Back in 2005 I asked my readers a question that surprised some for a blog like ProBlogger – I asked readers to talk about what was wrong with blogging.
I introduced the question by sharing a story of a debate between a Christian group and Pagan group where each group was asked to not argue FOR their own belief system but to share what they disliked about their own Faith perspective. The result of that debate was fascinating.
Instead of it ending in an angry fight where everyone just had their beliefs reinforced the debate was actually quite constructive with both groups coming away having learnt something about the other and more importantly themselves.
Similarly the responses to my question about blogging were insightful also (in fact I’ve asked this question twice previously – in 2005 and in 2006 and both times were fascinating).
There were a couple of things that came out of those discussions:
- it was a place for some bloggers to get some stuff off their chest about their frustrations with the medium.
- the answers actually gave a number of blog tool developers some great ideas. I know that at least two WordPress plugins were developed to solve issues that came up in the conversation.
It’s been 4 years since I asked the question last – so in the hope of a productive conversation I thought it worth asking again.
What’s Wrong with Blogging?
What are the limitations of blogging as a medium? What are its weaknesses? Where does the blogosphere and/or blogging tools need to improve? What are you main challenges as a blogger that you don’t think you’d have in other mediums?
Hopefully in answering this question and deconstructing the medium of blogging a little we can play a part in the improvement of blogging as a whole. By identifying what’s wrong perhaps we can improve it.
Like last time the rules are simple – say anything you like about blogging as long as it’s not positive (note: I’m not inviting you to critique individual bloggers – but the medium itself). You can do this in comments below or by writing a post on your own blog (just leave a link below so we can find it). There are no wrongs and rights and everyone’s critique of the medium are valid and welcome.
So – what’s wrong with blogging?
Over to you!
My biggest frustration with blogging is a personal one I fear. I’m a non native English speaker, which can be hard.
I write in a niche which is 99% aimed at English speakers, so I need to write in English, however, this means I need all my blogposts to be edited, because I still make a lot of mistakes, and typo’s and grammar mistakes tend to look very unprofessional. It’ll never work perfectly, but I’d really wish the available online translators would increase in quality, as it stands, translation engines are horrid.
English being the main blogging language creates a fake sense of global culture which isn’t real. Many of my RL friends don’t follow my blog because it is in English, many of the internet evolutions, like twitter for example, have little impact on my personal network, and trying to explain what it’s all about can be a real hassle.
But I also often get the feeling, that a lot of bloggers forget that English isn’t everyone’s first language, and that what happens in the USA doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening everywhere.
How I wish that Esperanto would have worked, so we could really connect without language barriers and the like.
I guess there’s nothing wrong with blogging. If there will be wrong with it, I think it’s the person making that blog and the commentator’s criticism. Or is there really wrong with it? Hmmm I believe in freedom of expression. Great post ;)
Gwen
http://bizfunding101.com/freewebinar
I would honestly have to say what’s wrong with blogging is almost the same thing that’s wrong with self publishing a book. You don’t have a big name behind you so that means going to the streets to promote yourself. That is probably one of the biggest issues I have. With blogging it is generally a one man show. You do it all as it should be.
But, it would be nice if there were a more effective way to get yourself seen without exhausting the social network sites and trying to stand out in a sea of talent. Although, I know that is a given with this vocation.
Also something else that I think is wrong with blogging is the lack of censorship when you want it. I am a person who does not choose to use profanity but it is almost impossible for me to link up with like minded people.
There are no real categories of blogging. Now to some that may sound a little anti free speech but it isn’t. It’s pro choice. I want to be able to choose what I expose myself to but since blogging is such a wide open forum I’m not sure that will ever be possible.
One last thing, part of the argument that “journalists” have against blogging is that anyone can do it therefore it isn’t a legitimate form of writing. I think this argument limits the amount of respect bloggers get in some circles where respect leads to money. I wish blogging would once and for all be recognized for it’s worth and indispensable value to journalism.
One problem with blogging is that it is so common. There are too many average Janes and Joes and not enough risk-taking and creativity. People are following a cookie-cutter formula and expecting to get results and then become shocked when they realize they have done nothing to grab any genuine attention from viewers.
I don’t see anything wrong in the medium itself. Wrong use will make it wrong. The medium is not to be blamed for that.
I’ve thought hard and long about this question. Really, it’s hard for me to come up with anything wrong with it. Its full of challenges, the challenges of writing fresh content several times a week, marketing your content, networking, relating, conversing, and so on. It’s hard for me to see what’s wrong with blogging.. of course, as an addicted blogger, I guess I’m the wrong person to ask… lol. I’ll share my thoughts, though as soon as I find a negative.
