A set of questions about independent blogging has been making the rounds lately, and it felt worth answering. They’re simple questions, but they reveal a lot about why a person keeps blogging in the first place.
How often I actually update
There’s no fixed schedule.
Whether I post depends on three things: mood, time, and whether I have something I genuinely want to write. When all three happen to line up, I’ll publish something. In practice, that can mean two or three posts in a month when I’m active, or only two or three posts in an entire year when I’m not.
As it happens, I’ve been updating pretty often lately. I even published a new post yesterday.
How original the blog is
Most of what I publish is my own work—about 90%, if I had to put a number on it.
I rarely paste, copy, or repost things directly. That said, not every functional piece on the site was built from scratch by me. Some useful code, like the footprint map and the RSS aggregation page, came from more capable people. But the write-ups, introductions, and personal thoughts around those things are still typed out by me, word for word.
Whether the writing helps anyone
I’d like to think it helps a little.
If we judge it purely from a technical angle, the usefulness may be limited. But if the goal is to brighten someone’s mood, offer a bit of companionship, or make reading feel pleasant for a moment, then I think the blog does have some value.
Themes, software, and how little I overhaul things
I’m not someone who constantly rebuilds the blog from the ground up. Big changes—switching the system, replacing the theme—rarely happen.
The last major theme change I can remember was back in 2015, when I switched to Lao Zhao’s island theme. I’m still using it now.
That doesn’t mean I never tinker. In fact, I’ve been doing exactly that this week: first adding a map, then building a friend-links RSS aggregation page.
Can I do secondary development on the theme?
Not really, at least not in any serious sense.
My technical ability is limited, so I can only make small adjustments around the edges. Even those usually happen with guidance from people who know far more than I do.
How often I open my own blog just to admire it
It depends.
Right after I publish a new post, I tend to open the site more often, mostly to chat with people in the comments section. Once that wave passes, I usually stop checking it until the next update—or until an email tells me someone has left a comment.
How I feel about the domain name now
Pretty good, actually.
In 2021, I moved from a .net domain to the current pwsz.com. At this point, I don’t expect to change it again.
Do I watch traffic stats every day?
Never.
Have I made money from blog ads?
No, because I don’t run ads at all.
Honestly, I’d be too embarrassed to do it for what would probably amount to just a few cents a month. That would be a little too pitiful to take seriously.
Why I read other people’s blogs
There are two main reasons.
The first is visiting people through mutual blogroll links: seeing what they’ve been up to, what they’ve experienced, and what’s changed in their lives. I’m generally not drawn to technical posts; most of the time I click away from those pretty quickly. What I really enjoy are everyday life posts. Those give me a chance to taste someone else’s joys, frustrations, and ordinary moments.
The second is discovering unfamiliar blogs through navigation and discovery sites like “开往” and “虫洞.” Random visits like that are a good way to meet new people.
What makes me click when someone shares a post
My first reaction is simple: is this the kind of thing I like reading?
And usually that means the same preference as above—personal, life-oriented writing rather than technical material.
What matters most in a blog
If I had to rank the important parts, it would be:
- Content
- Update frequency
- Loading speed
That order matters. Content comes first.
What blogging has brought me lately
The biggest gain has been meeting other bloggers.
Through blogging, I’ve gotten to know quite a few people and picked up perspectives I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. Even the recent work on the map and the RSS aggregation page turned into enjoyable conversations with several bloggers, including 似水流年 and obaby.
That may be one of the best things about keeping a personal blog: even small experiments on your own site can unexpectedly open the door to new connections.