T-SQL Tuesday #204 – Are blogs still relevant?

Yes, thank you for reading ;-). Or is this too much of a spoiler alert?

Well, this is not how we’re supposed to write blog posts, but this time I decided to turn things around and start with the conclusion.

Now, you’re right to wonder why I think they’re still relevant. Well, exhibit one: you’re reading this. Thank you for doing that. And, you’re not alone. In the last years, many people have been reading my blogs. Whenever I talk with other people who write blog posts, I’m hearing the same thing; they still get visits from people interested in their content.

Sure, the amount of people reading is declining, which is probably the reason this topic came up. But, it’s not at zero and I’d wager it well never be at zero. The reason I’m convinced about this, is that no matter how smart our new hyper-happy, antidepressent-filled artificial helpers are, they’re not you, nor us. Based on your prompt, they will infer, do their best, and come up with a result. And these results can be correct. But, there’s no substitute for your intelligence, the nuances you’re looking for. No matter how hard an AI tries, it will never have your experience. And that is essential when trying to troubleshoot an issue. An issue a blogger may have encountered and blogged about.

Whenever I’m running into something that breaks, or that’s unclear to me, I will try to write about it. It serves two purposes.

First, I’ve found that when I write about something, I keep asking myself questions, second-guess the content, and dig a little deeper to create a full picture. Something that doesn’t happen when an AI serves me an answer.

Second, I’ve found on mutlipe occasions that my blog posts are incomplete after publishing, with the commuity adding knowledge, nuances, and improvements. When an AI gives you an answer, there’s no external process to challenge this.

I’m convinced that, when you’re reading this, you have your own thoughts on what I wrote. You may mutter under your breath that it’s completely beside the point. Whatever it does, it’s activated a part of your brain that’s different from just copy-pasting the output from an AI. Because this makes you think, it will help you learn. But it will also trigger your internal quality controls; are you willing to try this solution?

For instance, if an AI tells you to run DBCC FREEPROCCACHE, DROPCLEANBUFFERS. Will you believe this is essential? Or will you check what this does before running it. And, will you read this differently when there’s a whole explanation around it why it was necessary in the specific situation this blogger was writing about. And, maybe there’s even a small line telling you these commands, in hindsight, weren’t necessary to fix the issue.

Just for your information, these commands are giving your SQL Server instance amnesia, so tread carefully.

So yes, I’m convinced blogs are still relevant. Because they share real-world experiences, should come with context why specific commands were necessary, how the issue was solved, why a new feature is or isn’t cool, etcetera.

Oh, and because I started with the ending, let me end by adding what other people put at the beginning.

This blog is a response to the invite by DesertSQL or Jeff Iannucci, who asked us to write about or views on the relevance of blogging.

Thank you for reading!