An ironic truth of the blogosphere, especially in the internet industry with which I am familiar:

Those with the most valuable experience, ideas, and intelligence in a particular industry are generally the least likely to contribute those ideas online.

Obviously the converse is true here as well. I don’t want to sound pretentious—I don’t count myself in this category. But as I’ve moved to a new company, surrounded by engineers much more talented and experienced than I, I’ve realized many of them have never contributed to what I would call the “blogosphere.”

The overall reason, I think, is time. The most valuable engineers aren’t unemployed. They’re busy. They don’t have (as much) time to contribute to an online conversation, whether on a blog or forum. And the best ideas aren’t shared online — they’re patented.

The environment I am in now has definitely suppressed my “blogging” output. Nothing is explicitly defined from a company standpoint. But I am busy all day. There is never time to review the latest in the blog-o’-verse.

It becomes difficult to contribute anything of value, as this most recent post—my first in several weeks—demonstrates.