Friday, November 16, 2007

Is blogging per se a dying art?

Well, is it?

(Thanks: Beyond the Beyond.)
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Depends on how one defines blogging and art.

The link goes to a blogger who kind of bemoans and misses the longer form of more refined, original writing and content in posts, found more often in the earlier days of blogging, when a user had to usually know more about the tools to create a good blog, like html, etc., and which I kind of miss also.

It seems now that an increasing number of blogs are almost MTV-like, in the sense that they jump around, like quick video editing with more value put on visuals, or eye candy, for example, acting as mini or micro-portals by often pointing to _other_ sources of info on other websites, or "mainstream" sites and other multi-party blogs, and sort of display word, visual, and sound "bites", or squiblets, which is OK, if that's what you want, but this appeals more to the syndrome of media-driven news/entertainment becoming more visually appealing, kind of "infotainment," which to some extent is at the expense of deeper meaning and content, which takes more time and effort to create, refine, and develop follow-ons to.

These kinds of blogs and websites seem to also appeal to a relatively shorter attention span, by offering a greater volume of content variety, but sacrifice the longer "think" pieces or analytical content I enjoy more.

I'm more of a "deep" content kinda guy. I'd rather have a well-done porterhouse steak and a good mixed salad, as it were, than 17 small pieces of sushi, content-wise.

But, I've been using the internet before it was called the net, or there were browsers, let alone graphics and animated content.

I started out on The Well, begun by Stewart Brand and the Whole Earth and Co-Evolutionary publishing folks, almost 20 years ago as a user and conference host, and due to the nature of the user base, words were your only basic means of expression, and it meant much more in how, why, and how well you could express yourself than it seems is the case today.

Maybe I'm just too "oldskool," based on my prior long history and experience with computer tech and networked communications.

So, to answer the question, while there are more and more blogs being created all the time, there does seem or at least I perceive a reduction in the long-form of posting original writing that goes in depth into subjects the blog author created their blog for in the first place. Blogs are becoming increasingly like road maps to different types of info, or signposts, rather than providing a lot of really well written, carefully edited, original content.

And so, yes, I do miss that, and there does seem to be less effort expended on original content in posts by an increasing number of blogs. OTOH, I never really thought of blogs as "art", the way I define it, in the first place.

Like anything else, where the old cliche says "the only constant is change," blogs are evolving, in part due to how easy it is now to create one, which contributes to the "dross effect", and due to the availability of an increasing number and variety of blog creation and enhancement tools, that basically make it a lot easier to create and maintain a blog, thus the more literate, sophisticated, computer-oriented folk from several years ago are now being quickly outnumbered by those who are relatively less experienced, sophisticated, and/or knowledgeable, but hey, that's democracy in action for you.

I kind of like the increased volume and variety of blogs and websites, as the more data, usually the better the options for increased choice.

And, since it seemed you were asking about blogs and blogging in general, I'd say the above generally applies today. But, OTOH, individual long-term blogs, can be as good or better, and provide better content, than they were ever able to before, in part because "the party" has gotten larger, so to speak.

So, it's effectively less "elitist" but there's still plenty of room for the avant garde and really well-written blog to both exist and grow or develop.

Maybe there'll be kind of a shake- out or consolidation to more useful and interesting blogs over time as more "junk" blogs or boring ones starve from lack of traffic, and the really good ones increase their traffic as a result of that and increasing numbers of users on the net seeking out and finding what's pertinent and of quality to them, their interests, and individual tastes.

I still find _this_ blog a pretty cool, intriguing place to check out and "hang out" at, but in a way I'd also like to see more in-depth content and writing from Mac, especially about his crypto-terrestrial speculations and related esoteric ideas, but that's just me. YMMV!

Hell, I guess maybe one day (soon?) I should try to create a blog of my own, and put my mind where my mouth is, eh? Ha! 8^}

Sheesh. I should also learn how to be more succinct, and edit myself more, too. It's all modern blogging's fault! Heh!

12:01 AM
Mac said...

I still find _this_ blog a pretty cool, intriguing place to check out and "hang out" at, but in a way I'd also like to see more in-depth content and writing from Mac, especially about his crypto-terrestrial speculations and related esoteric ideas, but that's just me.

I'll try not to disappoint! :-)

12:12 AM
PA said...

I still get strange looks when I mention I have blogs, like I have a disease or something.

I think a lot of people when arriving at a blog for specific info still see it as a "website", maybe not realizing it's usually one person who updates very often. So to the vast majority I feel blogging is still a new concept.

At times I feel overwhelmed by the choice that is out there, which blogging platform should I use? which social network should I focus on? in the end I find I don't use any of them and feel a little left behind.

When I started blogging about the paranormal, any news was good news to write about, nobody else was, lately though when a story comes up everyone posts about it, I'm guilty of that to, gets a little boring.

Anyway I guess that's a sign for me to shift gears and start creating original content. I think I'm gonna have to learn to write.

5:06 AM
Anonymous said...

At some point in the future, everybody on earth will be blogging in some form or another.
So no it's not dying, it's only getting to mean less than whatever it might have meant in the first place.

8:14 PM
Anonymous said...

Re-imagine Orwell's 1984 in todays world. There would be a department of memes. They'd spread a meme every few days so that every blog on earth could link to it.

8:24 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm seriously considering starting a blog, but don't want to use blogger/blogspot due to their info collection policies (they're owned by Google).

I've looked at typepad and wordpress, but was wondering what others think is the best, most flexible blogging software/site out there? Really seriously interested in the best free for blogging possible.

Advice?

11:46 PM
Anonymous said...

If I ever start an occult blog, it will be modeled on PB, I think. Eclectic, great layout, great art and graphics, absence of long-winded rants, interesting comment threads. How much time do you spend on PB per day, would you estimate, Mac?

--W.M. Bear

1:29 AM
Mac said...

WMB--

How long? That's tough. I spend a fair amount of time online and blog sporadically; I don't set aside time to post. I am, of course, a Net addict!

1:49 AM

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