Blogging as in journaling, writing has no problems, but..what has happened in the blogging world is that its turned from journaling and expressing mere opinion and thought to a form of advertising. In most niches, (genre) you’ll find that many if not all of the bloggers involved are using the medium as advertising, heavily monetizing word and being. Mommy bloggers have gone over the top, begging now for sponsorship to certain blogging conferences. This formerly unheard of tactic seems commonplace in their world. Other niches seem taken over by plr. While certain “bloggers” tout themselves as experts in their fields, their words are purchased, spun and reguritated. Google a keyword and see how many closely resembling articles you find..Its a bit dismaying. I’m for declaring a month of originality, sans advertising, monetization and begging. Getting back to the roots, then we can look at the process, the art of blogging with fresh eyes.
I’d like to see more people jumping in. I hear a lot of people saying “I should start a blog”, but then they don’t. These are folks who often have good stories to tell. Take the plunge. If nothing else, it gives you a chance to sharpen your writing skills.
I also (ocassionally) see a reluctance to link to other blogs in the same niche, out of fear that the other blog will “steal” those readers. Since my own site is non-niche, I link to basically any blog that I enjoy reading. My logic is that readers don’t stop reading Blog A because they like Blog B better – they stop reading Blog A because it is no longer interesting to them.
And it would be nice if there was a leprechaun who wandered the internet and dumped buckets of cash on people when they delivered a particularly insightful article. I’m not particular, though – it could be a gnome instead of a leprechaun if there is a shortage of leprechauns.
It isolates you. I know we have an indefinite number of ways to counteract this, especially with the burgeoning social media. But there is no way around the fact that we always have a computer screen between us. I don’t like that.
So maybe what’s really wrong is that we are not all in the same room.
What’s wrong about blogging is that we call it blogging. Too ugly. Sounds like something that went splat against the pavement.
But then again writing is too often associated with lofty vision of a scribe toiling away at his desk, bleeding as it were his thoughts on a page.
Blogging is writing, too. Lose the stiff upper lip. And the attitude. Because blogging – er writing – is here to stay.
My biggest gripe about the medium is that the quality of writing can be so POOR. Since it’s easy to self publish and blog, most bloggers don’t take the time to develop any skill in writing or even revising before hitting the publish button. Most don’t know how to structure a thoughtful post, develop themes and narrative, or know how to self-edit.
I’m not looking for high literature in my blogging, but I do think some kind of standard should be developed that bloggers can at least review and aspire to.
1. It is too easy to begin and very difficult to maintain. Niches mean that I should have several blogs, but I don’t have that kind of time.
2. Too many ideas and not enough time to get them written. Blogging is to blame because it opened the venue possibilities.
One of the biggest problems I have come across in recent times that rubs me the wrong way is the idea of “Fast Food” content. I do not like the idea that blogs write about the posts on other blogs, rather than producing original content with pertinent personal opinions about the products/services they are reviewing.
I try to avoid as much as possible the trappings of these cookie-cutter sites, and write not only about what everyone else is saying, but what my personal take on the situation is–however different that may be from the consensus.
I agree that the amount of social networking and other obnoxious “marketing” efforts needed to get your blog out there can be a bit overwhelming. I do not like having to post multiple times to all kinds of social networks in order to obtain a slight bump in the number of page views my blog sees. I would much rather content speak for itself, and have people come to my posts organically.
But, if you want to keep up with everyone out there who is doing the whole blog-on-the-street-corner thing, you have to join them. That REALLY rubs me the wrong way.
I don’t like that it takes much time to become popular.
That things bother me with blogging is the lack of expertise and experience on the part of people who right about things. Then there is lack of creativity, lack of uniqueness.
However, the thing that bother me the most about blogging is its existence for its own sake. It seems that nobody else is reading blogs besides the people that write blogs.
Then there is the fact that people write about things and they have no real skills to back it up. Then everybody all of the sudden is a self-development guru even though they have no more expertise or knowledge than the next guy. Self proclaimed experts is what I am talking about.
There just is too much of the same old written over and over again. Even the so called A-list blogs do not produce anything worth while for the most part. Blogging is filled with cheap, under-researched and under-developed articles.
Then there is the disease of copycats who just try to copy what the best guys in their niche do.
