Why are you blogging/writing?

I'm really interested what are the different reason that people here are writing and sharing content?

For me it's both wanting to better understand those topics that I write about, but also meeting other devs and seeing what they're doing.

Comments

[Ben Lovy]

To make sure I know what I think I know, usually.

[hilalarsa]

Me too!. Quite help me on mapping things up, and sometime, I found out I didn't know enough things I thought I would be, and knowing more on things I didn't quite understand. You should read this post overreacted.io/things-i-dont-know-... by Dan Abramov

[Milan Radojević]

Indeed, trying to explain something can show you where your gaps in knowledge are. For me it's about the frontend workflow that I'm writing an article on, and there is some stuff I kind of understood but was surprised how much more there is when I looked closer.

Is there something that surprised you to learn about while writing?

[Ben Lovy]

Honestly, I almost always learn something in the process of writing. One example that sticks out was when putting together How To Make A Makefile. I'd been using syntax like $(OBJ): $(BUILDDIR)/%.o : $(SOURCEDIR)/%.cpp, but didn't fully understand what the difference between that and the regular rule syntax was. That led me to learn about static pattern rules, which led to both a more thorough personal understanding and a more thorough article.

[Zaynaib (Ola) Giwa]

Ditto! Blogging also helps create visibility with the tech community too.

[Nucu Labs]

I write to improve my writing and communication skills.

[Max Ong Zong Bao]

Hmm.. For me it's mostly personal branding and building it as a side hustle to earn money in my niche

[Milan Radojević]

Oh nice, how long have you been doing it Max?

Also is there a topic that you like writing about?

[Max Ong Zong Bao]

It's about a 1 year+ I mostly focus on documenting my developer journey plus topics on Startup, Web development and Python.

I thought it might be good to write as I encountered a few developers within Python User Group in Singapore who works within the startup ecosystem.

They usually won't talk about it much as they are busy in their startup or are freelancing to teach or build projects in Python.

[Si]

I don't know really, I guess I just like helping people. I write on Dev to drive traffic to CodeTips, but that doesn't give me any monetary benefit.

[Milan Radojević]

That's great. Is there an article you're really proud of?

[Si]

I'm probably most proud of Translation and Types, on CodeTips, but I also did some articles on Blockchain on a different site that I was also proud of.

How about you?

[Shannon W]

(Most of my reasons are similar to others)

It's mostly:

• Practice and gain confidence in my writing
• Learn branding. Hoping once I got this downpact, my online presence will serve as a good addition to my resume. Also hoping it will help with making extra money by doing digital content and branding. Heck may even turn into a career for me. Sadly, I've observed that sometimes the best developers, products, solutions, etc. are dismissed due to a poor branding/image. People tend to go for what's trending, and instead of the solution that has the best value...
• Expand my network online.
• TBH, knowing programming is just the basics of being a good developer. For ex., I find that unlike the stereotype images (like being anti-social) you have to be a real problem solver. Biggest realization of this? I work in a team of senior members with me being the only junior. Most of the time the code they right for solutions is a lot less than mines, with less bugs. How can they do this? Clients are not really good at telling exactly what they need (for various reasons), now and in the near future, but the senior devs know how to socialize and prune the information out of them (even what the clients don't know themselves and have to research) so they can spend less time coding and fixing bugs. The resulting code often indicates how well or bad developers handled very detailed or vague requirements. This among other problem solving skills I've seen made them great developers. Don't wanna forget these, so why not write them down?
• A lot of stuff shared on social media regarding programming, I find is not 100% true (or lacking information) compared to my programming experience, especially in a corporate environment. By writing my experience & thoughts, it may open some eyes and let others know the mistakes to avoid and really be prepared for doing software development as a career.
• Solidify what I've learnt. Also I have my own style of writing and I would prefer to read articles written in my style.
• To help myself to help others. Being active online is one way to get tons of criticism/feedback fast. Why not use it to improve myself? Felt quite unhappy and just bored with my career until the thought of helping others came to mind... Sadly, you can't always help others without money. So by improving my self, and learning to make extra money via blogging, hopefully it'll open opportunities to help others.

Haven't gotten around to writing a post on all the above but these are the reasons off the top of my head :p