Or at least according to this extremely true yet somewhat tongue-in-cheek article on Wired. Paul says:
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.
If you quit now, you’re in good company.
I had to laugh because when I first started blogging the blogging landscape had only begun to be formed. It was an exciting time and I updated this blog about 3-5 times a day with word counts averaging from 300 to over 1000 per post!
But that wasn’t the craziest thing. It was the fact that my digital handle (online screen name) at the time reached google-sized proportions. So much so that the coverage was too much that I had to shut it down (and I was going through some of your typical “why the heck am i blogging really…?!?” periods).
In fact, a quick google search for it still brings up stuff back in 2002, which makes me feel just as nauseated as finding pickles in my chick-fil-a sandwhich after I had asked for them to be taken out.
So, what does that mean for Ministry Blogging?
Not much. That’s probably because, generally speaking, the Church is about 4 years behind (if not more) technologically than the rest of the world. Of course we have our usual vangaurd of evangelical bloggers, but that’s more the exception than the rule.
Paul does bring up an interesting point citing Jason Calacanis (super well known blogger and entrepreneur) and his reasoning for dropping the blog. In his farewell address Jason says:
I’m looking for something more acoustic, something more authentic and something more private. Blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it.
And this is our “win” scenario for why we must continue blogging: As believers we are called to naturally share ourselves in authentic, engaging, intimate, and personal way because that’s how we’ve been saved: An authentic and real God came down in the form of man, engaged us in an intimate and personal way, and gave us a testimony as He gave us new life in Christ.
We are now called to proclaim this message.
So blogging for the evangelical should, by definition, incorporate some of these aformentioned qualities. (I’m certainly aware that many Christians do not vocally express their faith and that’s fine, no legalism here.)
The point is, don’t stop. Even if your blog draws “Net’s lowest form of life” that’s a good start. The Church wasn’t made for those that are well, it’s for those that are sick.
Calacanis may have retreated to a “safer” place, but we definitely shouldn’t.
Image from ToothePasteForDinner.com.
Amen Brotha. That’s why even though both http://thegdfc.com and http://blog.adrian-rodriguez.net have very few readers I will continue to keep them up, because ultimately God is going to use them just like he has in the past to encourage and strengthen others.
I can remember several months back where Jason was starting up with the live streaming on quik.com. He was driving to work in his car, complaining to the guy who stole his marked parking spot, and walking around his office talking about a meeting that was going on.
Calacanis is a smart man, and I highly doubt he will do anything ‘private’ or ‘too big’. He is about numbers, just like any other web entrepreneur is.
I agree that christians should not stop blogging, but perhaps blog more, and especially blog better.
Thanks for the post!
To be honest, Jason Calacanis left blogging because he refused to be honest about his many web failures at Netscape (et. al.) (Some of you may recall the Digg.com rip-off that failed after only a year or so?)
Anyhow, I totally agree with your assessment: don’t give up. While Marshall McCluhan may have been right with his work “The Medium is the Message,” I believe the age-old web axiom that “content is king.” We have a message in Christ that is more personal, more rich, and more important than any other. People love dialog at a safe distance, and I cannot for the life of me think of another medium that is better suited for churches to utilize. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
@Josh,
Great point about blogging better. Part of why I began splitting up my posts was that my blogging has become pretty much a glorified twitter message and I wasn’t spending much “thought” into them. I’m working it back up…!
@Kevin,
Whoa! It’s the new married man! Yeah, Jason has had just as many downs as ups. Some have called him a coward, others a avante guard hero. Eh.
@Adrian,
Your bottom line is the only thing that counts. Thanks for the encouragement and reminder.
My blogging story has been like most. I get discouraged and the quality and quantity goes down. Then I discover that someone finds it useful and I get motivated again.
I still think blogging is a powerful medium that holds an important place in the world. I like the immediacy of some of the newer mediums like Twitter, but there’s no substitute for a good, well-written and thoughtful blog post on a topic you are personally invested in.
@Ben
Your story = my story.
My first blog post was June 2, 2005. One thing I’ve focused on in the last three years is just blogging to communicate with those who will listen. I’ve never worried about whether my ministry blog was viable, or whether it could compete or not – I just blogged, and there have been some amazing conversations to rise out of it.
One thing Paul fails to address is the fact that Google helps with the relevancy issue. Sure there are a ton of junk blogs out there – Google even referred to the web as a cesspool. But relevant content still has a way of rising.
Also, open media is, I believe, as revolutionary today as Gutenburg’s press was a half a century ago. Imagine if 20 years after the first Bible was printed we said, “You know what? Lots of books are being printed now and there’s a lot of junk coming off the presses – so let’s just quit and leave printing to the junk producers.” Ludicrous – you blog to reach the world, the culture where it is now.
I think I’ll go blog about this…
@Brandon
Great thought about relevancy. Let’s be revolutionary!
I have a personal mission for my site and I'm gonna fulfill it for God's glory. I am blogging now to spread God's word through the web and I believe that this is the way i can reach out to people. It doesn't depend on when you started or you're already late, it depends on how God can use you and your blog to glorify his name!<3