Then there is lack of actual value that is being created. Then there is billion articles on how to become a great blogger all of the recycling common sense ideas. Maybe this is it – everybody talks about common sense, which anybody could figure out with five minutes of thinking.
In short, blogging is becoming a self-serving medium where people comment on each others blogs and write guest posts just to attract more traffic to their own blog.
Best,
Tomas
I agree with JudyAnn – for me, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to give blogging the attention it needs/deserves in order to be done properly.
I see way more right with blogging than not. As a food blogger, we have a tighter community. What’s wrong with food blogging? Sometimes blogs that are not very good get heavily promoted and popularand it’s disturbing. The main wrong thing is too much advertising. Now some food blogs are using way too many posts to promote bad products and not staying passionate with the food. The worst thing ever to happen to food blogging was a very vile blogger getting popular and a movie and book, mostly using the F word, anti-bush politics and really very little passion for food. She is not the true representation of a real food blogger.
I agree with “deb@birdonawire” every other person is apperantly an expert at something. Bloggers who haven’t earned a dollar from blogging telling others how to make money (not including you Darren here) or selling ebooks based on complete inaccuracy in what they claim to be professionals in. They over-advertise and the better marketer you are, the more important they seem in a genre. It’s annoying seeing people say they are authority in a field and not have any facts to back it up and still have a huge following just because they “sound” legit because he is able to get his name everywhere. And if you’re truly passionate about your topic and do post with helpful advice that do benefit people you won’t get far because you may not be passionate about running through the web and sucking up to other bloggers to get a mention or commenting your arse off even though you have nothing new to say, etc etc.
I think the biggest problem with blogging is that the underlying technology has grown up, and hit the mainstream.
In 2002 when I first started a E&N site (everything and nothing), it was basically a weblog without the specifically branded blogging software (I used Nuke, then graduated to Post-Nuke, then Type Pad now I am on WordPress… My underlying tech has matured into a blog). My point is back in the day it was a fairly technical exercise to start and maintain a blog like website.
8 Years has passed and inroads have been made on the underlying technology and the associated technologies ( 8 years ago who had broadband at home… no how many don’t?) have become easy to use and VERY VERY accessible to the masses.
So now it is no longer the ‘Nerd’ elite who can create a blog, and it has become very very mainstream. Because of the influx into the ‘blog market place’ we no longer have accidental millionaires. It used to be if you build it, they will come. Now if you build it… no one will probably notice.
There are so many people blogging about every imaginable topic it is hard to stand out. So few bloggers these days, from what I have noticed have plans on what they want to accomplish with their blog… let alone ‘Business Plans’, if they think they will make money from their blog. Thus the blogosphere is now filled with disappointment and a great many stale sites.
I think blogging is as important a step in the evolution of society as the printing press was so long ago. But as was the problem then (relatively speaking), back then it took a while for regulation took hold to help separate the wheat from the chaff. Yes we have freedom of the press (a corner stone of democracy) but we also have accepted codes of journalistic ethics and integrity.
I think there should also be ‘freedom of the blog’ coupled with a code of ethics and integrity that all who choose to blog must adhere to something like this (from http://www.rebeccablood.net/handbook/excerpts/weblog_ethics.html):
1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
6. Note questionable and biased sources.
or this (from http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=35000):
1. I will tell the truth.
2. I will write deliberately and with accuracy.
3. I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.
4. I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing.
5. I will never delete a post.
6. I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic.
7. I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.
8. I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking.
9. I will stay on topic.
10. I will disagree with other opinions respectfully.
11. I will link to online references and original source materials directly.
12. I will disclose conflicts of interest.
13. I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.
Cheers,
Paul
I have to agree with some of the comments here in a few respects.
1. I find it very hard to market. With the thousands of new blogs being added online every day, you need to have wicked content and a fresh approach to advertising, for people to want to find you and stay with you.
2. I have gone to so many blogs, especially internet marketing ones, that are the same topics, discussing the same points, just in their own words. If I am going to spend my valuable time reading other people’s blogs, I want to learn something new, not re-read what I already know.
3. Some people have gone over the top when it comes to trying to monetize their site, you can go to some blogs and find very short posts that do not state much, and then see a ton of different forms of advertising. It can be distracting. I know sometimes, I have a bad habit of trying to add too many banners as well, so need to constantly review and delete things regularly. If something seems to work, I leave it up.
Blogging can be fun, and even a means to generate an income online, as long as people can stay focused, treat it like a business and cut the crap. Provide value to your readers, and not worry so much about the almighty dollar.
those are my 2 cents.
