Is blogging dead?

Wired has published an essay proclaiming the death of blogging. Given that we’ve just relaunched the Times Online tech blog under the name Tech Central, that’s a bit alarming.

Should we have bothered? Well, according to Paul Boutin, the essay's author, sites like this are part of the problem.

Scroll down Technorati's list of the top 100 blogs and you'll find personal sites have been shoved aside by professional ones. Most are essentially online magazines: The Huffington Post. Engadget. TreeHugger. A stand-alone commentator can't keep up with a team of pro writers cranking out up to 30 posts a day.

Blogging no longer gives enthusiasts the chance to top the Google rankings with a carefully crafted post, the argument goes, and without that possibility, it’s neither fresh nor exciting.

But the “golden era” of blogging – an odd term for a period so recent and so brief – was never going to last. It was easy enough for a strong, independent voice to stand out from the crowd when the crowd was only a few rows deep. As soon as blogging entered the mainstream and the number of bloggers multiplied, the influence of each individual was proportionally reduced.

Boutin also bemoans the colonisation of the blogosphere by newspaper websites and other corporate interests, but while the rise of the salaried blogger has certainly changed the nature of blogging, the influence has not been one-way.

The mainstream media now have to be more blog-like in their coverage, responding more quickly, more personally and with greater scope for interaction. The challenge is to combine the best, most democratic aspects of blogging with the disciplines of traditional journalism.

What we see now is a maturing blogosphere. It may be a bit less exciting and a bit less unpredictable, but readers are more likely to find what they’re looking for. The excitement and the unpredictability have found a new outlet, and once that has matured too they’ll move on once again.

Comments

[Dave]

So, now that there are professional bloggers, those professional bloggers are better than hobbyist bloggers? Makes sense.

Interesting sidenote: newspapers that are demanding journalists pull double duty as bloggers (like my local paper) have websites that are worse than hobbyist blogs, because the journalists aren't internally motivated towards creating websites or web content. Then those newspapers complain that the Internet doesn't want them and that clearly the entire world, led by Google, is conspiring to squash them.

[Paul]

The 'death of XXXX' has been a common theme on the internet over the last 2 years. This is just another hook line like the rest. Long live blogging and the internet.

[reiss]

yes i would concur with your observations

[Guy Fitter]

I think your Tech Central has got life in it yet. Paul Boutin is correct that the internet is saturated with blogs. And yes, the lone blogger is lost to the depths of cyberspace when you have paid bloggers to update company blogs.
However, companies are just responding to the needs of web browsers who want a dynamic and refreshing website so they are stimulated every time they visit and hence - become a passionate user of that website. As a company we know it is a hard feature to get right but blogs are good for the company and the user, rather than the one-way marketing of old.

[Alan]

Perhaps the end of rubbish blogs, of which there are many(whether atop rankings tables or not). Just like online adverts, they are easily filtered/ignored.
Problem with most blogs is that they are nothing more than bland mouthpieces for some company or organisation. Totally pointless, and exactly the sort of stuff which exists only to try and gain top spot in a rankings table.
On the other side, there is always a place for decent blogs from people with something interesting to say, or inside info on a particular subject and who can express views unrestrained, without worrying about some editor breathing down their neck eg. Guido Fawkes, Market Oracle, The Big Picture etc.

[Justin]

I think...nah... this is so passe I can't be bothered.

[david mcmahon]

A fair summary, Holden, of an interesting balancing act.

I am a Walkley Award-nominated journalist on the full-time staff of a leading daily paper in Australia.

But in my spare time I also have a (private) blog not connected in any way, shape or form to the organisation that employs me.

I run my blog on the principles of everything I have learnt in journalism, and I am fortunate that my photography gives my site an added visual perspective.

I auto-post every day, based on peak US and European viewing times and at the moment I get a tad under 5000 page views a week, which is not too shabby at all.

The key, of course, is to be visible, post regularly, use good visual devices and write good headlines.

All of which, as you and I know, are basic tenets of good newspaper/ web journalism.

Which in turn leads me to suggest that an increasing number of non-journalist bloggers (and they are legion) have already found - and are well on the way to establishing - a faithful global audience.

Reports of the death of blogging, to paraphrase no less a writer than Mark Twain, are exaggerated.

Good on you, mate.

David McMahon, Melbourne

[john cramerjohn]

I find out information thjat the media does not tell. from the sins of councils to the problems of police - the big media wont tell.

[Thomas Palmer]

So the reason amateur bloging is dying is that the large media companies are getting blogs and pushing the amateurs further back on the Google search result pages.

I hope you lot at The Times are happy - YOU HELPED KILL BLOGGING, YOU ... YOU MONSTERS!

>:3

[Tim Warren]

Sad but true, & that's why some of us never turned our sites into "normal" blogs.

Long live ThursdayAgain!!

[Bob]

It's very difficult to match the output levels of the corporate blogs now, and they're also able to squeeze more leverage from online marketing tools.

Still if you want a voice you can still have one, there's just a lot of people struggling to be heard.

[The Trainer]

In many respects the bloggers themselves are to blame. Blogging became too successful. However, don't worry. Who cares about being in the overall top 100 blogs. These are for luvvies. The key is being top on Google for search terms relevant to your post.

Blog on.

[aljuk]

In other words blogging is now more underground, and cooler, than ever.

[WhyNotSmile]

Who cares about being in the Top 100 blogs list? I've 18 visitors a day and going strong!

[Rich]

A number of personal bloggers still carry a huge amount of influence. Consider how much material "professional" journos plaigerise Guido Fawkes Order Order blog. The competition between hobbyists and professionals will just mean both sides have to produce better material. A win-win situation for the consumer.