03 May 2025

Short form blogs are subversive

Filed under: blogging

For the last few years, I’ve been writing more short form blogs including what I’ve called “cool links”, where it’s a sentence or two and a link. Kottke.org’s old Quick Links heavily inspired me there and it meant I didn’t have to feel overwhelmed by the idea of embellishing an idea when I didn’t have much to say about it.

But as we see a lot of editorial sites getting shut down or transforming into “SEO content”^[1] farms, newer fan-backed sites are popping up. Aftermath is one of the most popular ones right now (and I am a paying subscriber) with some great pieces on all kinds of topics; poignant and silly, current affairs and throwbacks to the past. It’s been refreshing to read and I’ve been inspired to write more personal pieces on Distant Arcade because of them.

Guilty writing?

There is a downside though. So many long form pieces make me feel guilty for writing short blogs. Are they undercooked? Could I take more time with them and make them “better”? The guilt grows more as I get inundated with article ideas and don’t have the time to put proverbial pen to paper.

Of course, this is all silly because guess what? I’m not paid for any of this (at least not directly)^[2] and writing is a pastime. Nobody is expecting me to write anything at any time unless I’ve told them I would. My blogs could go down and nobody close to me would notice. That sounds sad but it’s okay. I write because I like to share and people still find my blogs via organic search which is remarkable to me since I don’t optimise at all (I don’t like to take too much of my work home with me!)

Shortform king

And that brings me back to the short form and why it might actually be a good thing. There’s a concept called small-b blogging where personal blogs take centre stage. They’re free of corporate nonsense and incorporate things like digital gardens and wikis. I feel like they can get a bit too meta and academic at times when you read the discourse around them but they are fundamentally different to a lot of blogs we see nowadays.

The shorter blogs add an element of subversion in that they go against the idea that longer is somehow better. There’s no evidence to suggest longer is better from a ranking perspective but the idea is that if it’s longer, you’ll have (hopefully) fleshed out your thoughts. But maybe a quick thought is better than an embellished one. I have something to say, I say it, I publish, I move on. When a guide is necessary, I’ll write one. Otherwise, here are some quips—enjoy!

Less is less

Another reason why I think shorter blogs are subversive is thrive on something that we take for granted: brevity. Everything we’re exposed to has some kind of extravagance or maximalism. I think there’s room for both in our lives, without question, but for everything? It’s too much. So something quick to read that takes you somewhere, be it with a link or a lingering thought, might be enough. And enough is an underrated idea in life.

I don’t know who needs to hear this (besides me) but if you want to write something in 100 words or less and don’t want to put it on your social media app of choice, throw it on your blog. And don’t worry if nobody reads it. A written article has more chance of a reader than an unwritten one.

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Iceberg Notes 🧊

¹Yes, I said “SEO content” which may piss off some SEO professionals who think it’s a misnomer of some kind but you all know what I mean and what its alleged purpose is.

²I have a Patreon which pays towards web hosting for my blogs and some tier rewards offer the chance to dictate what I write. So far, no one has joined this tier.