This is an answer on Zhihu. The original question was Why did you give up on your personal blog (personal website)?. I think the reason someone invited me to answer this question is because I had previously answered some similar topics, but those were just brief responses. This time, I’ll elaborate a bit more.

No Time

Writing a blog is a time-consuming and thankless task. Without strong willpower and determination, it’s hard to keep it going for long. But even with strong willpower, you have to balance work, life, and family. To put it bluntly, it’s just a personal hobby. When career and family demand your attention, this hobby has to take a backseat. When you’re already exhausted every day, where do you find the time to manage a blog? If you neglect it for too long, it becomes difficult to pick it up again.

For example: The chart above shows the update frequency of my personal blog. From 2009 to 2012, I was in school and just starting my career, so I had plenty of time and updated frequently. By the end of 2014, with job changes and marriage, various pressures piled up, and I really didn’t have time to indulge in personal hobbies. From 2015 to 2022, I only updated 40 times in total. From 2019 to 2022, I didn’t update at all; I just moved content I wrote on other platforms to my blog to make up the numbers. These 8 years were the most stressful period of my life. At my worst, I was the sole breadwinner for a family of 7, two of whom were seriously ill. It was mentally and physically exhausting. But no matter how tough it was, I got through it. Later, my wife found a better job, so I wasn’t the only one supporting the family. Both kids started school and didn’t need constant supervision. My mother’s serious illness was mostly cured. My father-in-law, who had been paralyzed for years, passed away peacefully at our home without regrets. My mother-in-law wanted to move back to her hometown, so I helped her build a new house. Each of these things was a thousand times more important than writing a blog.

No Readers

After the rise of mobile internet, most internet traffic in China shifted to private domains. People’s time is now dominated by short texts, images, and videos on major platforms. The limited habit of reading long-form content has been taken over by various public accounts and news aggregators. Before people could even develop the habit of actively searching for information, they became dependent on push notifications. Most people might never open a browser on their phone during its entire lifecycle.

Another important reason is the misbehavior of search engines. Currently, domestic search engines generally don’t index personal independent blogs. Foreign search engines are slightly better, but their influence is limited. As a result, the vast majority of Chinese independent blogs are in a state of self-entertainment, with very little sense of achievement from writing. Daily traffic is often just 1 IP or visits from friends. SEO optimization becomes almost useless, making it hard to reach a broader audience.

No Ability

Running an independent blog well over the long term requires certain personal abilities.

1. Technical Skills
   Although various blogging solutions have simplified operations and lowered technical barriers, if you want to run a blog well over the long term, you still need a basic understanding of server maintenance and website management, along with the ability to keep learning. Otherwise, you’ll hit roadblocks everywhere. This is the biggest hurdle for running an independent blog. Personally, I estimate that at least 70% of independent bloggers in real life have a background in IT or the internet industry, with some understanding of computers and computer systems.

2. Creative Ability
   There’s no fixed way to write a blog. Some people document their lives, some their studies, some their work. Some write, some copy, some sell ads. But overall, if you want to keep a blog running long-term, creative ability is essential. Many people give up on their blogs because they hit a creative bottleneck. During this phase, stopping updates, taking long breaks, or even deleting the site and running away are common.

3. Self-Discipline
   In today’s world, running an independent blog requires staying true to your original intentions and enduring loneliness. Even if no one reads it, don’t let it go to waste. Even if it’s anonymous and unregistered, you still need to follow ethics and laws. Having a website doesn’t make you unique, and having a blog doesn’t exempt you from societal norms. Consistency between online and offline behavior is the key to longevity.