Re:Start (or why I am in Bear Blog)
Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet
After much contemplation, I have finally decided to setup a Bear Blog, mainly to house a collection of my writeups on tech (and anything about my academic interests) and book reviews (ranging from classical literature to popular science/tech books). It feels "cheesy" of me to write an introductory post why I have decided to setup and eventually write on this Bear Blog; but at the same time, I just felt (perhaps, it is in my personality) the need to have some sort of a "Hello World" post to signify a new start (even though in reality, I sometimes don't get the formal, organized start or end to some events in my life; that is, my life is not organized the way I want it to be).
This is, I think, my fifth attempt of writing a blog. I started with Friendster (primarily chronicling my young high school days) but as we know, the platform became extinct. The sad part on that is that I wasn't able to export and transfer my content. I then tried to write a few on Blogspot/Blogger. Although it is still functioning to date, I consider it defunct, outdated, and not worthy to invest time to anymore. I contemplated then to setup a WordPress blog. I think it is a good platform since one has the flexibility to set it up to however one likes; but, at the same time, I felt it is too complex for someone who wanted to just write (there's a learning curve for someone wanted to blog on WordPress). Still, as mentioned, it's a good platform (despite recent negative news I'm hearing about it) and being so, I still plan to write there in the far future, primarily to keep it as a personal journal. For now though, I'd like a platform that is simple, minimalistic, and focused on writing.
The last point above led me to Medium. I was initially attracted to the platform because of its minimalistic style and ease of use: a clean white background with clear black text and writing on it is direct to the point. Besides, many tech tutorials (primarily on AI - my current academic pursuit) are housed in Medium. Notable prolific individuals in the AI space are also there: Andrej Karpathy, Andrew Ng, and even my professor. These became strong motivators for me to write on Medium. In fact, I was about to post my first book review there ... when I had second thoughts.
After a few Google search (and, admittedly, a consultation with ChatGPT), I found out some issues about Medium. Concisely, the current issues with Medium are summarized as follows:
Paywalls and login walls - readers often can’t access posts without logging in or subscribing, even if the writer prefer their writeup to be freely accessible
Algorithm-controlled visibility - Medium decides which posts get promoted or buried (thus, writing competes with the algorithm, not on its own merit)
Unpredictable platform changes - Medium has repeatedly shifted its business model (ads to no ads to paywall to partner program changes), making it hard to rely on long-term stability
Ownership concerns - writers own their text, but Medium controls the environment around it (the presentation, access, SEO structure, and distribution)
Reading experience trapped inside Medium - Medium adds its typography, UI, branding, upsell prompts, and recommended articles around the content (thus, writing never fully "belongs to you")
Inconsistent long-form experience - posts may show pop-ups, subscription banners, or engagement nudges that distract from the actual writing
Prioritization of monetization over product integrity - revenue-driven decisions often outweigh writer-first principles, resulting in a platform optimized for conversions, not creativity or clarity
Not ideal for minimalist or distraction-free writing - Medium is visually polished but heavy: scripts, popovers, and engagement elements make it less appealing if one prefers a quiet, uncluttered space
Difficult to maintain long-term identity - blog URL lives under Medium’s structure, not the writer's; there’s no clean, timeless personal identity compared to simpler platforms
The list can go on. I think what's crucial for me are Points 1, 2, 3, and 7. With regards to Point 1, I sometimes see a wall when I happen to access a Medium article (I didn't have an account back then so I can't open the article). This honestly kills reading momentum, discourages readership, and hurts accessibility. As for Point 2, it's about Medium being sort of a "social media for writers" where readers are drawn to one's writing due to the whims of the algorithm (that is, it recommends articles that one may like based on their interest - akin to how Facebook works). Personally, I do not want this "social media feature" - I just want to write. Points 3 and 7 shows the clutches of capitalism. I understand that the platform needs to live, and in order to do so, it needs profits. However, doing this at the expense of writers - prioritizing capitalist gains over writers' interests - are a big no no for me.
Aside from these, I noticed that many publications and thought leaders seem to be moving away from Medium. As an example, the publication Towards Data Science has become independent from Medium, saying that
Medium has been instrumental for our growth, but recent changes in Medium policies showed us that our priorities have diverged. By moving to our own platform, we gain full control over our editorial direction and policies. This independence allows us to provide free access to our articles...
Moreover, the AI thought leaders I've mentioned before hasn't written updated articles to date. Specifically, Andrej Karpathy mentioned on his website that he has three blogs, the second of which is in Medium which he "briefly and sadly switched to". His last article on Medium was on 2017.
