A Personal Blog
Blogging Isn't Going to Hell in a Handbasket
Geeze. Write a little post, stir up a storm.
There have been so many posts referencing this, referencing the “A-List” discussion at BlogHer (which was incredibly insightful, btw) and a few other minor events that have been going on that it’s getting kind of scary.
A couple of journalists pinged me earlier this week, as have some friends, to chat about the obvious shift that’s happening in blogging. Big, important people are leaving. There’s backlash happening. People are having issues. Folk are being fired. Geeze, it’s like January all over again ;-)
I’m not normally one to say “I told you so” (like about the Google IPO :p), but this is the inflection point I was talking about a few months ago.
A few folk took that post (at the time) to mean that I felt blogging was slowing down. That wasn’t the point. The point was that I saw some trends that were about to converge in a fairly violent way, and I felt everyone needed to take some time to see what they felt about blogging before that happened!
To go back and re-iterate:
Now is the time to stop. It is time to ask yourself a few questions:
1. Why did I get into blogging?
2. Am I still blogging for the same reason as when I started?
3. What do I want blogging to become?
4. Are my current attitudes and actions the kinds of things likely to bring about my goal for blogging?
Yes, blogging is hitting an inflection point. Yes, it’s changing. The A-List is changing. Corporate blogging is changing. The expectations and pressures on blogging are changing. The way blogs link, how we find blogs, how we read blogs and why we read blogs is changing. In effect, this is blogging’s puberty. It ain’t pretty. There’s gonna be puss everywhere. But hopefully by the end of it we come out looking more like Carmen Electra than… Well, than like me ;-)
I think everyone needs to calm down. This ain’t the end of the world. In case you missed my post last time, feel free to read it again. I’m not saying I’m right, but this is definitely what I see going on. People are forgetting why THEY blog, which is causing them to see project confusion onto blogging as a whole. Find your roots, find your joy and then look outward.
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| Print article | This entry was posted by Jeremy Wright on August 3, 2005 at 10:23 pm, and is filed under Blogging. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |
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about 6 years ago
That is brilliant, Jeremy, especially the puss and the find your joy parts. Thank you.
about 6 years ago
Jeremy,
Just in case you’re not ols enough, like me, to have found this out yet, telling the truth will get you into more hot water than lying.
I’m not advocating lying, just saying to be ready for the repercussions (?) of telling the truth, especially in a public forum.
about 6 years ago
Surely _some_ bloggers have more interesting topics to blog about than… blogging?
about 6 years ago
I saw your point before and I’ve been watching it happen all around us. I see an huge amount of pressure building in many areas – personal blogging and corporate blogging. The manifestations are different, but it all comes down to the core issues.
I think anyone who chooses to be a part of the blogosphere will be a part of many severe changes in the next few months or more. We’ll all need to reasses many times I am sure. But, if you can lead change or be a part of it, it’s also exciting and revealing.
about 6 years ago
It’s a critical mass time; people with the same kinds of concerns are finding each other and acting on the conerns. The growth of the media means that although it can be harder to find information, it’s easier to find people who think the same way because there more of them. There’s going to be trouble ahead – adolescence is always tough. Let’s hope the mini-revolutions create new ways to move forward and don’t self-destruct
about 6 years ago
Blogging is at the same stage in its cycle as were the broadsheets that were handed out in the streets of 18th-century London. After a while, businesses saw the commercial possibilities of them and the best people were drawn in and consolidated. Today’s mainstream media grew out of that movement. Now folk like Jason Calacanis, Nick Denton and Duncan Riley are coalescing blogs into “empires”. These, and the whole panoply of personal media are forcing MSM back to its roots. The only real danger I see to the blogosphere is not that it will stop growing, but that it won’t, and will eventually choke itself off. Then a few coherent voices will arise, as the big newspaper titles did back in the more ordered world of the 19th century.
about 6 years ago
I don’t think blogging as a whole is really at an inflection point. In this long tail era, the 80-20 rule isn’t supposed to apply, but I think it does. Probably only 20 percent of the bloggers out there really care enough to notice the so-called inflection and coming changes.
For the vast majority of people, typing some text into a box, pressing Submit and having your friends and family read what you wrote is more than enough. And there’s plenty of statistics out there to show that most people don’t realize that what they are reading is called a blog.
You make it sound as though an event of epic proportions is about to affect blogging. I’m not sure I agree!
about 6 years ago
I still don’t understand WHY you think it’s at an inflection point, Jeremy. As Mark said above, blogging itself is only another way people put their thoughts online. In the 90s, people had online journals with static HTML pages. Now it’s a blog through Blogger. The only difference is the tools people use.
I think the only people who are concerned about where blogging is going are those who’re so immersed in talking about it, that they’re building up this ‘inflection point’ myth as some earth-moving concept.