Hi Darren,
I saw a nasty response in one of your previous posts (Rank Higher in Search Engines…) about not mentioning this was an affiliate review (of course you do so in many places in your blog). I think this is a problem in blogging and is something that does require attention because many people are not aware of it.
I wrote an article about the ethics of Affiliate Marketing, you can see it on by blog:
http://www.beeablogger.com/affiliate-marketing-ethics
Ami
It looks like blogging is finally showing itself as a non-profitable activity. In the last few months many, many new services and products are evolving around blogging in order to get a few additional dollars from the non-savvy crowds.
Third Tribe and this latest so-called SEO tool (that I cannot recall the name) are good example. Blogs are not for making money, the products and services around it.. may be (it looks like 27 is the ideal price, in a side note) What is next? Paid content? We may not be that far… Third Tribe again is a good sample on how content is starting to be reserved for those who can pay… more than a dollar a month (Have you noticed hoy the Problogger.com forum is slowly dying?)
Regretfully, this will initiate a tsunami of shitty stuff of all kinds from every blogger out there who is desperately trying to make a 100 bucks. After that, all we can expect is a loose in quality content.
But, good news are that only the best will survive.
Free Blogs are dead, Lon live to Free Blogs
Bloggers are not held to any standards.
They can spew lies, misinformation, ignorance. There is no way to verify the accuracy of any blog post.
Anyone can say anything when they blog, which means that it’s easy for misinformation to get out there. Then of course it’s a bit of an echo chamber, so misinformation can easily spread.
I had to think long and hard to think of anything wrong with blogging that can’t be repaired with the proper attitude towards it, and the proper amount of hard work . . . .
Something that comes up for me again and again in my niche (and most others, I’m sure) is something several other commenters mentioned: since anyone can start a blog, there is a backlash among established writers and experts in certain fields, who have now jumped on the bandwagon and started their own blogs, trashing blogging as a medium and bloggers in general. And some of the griping really sounds like sour grapes, as in, “I am an expert on this topic, but now there are all these people blogging in this topic area, and I’m losing some of my audience. Therefore, I declare bloggers and blogging to be useless sources of information.” Meanwhile, they are blogging themselves! I’ve seen this lots and lots lately in the food and wine niche, especially in the wine part of the niche. Many of the gatekeepers want to keep the gates closed. Not all, though.
So that’s what comes to mind for me — “experts” in certain fields writing off bloggers and blogging as a useful information source, when they themselves are offering information via a blog.
The biggest thing wrong with blogging is that most folks aren’t willing to take risks or try something new… they’re simply looking for some sort of cookie-cutter “get rich quick” scheme that worked for someone else.
the idea is fascinating. I can’t wait to see what will come out of it
It is really needed hard work and consume a lot of time to gain a success. No easy success on it. That’s the wrong.
“How I wish that Esperanto would have worked, so we could really connect without language barriers and the like.” F. Y. I., it _does_ work, for those who study it! See http://sv.lernu.net/
One of my biggest issues is seeing people using (or stealing) other people images… I’m constantly seeing blogs that have photos posted on them that say …found via X website. That X website is rarely the original site or owner of the images and its usually impossible to trace the photo back to who actually took it. The disrespect of copyright is just getting more and more out of hand. It’s also been an issue on my own site with people being able to copy my image to their desktop and then reusing it without asking and without giving proper recognition.
There is still a HUGE stigma to the word “Blogger.” Most people think bloggers can be a self-absorbed and self-proclaimed experts with little to no credibility. And in a lot of cases they may be correct. Wouldn’t blogging be better if there was an organization or association giving an official stamp of credibility to blogs? (example: something like the official twitter account badge on twitter.) Is there one already that I’m not aware of?
I would say that the thing that is wrong with blogging is that it is too easy to get started, so everyone wants to do it as an escape from the rate race. Not that it should be harder to get into, but there is so much noise, that getting even the smallest amount of traffic and readership without celebrity endorsement is like pulling teeth.
It’s the same thing that is wrong with most e-commerce. There is only so much time for your customers to search the sea of information.
You can have the best, most wll-thought content in the world, but if no one’s reading, did the tree really fall in the forest?
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
I guess you can see pros and cons with mostly any subject. With blogging I guess the biggest issue is the identifying the authenticity of a blog.
Any tom, dick or harry can setup a blog over night and claim anything they wish, to an extent.
However, that same “issue” can also be seen as the “beauty” of blogging, the freedom of speech aspect.
