Recently, a friend, Zosia, told me I should focus on Instagram because nobody reads blogs anymore.
I explained I have other motivations to write than chasing an “instant” dopamine hit.
I write my thoughts:
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because I simply like to write
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to analyze what I was thinking in the past
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for my kids, for when they are grown and interested
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to leave some intellectual legacy, no matter how small
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because I want to write books, and remembering little facts from the past is crucial
I train a personal AI bot, "AIKO", in my specific way of thinking
Could I use private Google Docs, Obsidian, a notebook, or a fountain pen?
Not really. I’ve tried them all.
Private records get forgotten. And then, forever lost. I have piles of notebooks that will no doubt join my funeral pyre, and I have countless digital documents that will never see the light of day.
Blogger.com has been my friend. It works well enough for me. Yes, I fear Google may discontinue it someday, but that’s true of any platform.
Books survive the longest. That’s the ultimate goal. But it might have to wait until I retire.
Zosia’s question got me thinking more deeply about the reasons for blogging.
Take leaving a historical record, for example.
I recently chatted with my cousin Anna about our ancestry. Hardly anyone in the family can recall more than a few generations. I had a similar conversation with my aunt, Maryna.
We need to know where we came from and learn about our ancestors’ customs and ideas. Nobody wants to be forgotten.
Just this morning, I was talking with Zina about her writing.
She spoke of her life in a Soviet kołchoz (колхоз), the collapse of the ruble, the 10 years she spent in Italy, her work with Alzheimer’s patients, and her Moldovan and Italian cooking. That would be a vital record to leave for my kids once they’re old enough to care.
Another motivation? Residual income.
A solid benchmark for monetizing a blog is around 10,000 monthly pageviews. That opens the door to sponsored posts—sometimes worth a few hundred dollars each. Blogs with 100,000 views or more can command over $1,000 per post.
I never cared about traffic, but lately, my blog has been receiving 10,000 pageviews per month. That’s worth exploring.
