Note: A draft version of this post accidentally went up a few days ago. I pulled it down within minutes, but at least one person had already seen it. (Sorry for the bait-n-switch, Matt!)

I've seen a few Blaugust posts¹ over the past as many days in which their authors bemoan the lack of comment sections on other people's blogs. I'm writing this response post in lieu of leaving a comment (and undermining my entire thesis).

Who is a blog for?

A blog is for its author. Engagement and community are byproducts, and not always welcome ones, and certainly not ones the author is obligated to host.

Let me explain.

But first, a disclaimer:

I'll admit that I'm new to Blaugust. It's possible that I've completely missed the point of the whole thing. In fact, I think I have. Looking more into its history, it seems that a large part of the event was encouraging new bloggers by commenting on their blog posts. It is/was also mostly centered around video games—more specifically, MMORPGs. I'm not sure how word of the event spread to the more indieweb-y, static-site-generator-y crowd (if such a group can even be considered a "crowd"), and I understand how it feels to have a bunch of new folks who don't get the established culture invading your space, but here we are. As such, I'm only writing in a general sense, and not addressing the Blaugust event specifically.

Okay, back to it:

Who is a blog for?

Before I can really answer the who, I must address the what.

What is a blog?

I'll tell you what it's not. A blog is not social media. And it shouldn't be.

There have been scientific studies that find social media can be harmful to mental health (and if I was a professional journalist, this is where I would cite my sources). The likes. The shares. The comments. They all contribute to the addictive nature of social media. They also provide the drip-drip-drip of dopamine that keeps folks coming back and perpetually scrolling. I don't want or need to be addicted to my own website (more than I already am).

What is a blog?

A blog is not a public forum.

I understand the desire for a comment section. Engaging with a work in that way, especially when you feel strongly that you have something to add (or correct), can be satisfying. I often long to respond when listening to a podcast that touches on topics I have strong feelings about, especially when I either want to vehemently agree with what is being said or—more often and even more so—when they got something very wrong. There isn't anything inherently wrong with that urge. And if someone wants to signed up to be the moderator of a public forum on their own blog, that's on them. I don't want to host or moderate the thoughts and opinions of others. That's what their own websites are for.

So what is a blog?

Enough of that question. I'm not actually answering it. The question I'm posing is:

Who is a blog for?

A blog is for the person writing it. It's for the person who built it, who's hosting it, who's spending hours tweaking it until it looks just right (and spending countless more hours redoing the whole thing again and again).

If I wanted engagement, I'd be on social media (and I am, to a small extent). If I wanted to foster a community, I'd host a forum or my own fediverse instance (which I might actually want to do one day). But I'm not here on this website for either of those things. I'm here to share my thoughts with the void. If someone out there wants to share their thoughts back, please do! I welcome your emails (or, better yet, webmentions).

1: They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Static Site, I Couldn't Possibly Comment, Blaugust in a Post-Comment-Box World, Are Comments Worth It?, Should There Be Comments?