Note: This post is the invitation for T-SQL Tuesday #204 on November 3rd, 2026. If you’d like to reply, your response should go live on November 10th, 2026. All posts must be posted by 23:59 Pacific Time. Details and the rules are at the bottom of this post.

In 2009, right around the time T-SQL Tuesday was getting started, I wasn’t a very good at SQL Server. I could install it, check some boxes, and restart the server if there were problems. But that was about it.

That year I found myself looking for my next job as a Database Administrator. I went to an interview with a large healthcare company all ready to answer technical questions and give reasons why they should hire me, and the interviewer starts by asking me: “What SQL Server blogs do you read?”

I was frozen, because I didn’t read any database blogs. I didn’t even know there were such things. I read blogs about sports or music or any number of frivolous things, but nothing then that related to databases or SQL Server. I blurted out something about “Microsoft blogs” and continued with the interview, a bit shaken. Ultimately, I didn’t get offered the job.

But that question haunted me so much that afterwards I started seeking out blogs, and later other forms of media produced by people in the data community. That sharing of free information in blogs has made a massive difference for my career path. Obviously, at some point I started my own blog, which I dare say has made a significant impact in my skills and employment.

But…have times changed since 2009? Are blogs still relevant?

The invitation

For this T-SQL Tuesday, I’m asking folks to share why they do or don’t think the blog platform is still relevant for those of us working with databases.

I realize it’s a bit odd to ask folks to write a blog post about the relevance of blogs, and how that might tilt the resulting content, but I also know there are a lot of folks who have lapsed in their blogging in recent years. I’m wondering if that’s an issue of being too busy, or not having enough to say, or just not being interested in this medium anymore.

There are no wrong answers. You can talk about your favorite reasons for blogs as either an author or a reader, or even share a short list your favorite blogs and their reasons for relevance to you.

Conversely, you can talk about alternative media you use to learn about all the new things. Or even respond on an alternative medium and link it here (which might be a first for T-SQL Tuesdays). Or, if you have lapsed in blogging and reading blogs, share the reasons. Heck, you can even reminisce about “the good old days” of…whatever you think made up the good old days of blogging.

The “rules” (don’t worry – like the Pirate Code these are more like guidelines)

T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly blog collaboration of sorts started by Adam Machanic and maintained by Steve Jones, and everyone with a blog is welcome to join. Here’s how to play along.

• Publish your post on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 between 00:00 and 23:59 UTC on that day.
• Include a link back to this blog post, or leave a comment in this post linking to your content. (This one is actually a rule.) 
• Please include the T-SQL Tuesday logo at the top of your post.
• Share it on social media with #tsql2sday so the rest of the community can see it.
• Any blogger is welcome to participate. It doesn’t matter how long your blog has been active, where you blog, or even what language you post in. We just want to hear your thoughts.

One week later I will publish a “roundup” post linking to all the responses. I’m greatly looking forward to this, and I hope you have some fun with your response – this is a request for a voluntary contribution, not homework.

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts on this subject. T-SQL Tuesday has been connecting bloggers and helping to bring awareness to new authors since 2009, and I certainly hope that continues this month!