I’ve been reading some posts lately on the return of the linklog (also called link blogging). This is the kind of blogging that used to be ubiquitous on the web about 15 years ago, where the bulk of blogging content consisted of discussing something you’d read on other blogs, so many blog posts were effectively just a link to the source. Sometimes the link would be accompanied by light commentary and pull-quotes; it’s the kind of thing I used to do over at HTLit. Simon Willison writes:
Back in November 2022 I wrote What to blog about […] In that article I proposed two categories of content that are low stakes and high value: things I learned and descriptions of my projects.
I realize now that link blogging deserves to be included a third category of low stakes, high value writing. We could think of that category as things I’ve found.
That’s the purpose of my link blog: it’s an ongoing log of things I’ve found—effectively a combination of public bookmarks and my own thoughts and commentary on why those things are interesting.
This kind of blogging fell out of favor since the rise of “microblogging” platforms like Twitter and it’s derivatives, though of course some notable linklogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball have been running for decades.
It seems, however, that with the enshittification of Google search (which many find to be synonymous with the enshittification of the entire Web) and a rising cynicism toward the longevity and trustworthiness of social media, several posters on Bluesky are offering up linklogging as an alternative to social media that lets users retain control of their own data.
I’ve been part of the problem: a millennial more focused on the convenience and curated experience offered to me by social media than on the parts of my own agency and privacy that I was giving away for that convenience. And one thing I’ve always loved about this flavor of blogging is that it’s relatively low-effort; it lowers the bar in a way that combats my perfectionism really well.
