If you happen to hear me barking at my oldest male child, please do not be alarmed. That is his preferred mode of communication these days as he has decided he would rather be a dog, than a boy. And as such, who am I to deny my precious boy of his heart's desire?
Sincerely,
Cagey
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So. According to this article on Wired, Blogging is SO 2004. As the author purports:
Thinking about launching your own blog? Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull the plug.Frankly, I am not convinced and it seems the author was purposely writing an inflammatory article in order to drive traffic. It is fairly obvious to anyone wandering over here that my wee site is just a personal thing for myself and a few friends. I will never reach a massive audience, nor do I have any intentions of doing so. I do see what the author is saying for "professionals" trying to get "the word out" via what basically amounts to an online magazine. It is obvious that particular space is already saturated with established blogs and devoted audiences. However, I think the article underestimates what having a personal blog can do for an individual. I believe that blogging is still an excellent medium for non-professionals to explore their own thoughts and ideas while providing a platform to discuss with friends - both real-life and imaginary.Writing a weblog today isn't the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It's almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.
Ironically, the article came just as I have found myself mired neck deep into a major blogging tar pit. I am finding my usage of Facebook and Twitter has gone up considerably, but have had difficulty crafting anything to put out here. Quite frankly, Facebook and Twitter are a nice spot for me get things out quickly with minimal commitment.
I have tried not to care much that I am in a writing funk and am hoping I get inspired soon to write something. I do miss writing, I miss that creative element of staring at a blank screen and filling it. And that? Is enough to convince me that at least this blog is not dead.
8 comments:
I felt like that article was awfully presumptious as to the motivation behind the average blogger's urge to blog. Maybe I'm naive but I feel like a lot of our motivation (and by "our" I mean yours, mine, brits and marilyn's - hee) is the community and relationships. You cant build those using less than 140 characters.
So yeah - I agree with you.
Also - I just spent this morning going back through the entries post-AndyZ's birth. I couldn't do that with such detail in twitter.
I'll admit that my blogging has dropped off lately, but I'm trying to bring it back up to its previous levels (and maybe even do NaBloPoMo, although that sounds really daunting this year).
As for Arun wanting to be a dog - I remember when my cousin (now in college) went through that phase. He spent one Christmas declaring, "I'm a bulldog!" to anyone who would listen.
my niece went through the same thing when she was Arun's age and she would only answer to Tiny and would only eat on the floor. I found it very funny especially when she would "roll over" so I could scratch her stomach.
I was actually going to pull the plug on my blog but after the events earlier this week I decided I still need that space to work things through.
Max does the dog thing. We take a tennis ball to the park and throw it for him. As I learned in my behavior classes, a tired dog is a good dog!
I think it's ironic because I was just coming up with a blog post in my head about what I want to say on the future of my blogging. To each his own, I say. I think journaling your life is a great way to process things you are going through and be able to look back and see progress and great memories. I think there are a lot of people out there trying to capitalize on blogging but for those of us who aren't, we can just keep blogging our little hearts out.
Hear! Hear.
And I agree with Zoot
and I heard books are over as well..
I am in a slump as of late, too.
I feel ya, sister.
Well, who said blogging has to be about "getting noticed"?
I think you're right that the author had an ulterior motive in writing something with such an inflammatory hook.
That said, I'd rather spend my limited amount of time these days on Flickr than on Blogger. That sharp, witty blog prose he refers to just isn't coming to me these days (if it ever did).
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