Why are some people down on blogs these days?
Blogs have been the subject of high-profile beatings by a few former high-profile proponents of the medium in months gone by.
Take Jason Calacanis, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, for example. Late last year, he announced his retirement from blogging. “[It's] simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it,” Calacanis offered by way of explanation.
Dan Lyons is another example. The reporter/columnist/smart ass, better who created the hilarious fake-Apple-CEO persona, publicly announced his decision to “hang up the pajamas” which was his snarky way of saying ‘no mas’ to blogging.
Lyons’ main beef with blogging? There wasn’t enough money in it to keep his attention.
Blogger haters, like Lyons, need to chill out. (That goes for ex-bloggers and some of my IDC colleagues too for that matter. You know who you are.) Blogging may be mainstream now (heaven forbid!) but it is still a most useful endeavour.
Individuals and business people can become publishers overnight, allowing people to create information vehicles for audiences of any size or sort. Blogs give those with the ability to string a few sentences together, the ability to voice their opinion in an unfiltered manner. It’s not about the Benjamins for them.
Personal fulfillment is yet another reason to pick up the blog habit. (Isn’t that reason enough?) Blogs allow people to get something off their chest. It can also be a great Web marketing tool.
Anyway, it’s true communication forums and tools such as Twitter have taken some traffic away from blogs. This trend will continue on its merry way. It’s easy to understand why. There’s potentially less time to be invested in a tool such as Twitter and there’s a greater chance for immediate gratification (e.g. a quick response from a follower).
Money shouldn’t and won’t be an excuse to stay away from blogs. No one ever promised bloggers they’d get rich by creating a blog, which was another reason for Lyon’s blog retirement. (The exception of course is Mr. Calacanis who almost certainly grew his personal fortune many times over when he sold the Weblogs, Inc., blog network to AOL in October, 2005.) The chances such a takeover will happen again are slim to none. This may make it a less attractive for the Silicon Valley sushi set; it shouldn’t and won’t dissuade the rest of us.
Blogs will maintain their place in the Web 2.0 universe. Deservedly so.
2 Comments on “Love for blogs waning but its utility remains intact”
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Good post Kevin. I agree with most of your points. There are many reasons to do a blog, and conversely not to do one. You obviously have a passion and a talent for it – your blogs are well written and they seem to come pretty fast and naturally to you. Not every can pull that off. You also have a passion for it, which must come at some expense in your personal life (played outside lately?). You know what I mean…
I think blogs are a fantastic way for a non-journalist or non-published-author to get their ideas out. What I’m worried about is that with so many blogs, is the audience getting diluted across them. I can only read so much…
But keep at it. Spread the word. We all need to get the best thinkers and writers doing blogs, and maybe we’ll weed out the other blogs that are distracting us (and diluting the readership). The best will rise to the top.
Posted on February 20, 2009 at 2:17 pm.
Hey Darren,
Thanks for the comment and compliment.
You’re right on the readership point. People will be stretched to read blogs, especially as popular forums/sites such as Twitter take off.
However, to give up on blogging as a platform like Calacanis and others have done in recent past is nonsense. It’s still a quick and easy forum for a business or a consumer to express oneself.
Posted on February 20, 2009 at 2:39 pm.