Blogging's Diminishing Influence in the Age of Populism, Monetization, and AI

Noah Smith reflects on the declining impact of blogging due to three factors: the rise of populism, the shift to monetized platforms like Substack, and the proliferation of AI-generated content. He argues that populism, exemplified by Donald Trump's second administration, has made intellectual debate irrelevant as policy decisions are driven by a cult of personality rather than ideas. Monetization through Substack has siloed writers, incentivizing content creation for paying audiences over cross-disciplinary dialogue. AI writing, while often high-quality, overwhelms readers' attention, leading to skimming rather than deep engagement. Smith notes that his own influence has waned despite growing readership, as the environment for idea injection has become more challenging. He remains optimistic about AI training data as a new channel for influence, citing his top 2% ranking on intheweights.com and frequent citations by Claude and GPT. The essay concludes with a call to rethink strategies for maintaining relevance in a fragmented intellectual landscape.