Blogging Has Come Full Circle

byMrDon1

1.2K followers

2 months ago

Another big picture revelation at 4 am. "You Do You" is blogging circa 2000.

Blogging started as something simple — an online diary. Before platforms, it was bulletin boards. People left scraps of thought, progress updates, and personal stories for others to read. It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t optimized. But it was real.

That’s where blogging began. It wasn't ads or affiliate links, and no one had an inclination of keyword research. Just people putting their lives out in the open.

Then Things Shifted

Search engines became the gatekeepers, and content had to change with it. Blogs turned into traffic machines. Lists, tips, and hacks took over. The soul of blogging, that raw, personal story, got buried under SEO checklists and clickbait. Clickbait still works, but people are more savvy to the game. For twenty-five years, we perfected the game. Multi-million dollar industries were created to feed us more SEO keywords than we could ever write about.

Now Here We Are Again

ChatGPT delivered a knockout blow to bloggers. It wasn't instant. It didn't arrive ready to replace real professionals. Fast forward to October 2025, and AI is producing an endless flood of “content” in seconds. Google is choking on the AI content, and instead of indexing everything as usual, it cut off the output in January 2025. If it can't index and rank everything, it doesn't want you to know it, so it threw a JavaScript wall around its data. The tools broke, and it is telling you to play in its playground, or else.

I previously mentioned that the "How To Blogger" has been replaced. Do you believe me now? The listicles and Top 10s are written 1000 times faster by AI. You cannot compete with that. Realizing that we lost the gambit, we adapted. We are now writing the WHY and letting AI do the HOW.

The Circle Is Complete

We’ve come full circle. Bloggers today need to do exactly what we were doing 25 years ago. We were telling our story about this thing that was coming of age—the internet. The internet was life-changing. We were writing about what the internet meant to us. The abilities of AI have drowned out all of the last two decades of specialization.

Here is the catch. AI can't write like you, because it can't think like you. Your readers aren’t looking for another how-to post. The smart ones are already asking AI How-To. They’re looking for something human. Something personal. Something real. How Are You Navigating these AI waters? Your blog has returned to being your daily diary. What is AI Doing for You?

And that’s exactly where the opportunity lies today.

And that’s why the future of blogging looks a lot like the past: authentic diaries of mastery, told in real time.

I let AI do what AI does best. It took my thoughts and turned them into a list. Take a look at the beginning. Tell me if this isn't what you need to do today!

1. The Early Days: Blogging as a Diary - Roughly 5 Years

• People shared openly - their blogging was a diary, an open book to their souls.
• No one cared about search engines — They hadn't taken over, yet. It was about connections.
• Authentic voices built loyal followings.

2. The Detour: SEO and Clickbait - The Next 20 Years

• Blogging became a business model.
• Lists, tips, and hacks drowned out authenticity.
• Content shifted from “This is my journey” to “Here’s what the algorithm wants.”

3. The AI Flood: Content Without a Soul - Present Day

• AI tools can generate endless posts.
• The internet is being buried under generic “content.”
• Readers can spot it instantly — and they skip it.

4. Full Circle: Why Diaries Matter Again

• Real journeys cut through the noise.
• People want stories, not templates.
• Blogs that document mastery — showing the work, not faking it — are the ones that stand out.

5. What This Means for Us

• If you’re starting a blog now, lean into your story.
• Document what you’re building, learning, and experiencing.
• Mastery shared in real time is what keeps readers coming back.

We’re back where we started. Blogging is once again about telling the truth of your journey.

For me, that journey is about rebuilding a new life after sixty, using AI, blogging, images, and video. For you, it will look different. And that’s the point.

If AI can write the “how-to,” then your edge is showing the “how-I.”

That’s what people connect with. That’s what turns words into meaning, and meaning into trust.

Blogging has come full circle.

The question is: what story are you willing to tell?