Blogging Gets Old
A: Who cares?
That from Nicholas Carr’s take on that Pew study:
[B]logging is now the uncoolest thing you can do on the Internet. It’s even uncooler than editing Wikipedia articles or having a Second Life avatar. In 2007, 28% of teens were blogging. Now it’s down to 14%. Among twentysomethings, the percentage who write blogs has fallen from 24% to 15%. Writing comments on blogs is also down sharply among the young. It’s only geezers – those over 30 – who are doing more blogging than they used to… When I blog these days, I feel like I should be sitting in a rocking chair, wearing a highly absorptive undergarment, and writing posts debunking some overhyped new bunion treatment (iPads?).
Pew quoted:
While blogging among adults as a whole has remained steady, the prevalence of blogging within specific age groups has changed dramatically in recent years. Specifically, a sharp decline in blogging by young adults has been tempered by a corresponding increase in blogging among older adults.
Maybe Six Apart should offer a senior discount…
9 Responses to “Blogging Gets Old”
This does not surprise me in the least. I have been commenting on some lefty blogs, and I can tell you, Sooooo Boringggg! It only takes a short time before the density of mind, hypocrisy, denial, excuses, Obama worship rites, Ideological slavery and shillary begin to numb my mind into a hopeless stupor! The same goes for the righty blogs I've visited. I've cut down on my comments and have been reading more Independent blogs and non-political blogs. (Whew!)
And which is this one?
Meh, give it time. Now that the “get rich quick” crowd has been pushed out to a degree, some equilibrium will be found.
The great thing about blogging is rediscovering a passion for interest stories and well crafted articles that do not talk “News-speak” where every article sounds the same, whether sports or entertainment or war or policy or a murder etc etc. There's a risk for tempers to flare and passion and gaffes and miscommunications but bloggers are more than willing to accept the risk for greater rewards. Blogs helped me become more informed, more interested in the world around me even though I'm still sipping my coffee in my pjs in my Laz-E-Boy. I also shamefully admit to using comments to sharpen my verbal knives and witticisms, but I can think of worse hobbies.
Also note that people don't want to start or maintain blogs, but they certainly seem eager to read them, as long as they can share freely what you find for them with their friends. Professional bloggers? They exist. Blogging as a career? Certainly possible (although that reminds me of the joke about being a writer: “Yes, but what do you do for a LIVING?”). If nothing else, it gives an everyman opportunity for people to disseminate work to a wide audience, which young English majors would (and should) kill for.
But what do I know, maybe after the “Tweeters” fad dies down, they come up with something newer and hipper. Perhaps “ribbiting” or maybe “quacking.” Now if you excuse me, I'm off to update my Friendster account.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMV: Blogging Gets Old: Q: How many bloggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Who cares?
That from Nicholas Car… http://bit.ly/c9aqGj...
It's because blogs were really used for personal communication, and Facecult and Twitter has replaced that. So all the “hi, went to Disney World last week” blogs are gone. What's left are hobby and news blogs. Blogging specifically suits those types of endeavors.
As far as political blogs go, most political blogs (including TMV to a certain extent) are simply “re-blogs”, compilation of other blogs without any meaningful value added by the re-blogger. So those are dying, and good riddance to them. Those that are left are more about original content or meaningful commentary about re-blogged content.
This poll doesn't mean blogging is irrelevant, it means the fluff is blowing away and what's left is interesting or reflects a real commitment to a particular topic.
Very true, why blog when you can tweet? I hate to make generalizations, but the younger kids are not having discussions about social and economic theory. Blogs are good for deeper discussions because you get more than 140 characters and the debate is centralized in one website. Twitter fits into the youth lifestyle much better than blogs.
lol
Oh face it, being uncool is cool …. eventually.
Hmmm. “Cool” means kids and young adults are doing it? “Uncool” means those of us over 30 are doing it? And do we care about coolness anyway? I blog because I enjoy writing, and because it lets my distant friends know what I'm doing (in a broad way – when you are 18, keeping in touch may be blow-by-blow, but more mature friends are much more into the big picture.) I read other blogs to gain a different perspective on the world. I'm glad other people are sharing their perspectives.