And now for something not completely about me…
I’ve weighed in lately on several sights about the future/fate of blogging. Some still think blogging is the next best thing since sliced bread. Others think blogging has reached its peak and is slowly dying a painful agonizing death.
For my .02, I don’t really agree 100% with either camp. I do think like any medium, blogging is evolving and will continue to do so. The new blogs popping up every day have declined dramatically. No argument there. But, I don’t necessarily contribute that to a slow death. I think it has more to do with market saturation and the natural evolution of the medium. Blogging is not the “new thing” anymore. [1]One might argue micro-blogging is the new/old “thing” That said, it has managed to cross social, political, cultural, informative, and even entertainment boundaries to become an almost universal form of interaction. Even the traditional news/media outlets woke up and realized blogging was changing the very way we disseminate and gather news in general. And like any medium, I think in time blogging will settle into it’s niche market and continue to thrive and prosper. Whether it be for purely personal or profit, I absolutely think blogging is here to stay.
I don’t really care to delve into the political or profitable side of blogging. I think living in a capitalistic culture that speaks for itself. From the social side, we’ve seen blogs come and go. I’ll be the first to admit it is sad to see a favorite blog end. But if you think about it, how is that any different from life? People come and go in our lives every day. From the mundane and random to the profound and life-changing, we get a birds-eye view of the true characteristics of humanity, good and bad. We’ve also seen our share of fakes, flakes, and flashes. To me, the latter group (and the fallout surrounding) shows us how much we still need to grow as a species in general.
I firmly believe, like anything in life, you get out of blogging what you put into it. If you just randomly post or interact then you should probably expect the same in return. I often hear from many of my own commenters they are afraid to start blogging because they don’t feel their own lives are engaging or exciting enough. To that I say, who cares? If you find comfort or solace in being able to share your life and experiences however mundane, then I say go for it. You don’t need permission. You don’t need a rabid following. You don’t have to be a prolific writer or linguist. [2]Good lord, look at the mosh pit of grammatical errors my own blog represents. heehee From a purely social aspect, all you really need is an opinion, conviction to follow thru, and the ability to type. It really is that simple.
My own venture into blogging was originally a mechanism to deal with a painful breakup. Afterwards, it became an avenue of therapy and self-exploration. Having chronicled such a significant part of my life has been richly rewarding. I’ve always said I blog first and foremost for me. That is still true today. Yes, I know people read and comment and I appreciate that. [3]Being from the South and always having an opinion on practically everything has helped. lol Looking back over my own blog entries has shown me how much I have and am growing as a man. The very act of blogging has given me a sense of belonging that I never had before.
Will I always blog? I can’t really say. The future is a devious and every changing beast. I will say I have no immediate plans to stop, that is for sure. Do I think blogging in general will be around for years to come? Absolutely.
The sense of blogging that you speak about was so much a big part of it for me. I totally get you on that point.
I read an article that was suggesting that the social aspect of blogging was being replaced by things like Facebook and MySpace.
I still think of those things as being mostly for teens and college kids. But unfortunately we ARE in a world where that age group is leading lifestyle trends.
I enjoy blogging and I find it very theraputic. Especially when people tell me to make some changes or look at something a little differently.
Your blog and that of brettcajun, and a few others, inspired me to blog. I can’t imagine where I would be today if I didn’t have this medium. It’s been my only way to really interact with other gay men.
I just like to keep mom updated and vent 😉
Great post. I agree with everything you’ve said. Like anything we do in life., I sometimes question the purpose for, content of and interest in my blog, but at the end of the day, I do it because I want to do it and those who choose to read it will. Should the day come I no longer want to make the time to do it, i’ll move on. I see it more as an evolution of a personal diary, which i have always wanted to keep and attempted to many times throughout my life but never stuck to it. For some reason, sharing my diary on line has made all the difference. It is a whole new community of people sharing their lives and thoughts and opinions. Although this venue can be abused like any other, for the most part i think it’s the opposite of many profile and chat sites where we actually reveal who we really are on line to anyone who cares to know us and interact with us, inviting friends, allies, like thinkers and even enemies from across the world and www to interact with us. As a social addict with a homebody streak, I find it great that I can reach out from the comfort and privacy of my home, thereby having the best of both worlds: talking with, to, or about people and myself without having to put on pants or clean the apartment. And there is a bond that forms between bloggers who read and comment on each others blogs that you just can’t deny, as you pointed out when admitting the feelings of loss when one disappears. There will always be those who choose to live outside the sphere of connectiveness, looking in and commenting on and predicting about what is happening, will happen and should happen in the lives and habits of others. And then there are those, like us, who will stay involved and participate and connect, not worrying about what will come but allowing for it to continue, evolve, expand, change or end naturally. I guess we all have to choose where we want to be in that model…I’ll take the involved over the on looker any day! Again, thanks for the great post. Hope you are healing fast, the pain is gone (or subsiding rapidly) and you get to enjoy your new bike soon, albeit without the incident with the prior one. Be well!
Your fellow blogger,
Sean
Yeah I was going to say, Micro-blogging was the norm now. Like twitter for example. Facebook and myspace is big now. For the gay community there are places like Gaywatch who mimic places like myspace.
I agree with everything you say, and just want to add that through blogging I have had great opportunities to meet some great people (like you)… I love my blog friends and hope many of stick around for a long time… not only making my own blog posts are therapudic, but reading others is nice… the voyuer in me i guess…. I also am hooked on Facebook tooo…ughhhh
Do you know why I continue to blog? It is because of emails I get from others. Some people tell me that I have somehow helped them come to terms with their sexuality. My blog allows them to consider taking one step closer to coming out. Some simply enjoy my silly antics like Jiggy Dancing because it makes them smile. My other half thinks I blog because it is my dating service. Whatever the reason, I know in my heart that I do a lot more good than harm. The day I feel that the good doesn’t outweigh the bad will be when I stop. Otherwise… my blog will be around for a long time to come.
Do people still kill time at work?
Then blogging will continue.
Carry on.