Is Blogging Dead? No, It Just Evolved

by | Dec 20, 2013 | Commentary, Featured

TWiT News Director and Google+ User Extraordinaire Mike Elgan posted a question in response to a blog post (BEWARE! Irony ahead!) stating that the blog was dead. 

Here’s my thoughts:

Is blogging dead? I hope not. (Otherwise, what am I doing here, right?)

I tend to think that the concept of a blog isn’t dead as much as it has evolved. The delivery methods and the audiences have just changed.

When I first started blogging, that was back when everyone was on LiveJournal and you blogged to let your friends keep up on the world of you and then they would do the same. (Any LJ users out there any more?) My last post on LiveJournal was in 2007. Over time, I moved to less “personal” stuff and to more “professional” content on Movable Type and WordPress, but I think for a lot of the younger kids it’s become less about the “words” and it became more visual. It’s moved to places like Vine, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr.

Look at how Twitter has helped change the concept of a blog post. People today tend to want short, quick, get-me-in-and-back-out type content. Look at all of our news apps on our tablets and smartphones. What do they give us? Pictures and short headlines (and descriptions maybe). Sure, you can drill down to read more if you want, but I think the blog has transformed in the name of brevity.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Dunno. It all comes back to the content. Content always evolves to satisfy the current audience. What was a blog 10 years ago is the Twitterverse of today. What will it be tomorrow? Content creators will show us when we get there.

Because we all know, Content is King.