Are blogs going to be the next 8-track tapes?
November 11th, 2007 ~ Potpourri for 100, AlexSorry about the lack of blogginess. I’ve been kind of busy, but also just going through one of those times when I sort of wonder if I need to keep blogging. In the end, I decided that I should ( — obviously — ), but it makes me remember a recent article that indicated that Christian blogging may be on the wane.
The article was in Christianity Today. The author looked at the data and judged that blogs may no longer have “mad craze” status. There are still 2 million people who start new blogs every month, but the number of those who quit has been trending up.
Tech researcher Gartner Inc. reported earlier this year that 200 million people have given up blogging, more than twice as many as are active.
“A lot of people have been in and out of this thing,” Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer told reporters. “Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they’re put on stage and asked to say it.” Given the average lifespan of a blogger and the current growth rate of blogs, Gartner says blogging has probably peaked.
That sounds about right. When I think of it, most of the Ortho-blogs that were here when I started three years ago have gone. And most, I think, had darn good reasons for doing that. Either Real Life required more attention or they ran out of things to say. Or, in the case of the younger and more hip among us, they emigrated over to MySpace and Facebook.
And I would do that, too, but Facebook seems like a different sort of thing. Much less about perorations and bloviating ( — look ‘em up. They might be in your next crossword puzzle — ). Much more about “Hey. Whazz happnin? Okay. C U later. :-)” Which is a rough adjustment to make when you’re as much of a lover of full-bodied, Victorian-carved sentences as I am.
So I’m hanging in there for a while longer at least, though sometimes I have to wonder why. But I’ll try to get the hang of the new stuff, too. Hope 2 C U-all later. :-)
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November 11th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Yep. My blog has kinda fallen by the wayside lately too. I’ve never used it much for pontificating on Orthodoxy, but still, I spend more time commenting on other people’s blogs than on writing my own.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:03 am
I have found that the one-topic blogs have the shortest shelf-life. That may just be me, because I much prefer a blog that has variety rather than blogging only about Orthodoxy (except Fr. Stephen’s blog, that is) or mothering or whatever.
But, I really don’t see myself blogging 5 years from now. I wrestle with keeping mine going as well.
November 12th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
s-p:
But I think the model you’ve got for your blog is a pretty good one. You post only when you want to, even if that’s once a month or less. And hey, why use a blog to reach others for Orthodoxy when you’ve got radiowaves? Heck, *someone’s* got to be out there holding down the Old Media fort!
November 12th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Deb:
Makes a lot of sense. I think one of the things I really like about blogging is the chance to talk about whatever you felt strongly about or felt you could give a bit of information on.
Will I still be blogging in five years? That’s an interesting question. I would’ve said no, but I’m not certain. I’m kind of surprised I’ve gone on for three.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I tried several ways of keeping my blog going, but it just got to the point where I didn’t think that I had anything to say that others couldn’t (and do) say far better :)
Grace and S-P, I love both of your blogs - and S-P it doesn’t matter if you post more than 4 times a year, or month, or whatever. The radio program is great, and the occasional blog posts just come from a different direction.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I think that most bogs fail because they are too narrow in focus. I just launched two new blogsites. One focuses on Russian art/culture/music/spirituality and the other presents (mainly) Russian articles in translation and modern Russian pop/rock music (without commentary). I guess that neither one is a “blog” in the strictest sense of the word. I use the blog format because it is easier for me than a website (for the moment). I also have an extensive image library and an extensive collection of translated articles, so that makes it “easier” for me to produce daily posts with minimal labour. Why don’t you check them out at 01varvara.wordpress.com and 02varvara.wordpress.com? The first is called “Art and Faith”, and the second “Voices from Russia”.
Vara
November 17th, 2007 at 5:20 am
I LOVE blogs and have accumulated a number of them that I read over the period of a week or two. Only a couple do I check every day. But I never started one, and don’t comment very much because I can’t imagine that anyone would care what I have to say…..