Published On vs. Written On?

[Devin Holdcraft]

Should an article on a blog show the "Published on" date or the "Written on" date?
In my point of view, each one has its benefits
"Published on" date let a reader know when the article published on the blog
"Written on" date let a reader know when the article was created, which could be crucial because maybe an article was written in early 2015, yet hasn't published until beginning 2016
I supposed you could provide both dates to readers, but that might look a bit too clinical or clunky. Thoughts?

 

[PTTed]

In most cases I remove the dates so that the user assumes it is a really current article when they first start reading it.

Showing the date for the blog post/article will only be beneficial for the first month or so. Right? That way people know it is current. After that it starts getting aged and slowly outdated. If an article is outdated and it is obvious that it is outdated, how will that server future visitors at all? It will probably make them like the content less than they otherwise would.

So unless the material is date sensitive for some reason - like Safest Value Stock Investments for February 2016 or something like that, then I would say - remove the dates altogether.