In an era dominated by short-form video and algorithmic feeds, the 2025 Hacker News blog rankings reveal a surprising truth: the written word and the open web are not just surviving, but thriving through authentic community engagement.
The State of the Open Web
The current landscape of popular technical writing favors creators who prioritize depth and accessibility over flashy trends. Key developments include:
- A resurgence of text-first content that is later adapted for other mediums
- The transition to lightweight static site generators like Hugo for better performance
- High-ranking blogs achieving annual scores exceeding 2,500 points
- A return to “old school web” aesthetics that prioritize readability
For most of my favorite projects, I write the blog post first, then adapt that to a YouTube script. I still consider the written word to be vastly superior to video form.
The Friction of Modern Content
Despite the success of top-tier bloggers, significant obstacles remain for those trying to maintain a presence in the digital ecosystem:
- The monetization gap between video platforms and traditional blogging
- Valuable technical insights being trapped inside walled gardens like Twitter and TikTok
- Inconsistencies in data tracking and ranking algorithms for personal sites
- The volatility of audience attention, causing long-time favorites to drop in rankings
The AI space is moving fast, and a lot of the interesting, imaginative experimental stuff is happening on Twitter, Reddit, and other platforms I really don’t want to engage with.
Strategies for Digital Longevity
The community is fighting back against content fragmentation by building tools and habits that preserve the value of the open web:
- Using OPML and RSS feeds to bypass algorithmic discovery
- Migrating valuable insights from social media back to the searchable, open web
- Engaging as active community members rather than distant “mythical” entities
- Leveraging open data and SQL tools to track and analyze industry trends
They’re not just mythical blogging entities, they’re people like us. It’s part of what makes this feel like a nice close community.
