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Is it advisable for early-career people (including grad students) to blog about philosophy?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Is it advisable for an early-career philosopher (or philosophy graduate student) to blog about philosophy? How does one tell which philosophical ideas are bloggable?

These are good questions, but I think difficult ones to answer. I guess I think a lot may depend on the details, including what you are blogging about and the extent to which it may distract oneself from other things (publishing in peer-reviewed venues, teaching, etc.). When I began blogging as an early-career philosopher in a non-tenure-track job, I don't thing anyone would have advised it. But, while it was a risk, it turned out okay (really, better than okay!). In terms of what's "bloggable," I don't know of any worthwhile standard other than one's own. 🙂

Anyway, I'm not sure what to recommend other than this: it's your life and career. Everything involves risks, blogging included. Which risks are worth taking? I have no idea. Every case is different, as are different people's tolerances for risk. So one really must make choices like these for oneself. Whatever you choose to do, I'd recommend making sure that it doesn't negatively impact your ability to do research (and publish), develop as an instructor, develop a "Plan B" if an academic career doesn't work out, etc. This may be hard to do, but it may also be possible. But that's all I got!

What does everyone else think? 

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4 responses to “Is it advisable for early-career people (including grad students) to blog about philosophy?”

  1. Richard Y. Chappell

    Blogging increases name recognition, which is apt to be helpful, though there’s always the risk that you might annoy some (e.g. if you’re openly dismissive of views or approaches that they like). As Marcus says, you need to judge your own risk-tolerance here. But I think there’s at least a decent chance that it can be overall helpful.
    I also think it’s good (a kind of public service) for academics to blog, quite apart from any career benefits:
    https://www.goodthoughts.blog/p/philosophers-should-blog
    If you’re not sure whether an idea is worth posting, it may help to consider the following asymmetry: readers can easily skip over a boring post, so there’s little downside to posting it. An interesting post, by contrast, has high potential upside. So there’s some reason to err on the side of liberality. Ultimately, though, the real test is personal: do you find an idea sufficiently interesting to spend your time writing about it? If so, go ahead!

    Reply
  2. academic migrant

    Not on blogging, but it might be nice to write for some nice outlets like, from my point of view, the Conversation. Sometimes the selection criteria includes BS like “the ability to engage with external stakeholders” or “the ability to speak to a wider audience” or “write for both professional and non-professional audiences.”
    My guess is that blogging may fulfil this a bit, but having more “certified” outlets may also be nice.

    Reply
  3. unblogger

    I would not start blogging now, if you have not been doing it up until now. Indeed, there is no point blogging if you do not have a following. your energy is better spent elsewhere.

    Reply
  4. anon

    @unblogger, I disagree with “there is no point blogging if you do not have a following.” Typically, the way you gain a following on platforms like Substack is by blogging.

    Reply

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