本文由 AI 分析生成
建立時間： 2026-03-28 來源： https://idratherbewriting.com/trends/trends-to-follow-or-forget-intro.html
Summary
Tom Johnson’s (I’d Rather Be Writing) introduction to a 15-part series examining trends in technical writing across his 17-year career. The surprising survey finding: nearly every tech comm trend ever hyped is still in use in some form — there are no truly “fizzled” trends, just technologies superseding others.
Tom Johnson（I’d Rather Be Writing）對其 17 年職業生涯中技術寫作趨勢的 15 部分系列文章的介紹。令人驚訝的調查發現：幾乎每一個曾經被炒作的技術傳播趨勢至今仍以某種形式在使用——沒有真正「消退」的趨勢，只有被其他技術取代的技術。
Key Points
- Series: 15 tech comm trends examined personally (2005-2022); presented at STC India 2022
- Surprising survey result: 300 respondents found nearly all trends still in use — “there are no failed or fizzled trends”
- Framework for each trend: what was the trend? why embrace it? why abandon it? current status? takeaway?
- Goal: build a set of principles (inductively from past trends) for evaluating future trends
- Scope limited to author’s personal career path; acknowledges bias toward his 8 employers and blog audience
Insights
The survey finding — that no tech comm trend fully dies — is counterintuitive but matches experience in software more broadly: XML, DITA, wikis, docs-as-code, API reference generation all coexist. Trends are additive, not zero-sum. The “why I abandoned it” angle is more valuable than typical trend coverage, which only evangelizes adoption. The inductive approach (derive principles from pattern-matching across past trends) is more durable than any specific technology recommendation.
Connections
Raw Excerpt
According to nearly 300 respondents, most trends are still hanging around in some form or another. There are no failed or fizzled trends. Some technologies supersede other technologies, but there aren’t really fizzled trends.