With Facebook and Twitter, users can be certain that their content will be viewed by someone, while blogs generally have low view counts. In addition, blogs are considered to be more of a commitment and typically have more structure than a quickly typed status update or 140 character Tweet.
Older generations, however, are clinging to their blogs.
Among 34-to-45-year-olds who use the Internet, the percentage who blog increased six points, to 16 percent, in 2010 from two years earlier, the Pew survey found. Blogging by 46-to-55-year-olds increased five percentage points, to 11 percent, while blogging among 65-to-73-year-olds rose two percentage points, to 8 percent.
In addition, Tumblr still describes itself as a blogging site, though many users are unaware. Despite its description, Tumblr is used mainly for photo uploading. This would indicate that it is the users of a technological service who truly determine the nature of the product. Tumblr can call itself a blog for as long as it pleases, but if users only upload photos, is it really a blog? I think not.
Facebook and Twitter cannot be said to be fully cannibalizing the blog business though; many use these outlets to promote their blogs rather than replace them. Still, how many of us had ever contributed to a blog before this course? Perhaps Facebook and Twitter have evolved from the blog mania that characterized the early 2000's? Technology of course must evolve with societal needs, so this should probably be viewed as technological progression rather than mourned as a dying art.
5 comments:
I definitely think that blogging is evolving toward Facebook and other social networking sites. I also think this is due to the idea of anonymity that the Internet allows. Social networking sites allow us to create our own identities, and have an entire page devoted to ourselves where people can read about us. So instead of posting blogs on our pages, we post information about ourselves or upload photos that tell a story about us.
As someone who has blogged and is a member of the "younger generations," I can fully attest to the theme of this post. I know that I personally used Facebook as a medium to advertise my blog before eventually giving up on blogging when my followers were only limited to a few of my "Facebook friends." It seemed redundant to have them read the same thoughts on both platforms.
I believe that blogging is an outdated, cumbersome form of online communication. Blogs bog down internet search engines and often spread incorrect information. The sooner that this "technological progression" is completed, the healthier the internet will be.
This is such an interesting topic. It's strange, for me at least, to think that what seems to just now to break into the mainstream is already in the decline.
Perhaps it's a reflection of the next generation of youth? Shorter attention spans, less willingness to accomplish complete works, etc.
But now that I think about it, it seems almost every company nowadays has a blog for customer support, marketing, and for other uses, so perhaps - like you hinted - blogs are merely being redefined?
I think blogging has lost it's appeal because it is so difficult to attract an audience. The main reason why people blog, at least for me, is to have a place where I have loyal followers who are genuinely interested in what I have to write. The reason why people make new posts is because they want to keep their loyal audience in the loop. Would you update your blog if you knew no one would read it? Don't think so. The difficulty of blogging is finding readers who are willing to read what you have to say and that can be hit or miss. I would say it is similar to starting your own business. The chances of success is quite low but when you do, you feel really satisfied and want to maintain it.
Facebook in a way is like a blog just like you said. You are posting updates and sharing links much like you would do in a blog. We keep up with it because we know that people will be able to see it because of the convenient news feed feature that we all love.
I personally am fascinated with the idea of creating a blog. It is one of those things that I really wanted to do but like I said earlier am hesitant because I don't think I have a hobby or personal project that would attract readers. I hope to make one sometime in the future, just have to find something worth blogging about.
I personally never understood the appeal of a blog and I had thought of them as "online diaries." I suppose they can have a purpose (marketing, tech support etc), but generally speaking they just seem to be used as outlets for people to ramble about their opinions and spread false news. Then again, I don't know much about the blogging world so I can't really say my views are accurate either.
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