Welcome to the New Blog

Let's Begin

Let's start with a reintroduction.

My name is Tom Dineen. I am an author. I am a husband. I am a father. Not in that order.

I needed a website to run my operations and get my books out there to the world. I have been told (a lot) that email marketing isn't dead, but is my friend and that I should utilise it to my best ability. So here we are on my fancy new website with a built in blog.

Whoop!

The History of Blogging

I was around when blogs first started, I loved the idea of sharing those stories, ideas, personal lists with people around the world who shared a common interest. I could finally spout my nonsense (that my friends didn't care for) to the world and a handful of people would find it interesting.

That was the idea anyway...

A coffee and a Mac was all anyone needed to be a blogger!

From Wordpress to Tumblr, to OpenDiary to Blogger. I have had an account on pretty much all of them, each sharing different opinions and stories of my own for people to enjoy or ignore. I secretly wanted it to take off so I could become an internet journalist/columnist. Every blog post I have ever written has been with purpose (whether it had a point is a different matter) and from the heart. Stories I felt were at least mildly relatable that someone else might at the very least get a smile or an empathetic 'hmm' out of it.

The state of blogging now!

Yet here I am, in the year 2025 typing this blog post out with my fingers hovering over the keyboard and the top button glistening in the side menu says the following:

Blog Post: Generate a full-length blog post with a title and images"

What point or purpose does a blog post have if it was entirely written using AI?

My debut novel, Restart Required, is actually about just that.

We have become so dependant on technology, whether its smart phones or homes, Artificial Intelligence and Language Models, that we have completely forgotten how to be creative.

I run a TikTok page and when I scroll through my FYP the amount of videos, carousels, and adverts I see telling me to use AI for content, create an avatar of myself and let them make the reels, is actually wild. AI is great for certain things, do not get me wrong, I use it regularly for automations, helping explain kids homework (when I have completely forgotten how to do long division) and other things like structuring a business plan.

If used correctly it is a useful tool.

What I am saying: that is all it should be, a tool. Not the director, not the author, not the journalist.

Conclusion

If you want to run a blog, or write a book, or make a film.

DO IT!

Even if it isn't a masterpiece by the end. It is at least yours and someone out there will connect with it. So welcome to the new blog. And if you like it, don't hesitate to subscribe to my newsletter! Shameless. Absolutely shameless.

Me!