All these became reasons for me to doubt Medium as an eventual long-term platform for my tech blogs. Note, however, that all these cons to Medium that I've mentioned are not meant to discourage anyone who still wanted to write there. Judging by the writing interface itself, Medium is still a good platform. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and write there in the future. Right now though, I made up my mind and felt that Medium is not aligned with what I want as a future-proof writing platform. I wanted a minimalistic and simple platform similar to Medium, but without the capitalistic interests over its writers. Enter Bear Blog...
Why Bear Blog
Honestly, I would not have known Bear Blog if not for Andrej Karpathy (apologies for bringing up his name over and over again - being a prolific writer in modern AI, he has really become an inspiration to me). He mentioned in his website that his third blog is a Bear Blog. This got me curious. Really, Bear Blog? As in the animal, bear? I dig up what this platform is and based on my research, embedded in the platform is a philosophy similar to mine. This has made me switch to it. Specifically, the following are my reasons of finally using this platform as an eventual house to my tech blogs:
Minimalistic theme - Similar to Medium, the default theme of posts is a clean, white background.
Simple writing interface powered by Markdown syntax - I like how the writing interface is very simple and really focus on just that - writing. The use of the Markdown syntax is an encouraging feature for me - it may be unpopular to non-coders, but for a developer like me (and someone maintaining my own GitHub repos), I'm more comfortable with Markdown (and native HTML) than drag-and-drop elements.
Open-source and indie project - I'm a fan of open-source, and it is a plus for me that Bear Blog is made with open-source and transparency in mind (see the GitHub repo of Bear Blog for the source code). Moreover, it is inspiring that the whole platform is created as an indie project, inspiring me to create one myself in the future. Supporting Bear Blog is akin to empowering individual developers.
No ads and tied capitalistic interests - I think this is a final reason why I was bought in by Bear Blog: embedded in it is not the desire to earn profits from its writers but to provide writers the right platform to just write, no strings attached. There is a minimal fee that one can choose to pay, but I think this is not meant as a way to primarily earn profits from the writer; rather, it is more of a willing donation by the writer as appreciation to the platform, which also unlocks other features such as the inclusion of images (to be fair to Medium, it also charges almost the same fee per month, but the problem is that they subtly force the writer to become a member; else, some "member-only" stories cannot be read - very different from the philosophy of Bear Blog). Based on the Bear manifesto by Herman, the creator of Bear Blog has three promises, two of which are:
- Bear won't sell. I'm not building this to flip it to the highest bidder. No VC funding, no external pressures, no "exit strategy." Bear is independent and will stay that way.
- Bear won't show ads. Your blog is your space. No flashy banners will suddenly appear one day, and no sponsored content. Just your words, your way.
With these in mind, I'm finally here in Bear Blog. Despite being an unpopular platform compared to the blogging platforms I've previously mentioned, I think Bear Blog is worth the time investing writing into. This "unpopularity" is not an issue for me: what's more important is that, it's a platform that I share the same philosophy with. Hopefully, I will be able to maintain my blogs (and write) here for a long time.
Why write
Perhaps the only question now needing to be addressed is, "Why write?" Or to be explicit, "Why do I need to write even though I am a technically-oriented person, focusing on creating and deploying AI systems, among other technical and academic pursuits?"
I have practical reasons to write. Mainly, I wanted to write book reviews. I tried doing it in Facebook but it doesn't gain traction, making me believe that it is not the best platform for my thoughts (in actuality, it is really not the best platform for perhaps, serious discussions except in some occasions). I also thought of using my LinkedIn account to post my book reviews; however, upon serious consideration, I don't think it's also a good "tech blogging platform" in the long run (besides, it's also similar to being a social media platform).
Aside from this, I have other practical reasons. First, from a pedagogical perspective, I realized that writing helps me learn; that is, it allows me to fully understand and gain mastery of a topic by writing about it, similar to my experiences when I taught Physics - I did not fully understand it (case in point: classical mechanics) when I was studying it as an undergraduate student not until I taught it (by which I was forced to understand it). Second, from a science communication perspective, writing allows me to share my knowledge and experience about my academic pursuits. Third, writing allows me to create a "technical documentation" of my academic pursuits, serving as a personal reference (important especially in AI).
As a "philosophical" endnote, perhaps writing is really in my personality. I may not admit it, but perhaps there's something in me that wants to write. I'm predominantly silent in every day life, and writing is, perhaps, my window to express my silent self to the world. And so, I have this blog now, as my small boat (or "Tiny Internet", in the lingo of Bear Blog) in this vast ocean called the Internet.
Ok, that's enough lengthy and "cheesy" introduction, "Hello World" style. Let's get on to the technical business. ###