One report would like to say so:
Blogs were once the outlet of choice for people who wanted to express themselves online. But with the rise of sites like Facebook and Twitter, they are losing their allure for many people — particularly the younger generation.
Sure, the numbers might be there, especially for that younger generation, but that generation will grow up and realize that they have to put on their big boy pants and actually write something longer than a sentence (or fragment) to communicate effectively:
If you’re looking for substantive conversation, you turn to blogs. You aren’t going to find it on Facebook, and you aren’t going to find it in 140 characters on Twitter.
Agreed. Blogs are here to stay and until someone creates something better and more substantive than Twitter then they’ll be here for quite some time.
Thank goodness since I pay my bills with them!
PaulSteinbrueck says
John, I think it’s much ado about nothing. I blogged about the Pew Research findings a year ago http://ow.ly/42YNo. The only decline in blogging is among teens and young adults who were just blogging about themselves. Substantive, topical blogging continues to grow.
Tyler says
Interesting. I just wrote a couple days ago on this very subject. The New York Times ran a short article (might have been web only) that got a lot of traction on their website over the weekend on how blogging was dying.
Here’s the NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html?_r=3&ref=business
And here’s my post which comes to similar conclusions as the BusinessWeek post: http://manofdepravity.com/2011/02/22/blogs-dying-nytimes/
A safe conclusion from the people I’ve talked to: Blogs aren’t dying, they’re evolving and adapting. They don’t look like what blogs began as anymore but it doesn’t mean blogs are dying.
Vince Marotte says
It’s clear that social blogging is dropping off pretty quick…people just blogging about their lives. That niche got over saturated.
Blogs that are more focused seem to be on the rise and the better ones are rising to the top. Being funny or simply remarkable is not enough, you have to have a solid content channel.
Eric Dye says
“… that generation will grow up and realize that they have to put on their big boy pants and actually write something longer than a sentence …”
Still chuckling …
d3ft punk says
Sorry so late to this…but…
Back in the roaring 90s, it became common for people who used BBS to note that a new crop of people showed up around the time they enrolled in college. Every year they’d have to go through the same explaining of how everything worked, the rules, and have to deal with the same questions over and over. That was the genesis of the FAQ.
After BBS and IRC would have new member from the Fall, each Spring they’d see another exodus of people who thought sunshine and alcohol-driven highjinks were more important than typing in a tiny box at all hours.
So, too, have I noticed the same effect on bloggers. They get to college, notice this hip-now-with-it technology and start using it. Then, when female humans start hitting the tanning beds, many of those same people who started blogging lose their passion for typing words in a tiny little box.
Happens every year. Move along, move along.
Graham says
*LIKE*