The internet has massively decreased the cost and effort of publishing. While "random people writing on the internet" doesn't sound like a good source of information, this would fit the majority of my favorite writers. Except most aren't "random people" anymore: by writing publicly over time readers have learned what these authors are good at and when to pay attention; the writers have built reputations. And with extensive practice at getting ideas across and quick feedback from the world on how successful they were, many bloggers have progressed from people who really like writing to people who write very effectively.

The team behind LessWrong is organizing LessOnline, a "celebration of blogging, truthseeking, and original seeing", the weekend of May 30th in Berkley. Many of my favorite writers will be there, including Kelsey Piper (formerly the Unit of Caring, now a journalist), Scott Alexander (formerly Slate Star Codex, now Astral Codex Ten), Patrick McKenzie (Bits About Money), Zvi Mowshowitz (Don't Worry About The Vase), and Julia Wise (Otherwise). [1]

While there's something a bit weird about an in-person gathering of people selected for their skills at communicating in online text, I've previously really enjoyed talking to other writers. Excited to be going!

[1] Pretty sure this is the first time Julia and I will be traveling together without our kids. Though we're not actually traveling together: I'll stay home through Friday morning so I can get the kids off to school, and she'll be coming back earlier Sunday night so she can get the kids from my dad (who is very helpfully watching them for the weekend!) before school.