I'll bite. I mostly write for me. Because my memory is unperfect, because it shows gaps in my understanding, it forces me to gather all the links, resources, references. Because it feels so much more concrete than other software/computer endeavors.
It's also a great help to closing a topic. Once everything is put down and said, I can checkpoint in trust that I'll be able to restore later. Closing all the open loops. For some time at least.
And sometimes, most of the times, I end up sharing with interested parties. Either because someone needs to write up a conclusion or synthesis, and (very humbly) better me than someone else, especially if I'm the one doing or driving most of the work.
If you share widely, sometimes it's also a way to find other kindred souls, or to have a place to come back 'see, someone tried this and it worked'. And to challenge oneself against a larger public and see whether you need to improve in some ways.
Just don't look too much at HN or Twitter downers (use the mute and block features heavily), try and focus on positive and constructive, additive comments. Push back, shut down, leave alone anything harmful. It may come with the need for additional therapy sessions (it did for me the first times), so please beware.
It doesn't need to be a fight. I hope whenever/if you feel like writing something and share it, that I'll be able to read it and maybe enjoy the thoughtful ideas or conversation or inspiration, the challenge.
I love that feeling that I get writing for closure, when I'm distilling and crystallizing things that I've learned about a topic. I use physical notebooks for that kind of writing, and writing the words out by hand once I've understood something just feels so nice and durable. And then I can page it out of my brain, knowing the notes are there if I need them again.
(By contrast, I'll usually have a temporary digital file with notes in flux while I'm learning something. But the notebooks are where I write things "on-the-record.")
How deep do you want to get? The benefits I think outweigh the downsides, we formed the modern world by advancing ideas.
But I share you sentiment, I don’t write, too many fights to win. There is a significant portion of the workforce who do not do anything except to try an take up the air in a conversation.
I don’t post on HN, often write out the comment, refresh the tab and move on because of what I see that will unfold. Sometimes things need to be said, but often it’s the things that are not said that paint the picture.
Let's hope the plugin integrations don't also suffer from the cross-account leaking issue that they had recently with chat histories[1], since the stakes are now significantly higher.
