I start thinking that Trump and Elon are Russian assets whose task is to destroy the US from the inside. Both were heavily involved with Russians before, travelled to Russia as private citizens, and they both could be compromised long ago. If Russia and China tried to think about ways to ruin the US, they couldn't come up with a better plan than what Trump and Musk do to the US as to both home and foreign policies.

If the main reason for blogging is to get an audience and/or become popular, I'd say it's not blogging. It should be a serious descision to do it as a job, not "blogging". If blogging is a personal project then it could help with following:

1. Blogging is a very good way to help sorting out own ideas and shape thoughts on a particular topic. Unless you write it down and try to express your idea coherently, thoughts are just bouncing inside your head without proper actionable output. I notices from my own experience that ideas form and progress much better when I write them down.

2. Blogging is helpful as a form of journalling about particular topic—to return to later. Sometimes I read my old posts to refresh my memory and often get surprised that it was written by me—after some time I forget what was the logic that led me to a particular idea or descision and old posts look like written by somebody else.

3. Blogging helps to discipline oneself. Writing and editing takes time and effort. Only regular stable blogging attracts any audience at all. Not that it's important, but it's good feeling when somebody finds what you wrote helpful. Many just want to get audience without understanding what it really takes. It's not that easy. So, as a byproduct of the first two points, one learns what it takes to produce good content with a regular cadence.

It takes effort to carefully write, edit, and rewrite. But it really helps with our own thought process, improve ability to shape ideas, helps save sorted out ideas for later, and disciplines ourselves.

So, I'd say blogging is a pure self-improvement exercise—fitness for the mind.

What really annoys is web-sites that force dark mode without an option to switch to light mode. There MUST be an obvious switch option when a web-site forces or offers dark mode—what matters is for a user to be able to change the mode. It's simple common sense and respectful to users.

One should consider that Gemini will have a paid version "Gemini Advanced" [1] for phones and whenever one has a phone with free Gemini version, it will constantly be annoyingly reminding about and pushing to the paid Gemini usage. For some reason big tech decided that people want their AI assistants and force them on everybody including requesting to pay for their decision to invest in AI hardware. I really prefer not having AI, not having an AI chip in any of my devices, and not be bothered with AI intrusion into my life.

Very soon not having an AI integrated into a phone will be a very good positive differentiation for a phone or PC brand.

1. https://gemini.google/advanced/

Jason just wasn't into it and invented a random reason to say no... and brag about it—after all, his day-to-day job is constantly tweeting, bragging, and pretending about giving advice to become visible for startups and get the deal flow at the same time showing those SaaStr conference goers to keep participating and paying. If numbers in the deck were impressive for the economics work for him personally, he would be begging founder to take his money despite any date or any other imperfections in the deck. But the numbers weren't. And Jason used it as a reason to remind about himself one more time to the public.

Here is a novel idea: why doesn't humanity instead of projecting a laser on a hand somehow create a small screen with high enough resolution and even bright colors that could be attached to a hand and every time one raises a hand it turns on to display information? Oh. Wait...

Those who think that A16Z—and many other VCs per se—started their own media arms or at least blogs to "help industry" probably lived under a rock. There are just 3 reasons for a VC to invest in its media arm:

1. Help to create a deal-flow by writing about a current thing or their specialization in tech;

2. Promote its portfolio and pump it in every possible way for it to increase in value;

3. Promote its agendas and narratives like regulation/untiregulation.

So, yes. A16Z's media channels are a marketing tool.