Interesting topic…
Given that most bloggers are doing it as a hobby, blogs don’t last as long as, say, newspapers. They often die out as the blogger loses steam.
While blogging is a fantastic medium for the beginning and advanced writer alike, the medium does have some significant drawbacks:
1) The desire to be popular can outweigh the need to create quality content. The medium can encourage outrageous, offensive, dishonest, or otherwise controversial content. This is not to say that controversy is bad, but controversy for the sake of controversy can detract from otherwise good content. Becoming popular and producing quality work can be at odds with each other.
2) As a result of #1, there’s a lot of crap out there. Part of building a blog is finding and forming a community around your niche. However, breaking into that community can be extremely difficult. It seems that for every great blog on a subject, there are 25 terrible ones.
3) While a lack of editorial control is important for the blogging medium, its effect on common use language has been detrimental. To publish something to the Internet, all you need to do is bash your face into the keyboard a few times and click “Publish Immediately”. Some people use this lack of control to their advantage, pushing the limits of language and media and creating excellent, fresh content; others use this as an excuse to produce shoddy work.
It is so hard to get known. You can comment and link up and that works for a day or two, but it doesn’t have a huge impact for keeps. I love writing and wish that would be all that was on my plate, but it’s the promoting of one’s self that becomes the hard work. Especially when you have very little money to work with until some money finally starts coming in.
One problem with blogging I see is many people still don’t know exactly what a blog is.
As someone who has come from a professional publishing background, one of the thing that continually frustrates me is the lack of credibility and seriousness that blogging is given. Many people are so quick to dismiss bloggers as the unemployed, unwashed masses typing on their laptops while swaddled in their Snuggies and surrounded by cats (and many have said this to my face).
n reality, there are many talented writers who are putting fantastic ideas that deserve to be recognized out there into the Internet, and they simply aren’t getting the feedback/respect they deserve. I’m not saying this applies to everyone, but as someone who is currently seeking a job, to have a potential employer sneer when you mention that you blogged professionally for a previous company only further hammers in the reality that blogging is still not an “acceptable” form of writing for many people and companies.
What’s wrong about blogging is that too many bloggers blog about blogging.
Oops – wrong site to make that statement – sorry!
Outside of the blogosphere, a lot of business people I meet still don’t understand the value of blogging. It’s not simply a method to generate more leads. It’s an opportunity to have a more personal conversation with your customers and give them further insights into how your company thinks and operates. It’s an opportunity to stay in touch with your customers and community on a more regular basis. And, it’s an opportunity to provide valuable information to a potential customer before they ever have a need for your products or services.
Blogging is like the world there are so many tipes of blogs and so many tipes of people blogging
A lot of “tech blogs” “help blogs” “hack blogs” most of them with lots of ads
A lot of mammy blogs
A lot of “i love miley cirus blogs”
A lot of categories and forms and tipes and reasons.
The deal is if you have 10 million blogs you cant expect de 10 millions to be famous and get lots of visitors.
With a blog everyone can write but that doesn´t mean everyone is going to become shakespeare
The same happens with photos, videos, drawings and music.
Just becouse you do something and you put it on the internet that doesn´t mean you are going to be tarantino, the beatles, annie liebowitz or whoever…
People doesn´t realize that…
I think the biggest problem with blogging is the format itself. Reverse chronological date based posts? Monthly archives? There is no good way for readers to absorb information from a blog, especially if it is a large one. No HTML sitemap is a common feature I see on many blogs.
All blogs should have at least a ‘Best Of’ page or Popular Posts on the sidebar. This is something I need to address on my blog as well. If blogs hide their best content and promote the most recent three paragraph post they wrote today… well there won’t be many readers willing to read the blog content. It just doesn’t make sense: after all, you most want your reader to read your best posts, and many blogs seem to push their posts further and further into their archives.
On a blog as big as ProBlogger a different issue occurs. There are only a few static pages, and there are no content landing pages for any series of posts. The reader is confused which content to read first. And you can bet that he won’t read a post which has been published in 2006 no matter how timeless it is, just because of the dates and the monthly archives. But even a sitemap won’t be an answer here, it would simply scroll endlessly. More than 5000 posts – and which among them are the absolute must-reads?
Blogs are a terrible medium to give information because of all the scattered posts. That’s why logical products such as books sell even though they are the same thing, just organized logically.
Other thing is that i don´t have publicity on my blog (about my radio show) and so it doesn´t the blog my radio has.
So i tend to dislike blogs with publicity unless they are really really good or really really what i am looking for….