Blogs are getting more and more media attention, but it’s just another wave.
To sum up: I’m confused :)
about 6 years ago
Always nice to go to bed and find a mini tempest when you wake up. Guess I deserved it though :)
Jules: I guess I’m in a unique situation. Blogging’s not only a hobby or something I enjoy, it’s also my job, my area of research and what I speak / consult / give interviews on. As a result, I spend way more hours per day than is likely healthy thinking about blogging. My apologies.
John: Agreed, I don’t really see blogging’s growth as slowing down. But, when the top bloggers slow down or change, there’s a perception that things are slowing down. More on this later.
Mack: Mmm, good point. As far as regular joes are concerned, blogging’s probably growing and improving right now, with new services and companies launching all the time. Great point. That said, on the bleeding edge I do see a major event as about to happen (or happening right now).
Mark: Maybe as Mack pointed out, this is more of a “bleeding edge” thing. The top 5000 or so bloggers are likely experiencing something going on. We’ve been blogging for years, suddenly the spotlight’s on, and things are happening.
Bloggers are found to be lying, bloggers are getting attacked, bloggers are leaving, bloggers are being fired, etc. Things are changing. So maybe the “inflection point” I’m seeing is less about blogging as a whole, and more about the few who are most visible.
And maybe the impact and events I’m seeing really only affect those few. Which is fair enough.
However, those few are also the most visible few. They’re the ones everyone reads, the ones everyone talks about and the ones the media is looking to for clues on where blogging’s going.
It makes me think of several major corporations in the 90s who were doing great financially, but who’s CEOs had major, major public meltdowns. The result was that the companies completely tanked. Not because financials were off, but because the mainstream analysts, media, etc all lost confidence in the company. I fear that we’re heading for a similar type of event.
Not sure if that clarifies my thinking. Even if it does, feel free to simply not agree or poke holes in my position :)
about 6 years ago
Ok, thanks Jeremy – it’s clearer now. :)
about 6 years ago
God, if anyone serouisly is getting freaked by a change in blogging they need help! Get a grip people there are plenty of other toys to play with if you break this one.
about 6 years ago
Another thing I’d say is how widespread is this worry? Who are the A list and what country are they from?
In the UK blogging (or more accurately called citizen journalism) is now really starting to take off. Its only tragedy is that a catalyst was the London attacks but there you go…
Maybe the big wigs of blogging needs to be drawn from more places than just America (assuming the A list are mainly US based!)? Perhaps things just need to diversify more?
about 6 years ago
Leon, 2 great points. I don’t really have a response, besides wanting to do a high-five. Always good to do a reality check. That was one of the points of this post for me, though that probably didn’t come across too well :)
about 6 years ago
Lots of people who can’t hack blogging are getting out right now, either because their AdSense revenues won’t run to a Danish with their coffee, or because they haven’t risen into the A-list and feel demeaned.
But the Calacanis’s and the Rowse’s go on making money. It’s people like them who will lead the inevitable consolidation. History tells us that 5% always succeed. In many ways the Technorati 100 is good because it shows the ones who have stood the test of time.
about 6 years ago
Hey Jeremy, yeah I just re-read them and thought “oh shit hope that didn’t come accross to caustic!”.
It’s something I think about quite a bit when it comes to blogging. Maybe things widening and becoming truly global (atleast in terms of A list bloggers) will counter some of the feeling of “inflection”? Hope so because blogging rocks and it’d be a shame to lose our American blog brothers and blog sisters interest in it!
about 6 years ago
Jeremy,
These comments are not directed at you, but WITH you.
Just because you start a blog, it doesn’t make you a blogger. Kinda like if you live in a garage, it doesn’t make you a car.
A-list or not, some will come, some will go, who’s next, why should we care.
Those that are around in 5 years, MIGHT be bloggers. The time frames you people are putting on things is unreal. In real life, we track with years, decades and centuries. Not weeks or months.
And if someone who is perceived as ” all-that-and-a-box-of-chocolates ” decides to do something else, so what ? When a Stockbroker makes $30 million and decides to retire to feeding the poor on the streets in Bangladesh, it doesn’t shake up the Stockosphere, another one just replaces his seat and he’s forgotten like last weeks fish.
It ain’t rocket science, it’s just people expressing their opinion.
Kinda like I just did.
about 6 years ago
That sounds more correct I think – an inflection point for the most visible bloggers! Makes one wonder what will happen. Maybe we’ll just end up with a new batch of visible bloggers?
I thought a little more about one thing you said, “The way blogs link, how we find blogs, how we read blogs and why we read blogs is changing.” I think in this case, you might be right. But I don’t think blogging itself will see the impact directly. The so-called mainstream media is where we are already seeing it. Business too will feel an effect, as more and more companies monitor blogs.
Just the natural progression of a good thing I hope!