I don't write blog posts not because there is some bureaucracy stopping me (although I am sure there is bureaucracy), but because it's a poor use of my time. I have never in my career had a point where I felt I could sacrifice 1-2 workdays on a polished technical blog post. Even if all of one's planned tasks are on track (they are never on track - by design of the process, one inevitably takes on more tasks than time exists), there is always a years-deep backlog of papercut bugfixes, tech debt cleanups, and minor-ish feature requests, not to mention colleagues wanting some advice, rubber-duck design conversation, or in depth code reviews - doing any of which would be both more useful and more personally satisfying than writing a post.
I suspect people mainly write blogs only when required - either they are forced to promote themselves by their circumstances (they are between jobs or they are an independent consultant) or their boss asks them to (a tech blog makes for good PR for our project).
I’ve worked with some blog post writers in the past. They tended to be people who were singularly uninterested in career advancement. At least one of them left industry for academia.
Different people have different motivations, and some of them get a ton of satisfaction out of sharing knowledge with the world. It may not lead to maximum career earnings, but they’re operating under a different utility function.
You state this as a fact, but it's it really true? Is "a years-deep backlog of papercut bugfixes" really that important? I don't think so, the bugs have waited for 4 years already, they can wait another year.
In contrast, good technical blog posts bring actual value to the world. You share your hard earned knowledge with others[1] - imagine how much poorer the world (or HN frontpage) would be if nobody wrote blog posts.
Blog posts also bring marketing value to your company (way more value than fixing the css bug in privacy policy that was filed 3 years ago), and bring value to you (by allowing you to self-promote).
I'm not saying everyone should write - I do it because I like it, and my job is in large part research so I have insights/stories to share. But claiming you don't do it because it's a poor use of your time is - in my opinion - an excuse .
[1] Assuming you have something to write about, instead of writing yet another post about a well covered topic, like "introduction to C++". In this case I agree, that - unless your approach is really novel - it's pointless.
> Blog posts also bring marketing value to your company
there's an european engineering firm doing amazing work and they attract amazing engineers because, in part, they document their work via some youtube videos that rival the quality of most documentaries out there. fascinating work and fascinating videos. if anyone is looking for a video to watch today the drilling one and the moving bridge one are great https://www.youtube.com/@MartiGroup
A book is a huge amount to write and will probably be outdated in a few years. Generally speaking, blogs probably have a lot more bang for the buck than most books. (Yes, there are exceptions and books/big reports have a certain "thunk factor" and perhaps outsized halo effect than blogs but I'm skeptical as someone who has done a bunch of both.)
It's one of the best uses of your time. No one is going to notice your papercut bugfixes. There's a good chance that the bug-fix itself will be deleted in a few months with the rest of the code.
However, a written artifact of your technical thinking and contributions with your name on it will outlast probably even the company.
These things matter. Unfortunately there's so much garbage self-promotion nowadays through Linkedin and other platforms that the pendulum has swung in the other direction for people with actual skills and expertise.
In addition to the self promotion benefits, writing about something in plain terms is the best way I know of to shine a light on areas I don’t fully understand. It’s a useful tool to have if you’re serious about self-improvement.
I worked at a startup where the CEO wanted each technical contributor to write a blog post per month, every month.
I wrote two internal memos and then quit. Exactly zero got made public. Imagine thinking this is a good use of time for a startup right after closing Series A.
Funny: I was forced to write a blog post every month by my CEO, about a decade ago. I did it for about a year, and some of these went to No1 on HN (for example this one [1]).
Just searched for it, and although the company is turpor, the blog is still alive. Looking back it gives me an insight on my opinions at the time.
The best setup I’ve seen is a rotating support engineer where everyone takes a week at a time. Unless there’s an emergency, support is typically less than 40% typical load.
You’d use that 60% to write a blog post and fix any bugs you felt inclined to. Obviously, if support duties were heavy, you wouldn’t write a blog post
A lot of the good blog posts were invested in during the ZIRP era because it was viewed as a differentiated hiring tool. Now that the supply/demand curve has totally shifted, we might see a drought of great new corp blogs for a while.
There are also just fashions with such things--I've seen a lot of cycles between the early 2000s and today--as well as a lot of variation among companies and between individual roles at companies. In some cases, a senior developer is sort of the public face for a new technology they've been involved with and promotong.
It's perfectly reasonable for someone not interested in doing this sort of thing to push back--they won't do a good job anyway if they're being pushed to do it. Others get a lot of recognition by writing and speaking. I'm not even sure the hiring pipeline is that big a part of the rationale.
It’s the opposite. Writing and effective communication are the best use of your time.
People write company blogs only when required. That’s true. But it is incumbent on management to make that an incentive. Good technical blogs will attract talent when you want to hire.
For you - it’s a public validation of your job skills. 3 in-depth blogs will carry a lot more weight than a resume.
For the company - it’s a place to advertise the kind of work done to hire talented devs.
I suspect people mainly write blogs only when required - either they are forced to promote themselves by their circumstances (they are between jobs or they are an independent consultant) or their boss asks them to (a tech blog makes for good PR for our project).