Are blogs dead?
I had a discussion today about how many blogs that have been established have fallen into ruin. We were also talking specifically about late-comer blogs launched by companies who wanted a dialogue with their customers, who discovered it was a tougher job than they had anticipated. Some blogs go dry within a few weeks of launch.
Stagnation, and the proliferation of social media and social sites like Facebook and Twitter have apparently dealt the blogosphere a fatal blow. This is evident in my Google Reader, where i used to have close to a thousand items every couple of nights I now have more like two to three hundred – and they are more concentrated in a few busy blogs.
I personally hope that blogging makes a comeback. I miss the eloquently penned words of the many bloggers who are so much smarter than me, and I think the world’s a poorer place for their silence. Some thoughts just don’t fit into 140 characters or less. The depth of understanding and the colour that can be given through the craft of copywriting is not to be underestimated.
I for one will be waiting patiently and with a welcoming smile and an eager eye when you, the small-audience bloggers who took the citizen-journalism battle to the streets, decide to return.
+ 1 for the return of blogging.
the current state of thigs is quite sad really. IMHO, blogs are still quite valid they’ve just lost the “conversation”.
i’ve got a half written blog post on this subject too – ironic really
Honestly, I don’t feel like blogging is dead or needs a comeback, because it’s still here in full force. A successful blog is in it for the long haul. Too many people saw the successes of a few and figured they could do it too, started a blog and failed quickly. That should not count as a black mark on blogging itself, merely that they underestimated the time commitment. Indeed, Twitter (and most likely Facebook) also has a high abandonment rate. So long as people are still getting actual value from full length blog posts, there’s no reason they’d go away or be replaced, especially by a 140 character stream.
Though I don’t think you could peg him as exactly eloquent, Robert Scoble’s blog has kicked back into life and he put it down to the same things that you’ve noticed, ie Twitter, Facebook etc are not always the right avenue to express ideas.
I’ll trust to natural justice. If blogs remain useful, I trust they will be used…