Where is blogging headed?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Christianity Today has an article out right now on the "death of blogs."
It's a bit of an overstatement. As CT itself admits, there are still 3 million new blogs started every month. But the real issue is the number of blogs active now versus what there have been in the past. According to CT, 200 million blogs fomerly active have now been abandoned - more than twice as many as are now in existence.
The question CT takes up is the role of blogs in the larger Christian conversation. Is the blogosphere an effective (and enduring) place to engage in questions of Christian faith and practice?
I think that it is. A couple of quotes in the CT article by bloggers indicate that bloggers feel the need to post daily - or even several times per day. I personally think that pace is unrealistic. The number of people who can write effective daily posts is low. And if you are not making your living by blogging (and who does that??), then the incentive to keep up a regularly active blog can suffer under the pressure to keep current.
When I started Gen X Rising, my goal was to post twice weekly. That's a pace that I have been able to maintain. (It is also a pace that matches the most active newspaper columnists.) Posting at that pace may cause a blogger's readership to grow more slowly, but it is also a pace that allows for a blogger to use a blog as a way to explore relevant issues in a way that corresponds with a normal life in school, the workplace, or the church. Establishing a semi-regular routine also encourages readers to check back in on a pretty consistent basis.
Thematically-related blogs also tend to attract a fairly consistent readership, even if less frequent posting may have something of a limiting effect on attracting lots of new readers. Think about many of the regular bloggers and readers in the Methoblogosphere. We may not always post (or read) daily, but we always know where to go to check in on "the conversation." It also has the distinct advantage of connecting many of us who would not know of one another's existence otherwise. And that's important - since we are all brothers and sisters in the same body of Christ!
I am always looking for ways to increase readership, as we all are. But for our generation, I also think blogging has become (and will remain) an important media outlet for sharing views and engaging in conversation - regardless of whether we are hyperbloggers, weekly bloggers, or occasional bloggers.
As always, I appreciate any comments you might have on the pros and cons of this (still) relatively new form of communication we have all become a part of.
It's a bit of an overstatement. As CT itself admits, there are still 3 million new blogs started every month. But the real issue is the number of blogs active now versus what there have been in the past. According to CT, 200 million blogs fomerly active have now been abandoned - more than twice as many as are now in existence.
The question CT takes up is the role of blogs in the larger Christian conversation. Is the blogosphere an effective (and enduring) place to engage in questions of Christian faith and practice?
I think that it is. A couple of quotes in the CT article by bloggers indicate that bloggers feel the need to post daily - or even several times per day. I personally think that pace is unrealistic. The number of people who can write effective daily posts is low. And if you are not making your living by blogging (and who does that??), then the incentive to keep up a regularly active blog can suffer under the pressure to keep current.
When I started Gen X Rising, my goal was to post twice weekly. That's a pace that I have been able to maintain. (It is also a pace that matches the most active newspaper columnists.) Posting at that pace may cause a blogger's readership to grow more slowly, but it is also a pace that allows for a blogger to use a blog as a way to explore relevant issues in a way that corresponds with a normal life in school, the workplace, or the church. Establishing a semi-regular routine also encourages readers to check back in on a pretty consistent basis.
Thematically-related blogs also tend to attract a fairly consistent readership, even if less frequent posting may have something of a limiting effect on attracting lots of new readers. Think about many of the regular bloggers and readers in the Methoblogosphere. We may not always post (or read) daily, but we always know where to go to check in on "the conversation." It also has the distinct advantage of connecting many of us who would not know of one another's existence otherwise. And that's important - since we are all brothers and sisters in the same body of Christ!
I am always looking for ways to increase readership, as we all are. But for our generation, I also think blogging has become (and will remain) an important media outlet for sharing views and engaging in conversation - regardless of whether we are hyperbloggers, weekly bloggers, or occasional bloggers.
As always, I appreciate any comments you might have on the pros and cons of this (still) relatively new form of communication we have all become a part of.
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 11:53 PM
4 Comments:
I think that many of the "abandoned" blogs represent flips between various hosting services. I know that many of the Methobloggers have flipped between two or more different services. I've also seen several re-name their blogs, so any old listing would show as inactive while the blog, and blogger were still active. Like anything else, there will be an swing back and forth around an equlibrium point, but I agree with you. Blogs will be a presence for the forseeable future.
dannyg makes a great point. i think a lot of folks got involved in blogging to say the important things they feel inclined to say, oh, and be heard by the masses. when they found out that the masses were not listening it seemed fruitless.
this idea brings to question. what is a successful blog? i think many of us are okay with a small, but faithful, audience to bang ideas and thoughts off of. while others might feel that unless they get one million viewers they are not getting results
I hadn't thought about how changes in hosting services would increase the amount of blogs considered to be defunct. Great point.
I also agree that a 'successful' blog is defined much more by how it contributes to ongoing, sustained conversations - even by a very limited number of people - than by any so-called objective measures of level of readership, exposure, etc.
One of the aspects of blogging that I have enjoyed the most is the way in which it generates conversations by people who would never even know of one another's existence were it not for the blogosphere. For us Methodists, I think it is immensely helpful in engaging issues of real importance to our faith in the present age.
i'd agree with that assessment of the benefits experienced through the methoblogosphere-o
Post a Comment
<< Home