (such as it is) I did an expansive review of a lot of blogs, and there were a lot of headshot-photo then a "waving emoji" followed by "Hi I'm John Smith, I help companies with X do Y, and I'm a passionate Z."
These are "personal branding statements" and maybe they have some value in certain fields (including, perhaps, landing a job or next contract) but they really started to (a) make everything look the same and (b) felt pretentious and superficial, especially in a sense of instead of demonstrating that you do 'X' you're simply telling me that you do (in such a way that feels aspirational, that it's what you want to be doing instead of what you've actually done).
It's funny, I kind of want to read more from that blogger. Reading the experiences of a woman of colour, especially in a tech field, that would be really interesting (and probably sad -- the note about microaggressions and some of the titles suggests she's struggling with things).
And I'm stealing a tiny, tiny little detail from her blog for my own one, that solves a problem I've been wrestling with.
Comments
Hi blueridge,
Seriously interesting article.
This point here struck me:
And I think the answer to that, the point for many people, is the sense that you are "done", finished, and you can move onto the next thing.
This does bug me too. In preparation for re-starting my own blog (such as it is) I did an expansive review of a lot of blogs, and there were a lot of headshot-photo then a "waving emoji" followed by "Hi I'm John Smith, I help companies with X do Y, and I'm a passionate Z."
These are "personal branding statements" and maybe they have some value in certain fields (including, perhaps, landing a job or next contract) but they really started to (a) make everything look the same and (b) felt pretentious and superficial, especially in a sense of instead of demonstrating that you do 'X' you're simply telling me that you do (in such a way that feels aspirational, that it's what you want to be doing instead of what you've actually done).
It's funny, I kind of want to read more from that blogger. Reading the experiences of a woman of colour, especially in a tech field, that would be really interesting (and probably sad -- the note about microaggressions and some of the titles suggests she's struggling with things).
And I'm stealing a tiny, tiny little detail from her blog for my own one, that solves a problem I've been wrestling with.
Thank you.