Should you blog?

Jeremy Miller has a great post on should you blog.

I agree completely with Jeremy in that as a professional software developer you should blog regardless of your experience.  Jeremy points out a lot of good points and bad so I am not going to reiterate what he said but what I will add is this.

If you are a senior developer or you want to become a senior developer/lead someday, it is imperative that you have a blog. Why? 

Our development culture changes at a rapid pace.  Because of these rapid change it requires that the seasoned professional be able to adequately convey this information to others in a written and in verbal communication mediums.  Blogs are a first place medium to covey this thought process in a written format.  As a senior developer/lead, your knowledge will have to be imparted to others of team.  I understand that the most effective scenario for this impartation is actually coding with the team.  But this assumes you are already there.  How about if you are applying for a job and your employer really wants to understand just who you are as a developer.  I hate to say this but if you have a blog and have the skill set to match, you have a better chance at getting the job then others.  Do all shops have this thought process? Probably not but I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a standard weeding interview question in the future for senior developers.

Blogs help you remember.  I can’t tell you how many times I have a thought about something related to Agile and remember, “hey I posted about that.”  Blogs allow you to instantly recall thoughts and ideas about a particular subject and refine what you may have written or completely dismiss what you thought at the time.

Humility people!  Don’t be afraid to be wrong about what you think.  It is ok to be wrong.  I am going to say this again.  It is ok to be wrong.  You are going to be wrong and it’s ok.  The fact is, you placed your thoughts out there to share with the world.  If everyone agreed on everything everyone said we would have peace and joy in the world.  You can’t remove the human element from the world, so just understand someone some where will ALWAYS disagree with your thoughts.  But remember you aren’t blogging to make the world  a better place.  You are blogging first and foremost to simply convey your thoughts and opinions.  If the world becomes a better place because of it, well consider yourself blessed.