In The Days Of The Giants
In The Days of The Giants
Last night I met up with a friend who I have known for about fourteen years. I had been reading his thoughts, conversing on email, and even had a Skype session here and there. Yet we had never met in person. As I saw him turn the corner of the hotel lobby, I recognized him immediately. We are both bloggers. He started writing about medicine in 2004 and I at the end of 2005. Those were the days of the giants. You could count the number of medical bloggers on two hands. And there were some great ones. The community was small and tight nit.
The years would change it all. The number of content producers bloomed over the next decade and then eventually leveled off and began to fade. It seemed like there were a dozen new medical blogs being birthed every week. The names are hazy now. So many came and went over less than six months.
But some stuck it out.
Parallels
I now have become part of the personal finance blogosphere. Although the days of the giants are long passed (and we all can rattle off who those giants are), I can’t help but feel the parallels. I think I have stumbled onto this little corner of the internet just as it is hitting the logarithmic stage.
The new avatars and acronyms are cropping up at a dizzying speed. Even the physician personal finance blogosphere is expanding rapidly. Doc Linus has compiled a list of over sixty and counting. This is up from roughly ten a few years ago.
And I wonder if the financial independence and retire early phenomenon will follow in the same direction as the physician blogosphere. There are still plenty of physician bloggers, but it no longer feels like the vibrant community it once was.
There is even the Playing With FIRE documentary that will be coming to theaters soon, but back in the day we had our medical documentary too.
Sometimes I wonder if history is repeating itself.
Still Here
Yet as I sit across from my friend, I realize that we are still here. The days of the giants have long passed, yet he is changing the world over on his blog. And I am writing day in and day out on mine. His readership is higher than ever, and he has bridged out into some new exciting pathways.
I now talk about the philosophy of personal finance and go to get togethers like FinCon and am a guest on podcasts.
Maybe our words have changed a little, but we stand together in a small crew of people who never left. We came and we stayed. Long after the glory and fame have soaked away, these are just words on a computer screen. Words we feel compelled to write.
Onward
I don’t know if the days of the giants have passed for the personal finance/FIRE blogosphere. I do know that roar of the crowd is at an all time high and the heights of creativity and content creation seem endless.
But they are not. The glitz and the glam may fade over the next decade.
The conversation, however, will continue. Because this is deep work. Deep work punctuated by connection and community that doesn’t have to fade even after the spotlight has moved on. Even after the days of the giants have passed.
It sure didn’t for the medical blogosphere.
Two old friends sharing a dinner and past war stories on a blustery Chicago night are a testament to that.
Blogs live or die by content and intent. In this FI Bogelhead space there are only so many ways you can say 4 x25 +- real estate, save half, lose the debt, get a better job +- side gig. In other words you can spin schemes till your blue in the face and they are still schemes. On the intent front it’s about separating you from your dollars or your data, or not. If “not” then you have a chance at being a giant otherwise you descend into being a hack. Then there’s the media connection, the look at me I’m on CNBC, Inc. Magazine, RockStar, the self published self help book, the how to do it course and all the marketing associated. All of that adds to the illusion of credibility. Success I think is measured by uniqueness and insight of content, and humility of intent. A truly fresh point of view, born of experience, with no hubris in delivery. That’s called value. A reader can use that to build and tease out the truth. Creating value is a lot of work, but the value creator is the giant. The truth teller is the giant. More echo chamber is just echo, like the cacophony of barking dogs. Nobody sits around and enjoys the cacophony of a pack of chiwawa. I think your content as it grows, qualifies. It’s the reason I come every day.
I really appreciate that. My goal is for my unique views and identity to show through the writing and topics.
Great insight. You are right, the pioneers in the physician blogosphere deserve all the accolades/recognition they deserve.
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery and the fact that these giants spawned so many other physicians to try their hand in this space says a lot.
I am definitely late to the party (April 2018) and as Gasem put it, probably part of the barking dog cacophony (love that visualization btw). Part of it for me is to tell my story as sort of my own autobiography being played out. Part of it is to join a community that I have respected for years and decided to cross the red line to join.
This week marks the 6 month anniversary of my blog, I have content scheduled out quite a bit so I think it is safe to say I will hang around a little longer at least (and you are right, most blogs do start vanishing around this time period as the bloggers realize it is a lot of effort to create interesting content and keep up a website in addition to your main gig).
Definitely want to last until at least the next fincon to still feel like I am part of the financial community 🙂
As long as there are stories, there will be bloggers.
The days of giants have probably passed but at some point the giants will move on or the world of finance will change. Gasem’s comment about only so many ways to scheme the same concept is true but tax laws will change, Roth backdoors will come and go, crowdfunding will climb or collapse etc. Most personal finance bloggers started blogging in the bull market so it will be interesting to see who will stick around during a downturn. Will things they advocated and recommended hold true? It’s amazing how many residents I talk with who have never heard of the giants.
I think the Med bloggers went through their own evolution. Topics like burnout and NPvsMD battles took center stage while other topics got retired.
The market dropping may really cause a shakeout. We will see.
Great post. I sometimes compare it with electronic music (DJ’s). Everyone can produce a sound by pressing a button these days. But to stand out, to produce something people actually want to listen to, you need to be skilled. And to be skilled you need to practice. Perseverance is key. Jumping to blogging, everyone can create a blog these days by pressing a button. But to stand out you need to write compelling, original content that people actually want to read. This requires practice, skills, perseverance. And authenticity.
Perseverance is a huge part. The writing gets better with time.
I struggle with content. I don’t want to be part of the echo chamber because that is merely group think. I try to put out unique content that speaks to my personal experiences. That plus speaking honestly from the hear. That is what makes a blogger unique. Telling their own story that no one else can replicate.
It is a constant struggle. Sometimes the boring and “how to” posts get more viewership than the unique content.