Last week, I came across an article titled "Will AI kill blogging?" by the developer of BearBlog. Will artificial intelligence kill blogs? He believes that although large language models are developing rapidly, AI-generated content will certainly threaten content marketing and similar fields, but this threat does not apply to personal blogs.
I agree with the viewpoint of the article. A blog is a place for self-expression. Every time I visit someone's blog, I like to read their "About" page, to read about different life experiences and feel the uniqueness of individuals. It's as if a living person is in front of you, passionately telling their story. AI-generated content gives me a cold feeling.
So I thought that every blog should have an "About" page, which serves as a window for readers to understand the author and the blog. It doesn't have to be too detailed, just a simple description of the author's identity, including interests, profession, or personal beliefs. Besides information about oneself, it can also include information about the blog, such as the name of the first blog, the platform used, the first domain name, and any special meanings or stories behind them.
On my blog's "About" page, I document the changes and developments of the blog from its inception to the present. For example, I sold a domain name in 2021 and then created a new blog called "胡言胡语" (meaning "Nonsense") and recently changed the domain name to "zuofei.net" and the blog name to "今是昨非" (meaning "Today is Yesterday's Past"). I consider these as the blog's development and transformation.
Humans are emotional beings, and the words we write also carry the author's emotional tendencies and values, rather than being objective like ChatGPT, which simply states facts and argues points. Create a new page, name it "About," and start writing to let readers understand your content. When I first read an "About" page, I feel like I see the author sitting in front of me, sipping coffee, and telling me their story. From this process, I can roughly understand what kind of person the author is, whether I agree with their beliefs, whether I like their writing, and whether I want to continue browsing their blog.
An "About" page helps establish trust among the audience because as readers, we want to know the real person behind the scenes. In simpler terms, the "About" page can be seen as our self-portrait, dissecting and introducing ourselves. I believe this is also an essential skill.
So how do you write an "About" page? In my opinion, tell your story and write your life.
When I visit blogs, I have a habit of first looking at the "About" page. I have also remembered some unique "About" pages, which can serve as references to improve my own "About" page.
For example, 陈仓颉 mentions in his "关于我" (About Me) page that since 2020, he seems to have become more left-leaning. He also records things like "Former Blogs," "Former Domain Names," and "Long-term Hosting Providers," indicating that he is someone who enjoys keeping records and trying various note-taking software. His blog also includes articles about note-taking software. 破袜子, on the other hand, has a more detailed "关于本人" (About Myself) page, including favorite sports teams/athletes, dislikes, personality traits, and more. After reading his "About" page, you can vividly imagine this person in your mind when reading his articles. 老张, whom I call Zhang Shu (Uncle Zhang), has a particularly detailed "关于博主" (About the Blogger) page. He categorizes the blog's articles clearly and constantly improves the content of this page. His domain name and blog name have changed repeatedly, which shows that he enjoys tinkering... There are many more examples, which I will update gradually.
As for my own "About" page, I am not entirely satisfied with it. I will find some time to improve it and once again dissect myself, understand myself, and tell my story.