Writing is an essential part of Learning in public and [keeping things you work on](Prefer work you can keep), but the traditional model of blogging, with posts in reverse chronological order, makes a mistaken assumption about the order than the audience will read posts in.
- Readers generally do not read posts in reverse chronological order; readers read isolated posts that show up in organic search results. They’re not trying to learn about a stranger; they’re trying to solve a problem.
- Chronological feeds work well for social connections. But Libraries work better for strangers.
Features of a good library
- Depth is prioritized over breadth, and a topic is analyzed from a variety of different directions
- Hub pages separate content into topical hierarchies
- [Audience is the byproduct, not the goal](Seek to inform, not perform).
- Content is [evergreen](Evergreen Notes), not timely.
Supporting concepts
- Content is searchable
- Content is organized into topical hierarchies (Nick Milo’s Map of Content).
Kleon’s stock and flow is a similar concept to libraries and feeds. He describes stock as a more processed content that can be shared more widely, and flow as a raw, unfiltered feed of ideas yet to be percolated. [1]
Evergreen Notes, as compared to Fleeting Notes, are like libraries as well, with the hierarchy and nomenclature to match.
Contrasting views
Libraries can be useful when trying to find something you already know exists, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, feeds can be more timely. Anyone who has visited someone else’s digital garden is, without any guidance, initially at a loss for what to search for.
Feeds are also more accurate representations of current work; libraries give equal weight to content created yesterday and content created ten years ago, which is a problem in fields like technology where new techniques and tools are constantly being invented. [1-1]
Reconciling views
Both stock and flow/library and feed are necessary, but they serve different purposes.
Libraries exist to be searchable: they are an efficient way for someone to find information related to a specific topic.
Feeds exist to be discoverable: they are timely, chronological, and are more centered on the author than on the topic.
In practice, both blogs and digital gardens have a place in content creation.
Related
- Kleon, A. (2014). Show your work!: 10 ways to share your creativity and get discovered. Adams Media. Highlights and literature notes.↩︎↩︎