Building a personal blog in late 2025
In a year where AI threatens to dominate every piece of technology you use - from the short videos on your favorite social network, to movie and series recommendations in your video app, to even providing support for various products - it may seem counterintuitive to build a website from scratch. The reason is that people may think blog websites are dead, since AI can generate content on demand, directly from its platform, and there are numerous alternatives to publish content, such as LinkedIn and Dev.to. I understand that most people will consume content rather than create it, sometimes relying on AI-generated material and trusting every word the bot produces, often without verification. Others, however, can use it to their advantage: AI is a companion technology whose full capabilities and limitations we are yet to understand.
The legal aspect is an abyss that most people avoid exploring. Once personal data is entered into an app, users lose control over how the app owners will use it. This is nothing new: a few years ago, people were sharing their pictures with apps in exchange for a nostalgic version of themselves, feeling secure while rarely considering where their data would end up.
So, again, why build a personal blog from scratch?
It’s all about personal satisfaction and personal branding. In the development world, we see a plethora of websites, ranging from the most beautiful ones, with kilograms of CSS, to the ugliest ones; every one of them has something special. Everyone has their personal touch. The content matters the most. And, as time passes, the styling may change, servers may change, but the feeling that you have something you can call “your brand” is sensational. Click on this paragraph five times and see magic happen. I bet you can’t do this in a standard social media post.
Another reason to build something you can fully control is the freedom of speech. You can write about anything, in any level of detail, using the resources you want (as long as the servers support it) - without worrying about publishing something on specific days to avoid blocks or website shutdowns for any reason.
I did not choose to build it entirely from scratch; instead, I used an Astro template and made some modifications, so it is not completely “from scratch.” Let’s consider this template a “quickstart.” Again, the content matters the most - let’s decide the final website layout in the future.
The first step is done. Let’s celebrate! I look forward to future posts discussing career, technology, and related subjects. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn so we can grow our network.
With great power comes great responsibility - Uncle Ben
See you again!