This article on students writing skills and blogging’s role in developing them, which features our own Kevin Brancato, makes some nice points about the skill development inherent in such an endeavor. For instance, I never thought about how the desire to connect to a network and the presence of public fact-checking can reduce plagiarism.
Personally, I find that having to make concise, relevant arguments for a wide-ranging audience is very good practice. I’ve actually never written like an academic economist, for better or worse, but I certainly find that writing for this outlet has sharpened my skills.