My biggest complaint is the overwhelming influx of writers in the MMO (make money online) niche, and 95% are still trying to make money online….
The stress of having to put up great articles (better than before) everyday so you keep your readers, don’t let them down and attract new ones is not easy, even if you love your niche.
Marketing and Promoting… Overwhelming and Tedious. It’s a never ending job.
Making Money. Always a battle!
Too many fly by night blogs, just trying to make a quick buck.
I read the posts and the comments and it is interesting to me that it seems the entire concept is completely liberating for many people and in the same vein that freedom of expression is its biggest weakness for others.
This is true with the comments sections on blogs as well. The freedom to comment brings great spam. Having interaction on your blog is a beautiful thing but it opens the door to an amazing amount of unwanted and unsolicited advertising. I don’t blame people for wanting to market but I don’t want them to do so with such disrespect…thank God for plugins. The greatest strength becomes the greatest weakness at the same time.
If you think about many areas of life where freedom is concerned this is true. Do we trade the freedom to share your ideas or experiences simply because you are not an expert? Do we trade our freedoms for safety?
I believe the blogging concept is marvelous but with glitches. Technology (mostly via plugins) has fixed many of the glitches but there are plenty that have not been addressed yet as well.
I agree that on most blogs the organization issue is a major problem…there may be fabulous posts and information that are simply buried too deep for most people to even bother to look. However, this too can be a strength for certain blogs in that as trust is built up in the content shared…people start to dig. When they have made the choice to engage at that level the “relationship” that is developed between a blog and its readers is strengthened.
It seems to me that many of the problems for one group are the strengths for another. Oh…quite a reflection for real life I believe.
I think that great content shared over time and purposely “marketed” (in quotes because I can’t think of another non-commercial sounding word that conveys the same meaning) will create quite a following. Perhaps the negative aspects of blogging stem primarily from laziness and a lack of concern for great detail and content on the part of individual bloggers? Maybe there isn’t anything really that wrong with the medium itself…perhaps we have just lost the concept that anything you put your hand to may just have to have a great deal of care and effort to actually succeed. If you don’t care about a following and simply want to journal…I suppose that is just fine as well.
On the other hand…readers have to take some personal responsibility as well. Why would I care what someone else is sharing? I have the choice to read or not…to pay attention or not. I don’t need to worry what other people are reading…they have the same choice I do. The only reason I can see that people are worried about having blogs out there sharing mis-information is because we have developed a general attitude of arrogance in our society. For some reason we don’t believe people are capable of making up their own minds and making good choices for themselves. If someone makes a bad choice once…that is typically the best way that they learn not to make that same choice again.
I think the question in the post is great because of the comments that follow. I do hope more technical things flow out of it so that the actual medium itself can continue to be improved from a technological standpoint. But it is also fascinating to see how people’s personal belief systems shine forth through the comments in such a discussion as well.
Thanks!
I’m curious to see the difference between the answers you receive today as opposed to what people wrote 5 years ago.
There’s nothing wrong with blogging….the problem comes down to the people DOING the blogging. I think many people have an innate fear about writing or whether or not anyone wants to hear what they have to say. I’ve customized plenty of sites for people that still sit ‘content-less’ a full year later!
There’s SO much information available it’s easy to get distracted by the latest ‘shiny’ promotion. But with blogging…you HAVE to be consistent! Not something many people want to hear (it’s certainly a challenge for me).
As Lao Tzu said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
@ TomasStonkus:
“However, the thing that bother me the most about blogging is its existence for its own sake. It seems that nobody else is reading blogs besides the people that write blogs. ”
Perhaps you’re looking at just a narrow subset of blogs? I actively read three baseball blogs. In each case, only a very small number of the readers are blog writers – most are just hard core baseball fans looking for more information. They could care less about WordPress vs. Blogger – they just want to know what they can expect to see from Jhoulys Chacin this year.
Now, if you’re talking about meta-blogs – blogs about blogging – such as ProBlogger and CopyBlogger, then of course a very high percentage of he audience will be blog writers.
I’ve been blogging for a long time and I’ve seen it change from people who geniunely wanted to share their stories, information, struggles and encouragement to something more like pulp magazines and money making ventures. It’s awful when I meet someone on Twitter or FB who is just lovely and their blog is all about profit, selling and money.
I have zero interest in sensationalist stories, but last year I blogged about the “balloon boy” episode to see what it taught us about parenting (the subject of my blog). I got twice as many hits as ever and I must admit, I was discouraged by that. I became just another pulpy supermarket magazine.