Is blogging dead? Not for me.

I have had this blog since 2007. At one time I had a handful of blogs, each with a different focus, and gave them all quite a bit of love and attention for years. Contrary to rumor, I never had much readership, and frankly, I was OK with that. I was getting to write and self-publish about what was important to me. I wasn't seeking to influence great swaths of the population. But, as my writing time was diverted from pithy blog posts to essays and research papers with deadlines, my posting fell. Last year, I actually deleted a couple of my blogs that were no longer useful to me, and have really let the dust collect on several others.

All of that history is fine, really. I was never seeking an income from my blogging activities - I really just wanted a place to say what I felt needed to be said, to record life, and to write. And, from my perspective, wasn't that what blogging was all about in the first place? The answer to that question is yes, as the actual word blog is short for web-log. A blog was a cyber-place to call your own, a place to tap out a brief journal-type entry written for personal edification and public consumption, mainly friends. Those personal and heartfelt blog posts spurred conversation and social interaction.

Blogging was a beginning of social media for the mainstream, as is evidenced by this history of blogging, "the early 2000s were a period of growth for blogs. In 1999, according to a list compiled by Jesse James Garrett, there were 23 blogs on the internet. By the middle of 2006, there were 50 million blogs ..." That is a lot of social interaction! As all things go, social media was on the fast-track to change, and Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms quickly overshadowed the blogosphere. But, has it been so overshadowed that it is now dead?

Well, some may think blogging is dead or at least dying, but I think it is evolving for those who use it for income. There is still a space and place for focused blogs that generate income from clicks, links, and affiliate posts. As long as there is full disclosure, more power to 'em. Honestly, I am done reading blogs that are for the purpose of income - it makes me just feel like a target for marketing.  I do think that perhaps so much focus on having a blog as an income generator may have sucked some of the life out of what blogs were initially about. For example, I followed three fashion blogs for a bit that are pretty much similar and formulaic: young women featuring rather upscale clothing, often in a capsule-type format, accompanied by shallow, kinda plastic commentary with lots of sponsored posts and affiliate links. I know blogs of this type have many followers, so really, who am I to judge? I am just saying that blogs with more genuine content and less marketing makes them feel more alive.

For me, that kind of authentic, personal blogging is not dead. I will always feel strongly that sharing our human experience is worthy of consideration and respect. I plan on keeping this blog alive as long as the Blogger platform is workable and available. I still greatly enjoy writing whatever is on my heart, playing with words, sharing photos, and commenting on issues and subjects that are worthy of discussion, despite posting sporadically. I wish more would share in this way, and perhaps they will again. Things change, and social media like Facebook and Twitter can be very divisive, unsatisfying, and shallow. I know I have lost more friends due to social media (as we experience it today) than I have gained, which seems at odds with its intent. Maybe there will come a time when we can leave cyber-competition, criticism, and name-calling aside in order to slow down and actually think about what we are saying and sharing. Perhaps blogging can be a way to do just that.

Thanks for reading.